This is a lovely insight and expression of the tension inherent in goals, John.
"A healthy relationship with a goal involves trust in the process, and trust in our systems to pull us towards it, allowing us to be fully immersed in it.
"We worry about the future and grieve the past - but in doing so we lose what is called for in the moment, our full attention to the process.
"By focusing too much on the goal, and being outcome dependent, you’re not focusing on the moment. If you are immersed in creative work, then aiming for sincerity and truth in your work may be more important than the achievement of a mere arbitrary goal."
They were good words, John. Very much worth repeating. I have an ambivalent relationship with goals. Yes, we need them to know where we're going. But, so often (always?) we get there only obliquely.
I'm not familiar with Kaczynski's 'surrogate activities' but he has popped up quite frequently when browsing recently so it's on my mind to have a read through, despite his eventual actions.
I find myself attracted to two opposing philosophies. One is the 'life is a shitshow' philosophy of Martin Butler whom I've mentioned to you before, where we are driven automatically by our survival instincts but sublimate them into something less uncouth. The other from listening to quite a lot of accounts of the Near Death Experience - I've decided to close each day by listening to something positive - which links to your earlier posts about each night being a 'little death' (sorry I forget the exact words you used), as well as the Avett Brothers song you shared 'No Hard Feelings' - anyway, the NDEs give me a sense that there could be a purpose, or a calling, that we are here to strive for and our actions are more meaningful than just sublimated instinct.
Regardless of the perspective I think there's something in the attitude of seeing the absurdity in the way we crave purpose without knowing if it is real, imaging it could all be illusion, yet still wanting the thrill of the hunt even though we know the crash may follow.
To be honest right now I'm finding myself flipping between boundless confidence and overwhelming self-doubt - almost a daily cycle due to current life circumstances - life seems full of contradictions and paradoxes.
I've wondered about whether the release of DMT at death triggers the psychedelic experience as a comforter as some speculate but regardless of whether the NDE is a 'spiritual' thing or a trick of the mind, the commonalities and the meaning imbued in the NDE is something to give more serious inquiry into.
I've listened to a few things on cross-cultural NDEs where indigenous tribal people speak of going into a tree, or following a path through a forest rather than the typical western experience of travelling through some sort of cosmic tunnel.
This is a lovely insight and expression of the tension inherent in goals, John.
"A healthy relationship with a goal involves trust in the process, and trust in our systems to pull us towards it, allowing us to be fully immersed in it.
"We worry about the future and grieve the past - but in doing so we lose what is called for in the moment, our full attention to the process.
"By focusing too much on the goal, and being outcome dependent, you’re not focusing on the moment. If you are immersed in creative work, then aiming for sincerity and truth in your work may be more important than the achievement of a mere arbitrary goal."
Thank you Angus for your encouragement, lovely to some of my words quoted back!
They were good words, John. Very much worth repeating. I have an ambivalent relationship with goals. Yes, we need them to know where we're going. But, so often (always?) we get there only obliquely.
I'm not familiar with Kaczynski's 'surrogate activities' but he has popped up quite frequently when browsing recently so it's on my mind to have a read through, despite his eventual actions.
I find myself attracted to two opposing philosophies. One is the 'life is a shitshow' philosophy of Martin Butler whom I've mentioned to you before, where we are driven automatically by our survival instincts but sublimate them into something less uncouth. The other from listening to quite a lot of accounts of the Near Death Experience - I've decided to close each day by listening to something positive - which links to your earlier posts about each night being a 'little death' (sorry I forget the exact words you used), as well as the Avett Brothers song you shared 'No Hard Feelings' - anyway, the NDEs give me a sense that there could be a purpose, or a calling, that we are here to strive for and our actions are more meaningful than just sublimated instinct.
Regardless of the perspective I think there's something in the attitude of seeing the absurdity in the way we crave purpose without knowing if it is real, imaging it could all be illusion, yet still wanting the thrill of the hunt even though we know the crash may follow.
To be honest right now I'm finding myself flipping between boundless confidence and overwhelming self-doubt - almost a daily cycle due to current life circumstances - life seems full of contradictions and paradoxes.
Thanks for the links.
Searching on YouTueb brings up plenty of NDE accounts, I've been listening to quite a few on this channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheOtherSideNDEYT
I've wondered about whether the release of DMT at death triggers the psychedelic experience as a comforter as some speculate but regardless of whether the NDE is a 'spiritual' thing or a trick of the mind, the commonalities and the meaning imbued in the NDE is something to give more serious inquiry into.
I've listened to a few things on cross-cultural NDEs where indigenous tribal people speak of going into a tree, or following a path through a forest rather than the typical western experience of travelling through some sort of cosmic tunnel.