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resistance

Trust30 – #15 – Pull. Pull. Pull!

A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Yes, it’s always easy to discount your own inspiration. But (and I know I’m venturing again into crazy crypto-religion talk here), sometimes that thought isn’t your own, and dismissing it runs the risk of offending the source.

Trust30 – #11 – Geekiness, Truth, and the Path

Part of this Trust30 exercise is to clarify my own thinking, and in so doing, I’ll be using analogies and language that make the most sense to me – and a big part of that is my religious practice. This isn’t meant as an attempt to convince people to my way of thinking. Rather, it’s an attempt to explain my thinking to myself. Anyone reading this is, of course, welcome to draw their own analogies, use their own metaphors, and do their own writing, thank you very much. Let me also state at the outset that I’m someone that believes that things can be objectively true. That they are true not based on our point of view, thank you very much, Obi-Wan (and even then, note that Obi-Wan said many, not all – and in that, the Emperor mirrors that language in RotJ when he says that Luke is mistaken about a great many things), but that they are true despite our point of view. And once I accept that as a starting premise, the next question has to be: Oh Say, What is Truth? And this writing helps me think about that, and maybe come closer to it. At least, that’s the goal.

Here’s today’s Emerson.

I will not hide my tastes or aversions. I will so trust that what is deep is holy, if we follow the truth, it will bring us out safe at last. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

There’s a lot to pack here. I’ve talked about trusting yourself, and making decisions, and doing work. This quote brings a couple of things to mind. Pokémon, an iron rod, and a tree. Why? Beats me. Let me ramble on for a bit, and we’ll see what tumbles out.

Trust30 – #10 – Voices

These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world. Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Quiet time is something that’s really important to me, but it seems to be in particularly short supply – especially when I’m at home. There’s five people in the house, the tv in the front room is always on, someone is usually on one of the computers in the office, and so on and so forth. And it never fails – just as I want to sit down and write something, someone comes in and turns on a tv. The one in the front room is always on (My Sweet Honey’s grandpa has permanently installed himself on the couch there, and watches a LOT of the Lifetime Movie Network. Or the History Channel, which wouldn’t be so bad if they showed something that involved a little… I dunno… history? When did the History Channel get so interested in Nostradamus and Alien Astronauts being responsible for everything from the pyramids to the Exodus story?)

Trust30 #9 – Imitation

Let’s get into it.

Imitation is Suicide. Insist on yourself; never imitate. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

But in order to not imitate, one might say, one has to find out who one really is. Right? I think a lot of people think that, and it’s something that I used to subscribe to m’self. Lately, I’ve been thinking it’s really not the case. Yes, there is work that is your calling to perform, that you alone can do, that is Your Work.