Sunday, October 3, 2010
New Post Coming Soon, in the meantime ...
Feel free to post thoughts about E, P ,L here! I've finished the book, but will post some guides to start dialogue. Sorry, but I've been super busy with work, etc., and felt that maybe this experiment wasn't taking off! So anyone, everyone, just have a little stream-of-consciousness free-for-all here!
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Bead 36:
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this statement, "In a world of disorder and disaster and fraud, sometimes only beauty can be trusted. Only artistic excellence is incorruptible. Pleasure cannot be bargained down. And sometimes the meal is the only currency that is real."
Also, "...the idea that the appreciation of pleasure can be an anchor to one's humanity".
And, "You were given life; it is your duty (and also your entitlement as a human being) to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight.
Bead 37:
ReplyDeleteI never really knew or understood this, "Yoga is about self-mastery and the dedicated effort to haul your attention away from your endless brooding over the past and your nonstop worrying about the future so that you can seek, instead, a place of eternal presence from which you may regard yourself and your surroundings with poise."
I found the follwoing concept similiar to a current saying "Not of this World"; "I saw Indian Brahmans living upon the earth and yet not on it, and fortified without fortifications, and possessing nothing, yet having the richness of all men".
Bead 41:
ReplyDeleteI marked this statement, but I'm still not sure how I feel about it, "You are, after all, what you think. Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions".
Bead 42:
ReplyDeleteThis isn't easy, but I can relate to the following statement, "You should never give yourself a chance to fall apart because, when you do, it becomes a tendency and it happens over and over again. You must practice staying strong instead."
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ReplyDeleteBead 44:
ReplyDeleteInteresting thought on the ego..."That's just your ego, trying to make sure it stays in charge. This is what your ego does. It keeps you feeling separate, keeps you with a sense of duality, tries to convince you that you're flawed and broken and alone instead of whole."
I always thought of someone with a big ego as thinking they were a gift to all.
Bead 48:
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy Richard's honesty, his view on the soul mate, and "You gotta stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone oughtta be."
Great food for thought!
Nancy, you found some very rich passages to enjoy. I enjoyed this memoir by virtue of the internal/external explorations that characterize the lives of those of us who seek more than superficial interactions with our worlds. E, P, L was a very enjoyable blend of the esoteric, the sensual and the humorous.
ReplyDeleteNancy, I LOVED the passage from Bead 36 about beauty. I remember that one stopping me, because although we live in a culture of STUFF, I'm not sure we are in tune to real beauty on many levels. There is a study within the discipline of literature and literary theory called esthetics, which is sort of out of style, but was often highlighted in the works of the Romantics--which was whether there are inherent formulas for beauty and the appreciation thereof. I just like to pursue beauty, which can surely be an event as well as a thing, in complex formulations. In fact, EPL did a lot of this, the author finding her deepest spiritual manifestations in India, amongst poverty and strangeness (for a Westerner anyway). I admired her ability to remain internal even when there was so much externally occurring around her.
Bead 37, it's got to be that notion of inner peace in the most pared-down of existences--like in the journey of Siddhartha. I do not understand/have never attained this level of Zen. I wish I could. I can't even walk around with out having carefully groomed myself each day. I worry if my clothes don't fit right. I hate uncomfortable situations, like being cold or among strangers. The accoutrements of life, of comfort, of safety, of top-notch health and wellness are too important to me. I guess the notion she mentions is that of transcendence, right? Being happy in and of your consciousness no matter what. Sounds lovely ... but is it fueled by denial? I don't know, I've never been able to achieve it. But having practiced yoga on and off since I was 15, I have been able to reach a momentary space of equillibrium at least. It's a start. Oh, I've never been able to effectively meditate, either. I want to try again.
This one from Bead 41: "You are, after all, what you think. Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions". -- I just think about the branch of psychology called behaviorism. They claim that you can program your thoughts to gauge/control your emotions. You can DECIDE to be unhappy or DECIDE to be happy. I mean, yes, it's sort of elementary--but this has it's limitations. If your circumstances in life put you in prison or in a war zone, can you program your thoughts to stop sending you messages that result in a negative state of mind.
I've mentioned to some of you that I've had panic attacks. One big one last September landed me in the hospital, and if I hadn't been preparing to move to CA, I'd have been put in a day program to deal with my "breakdown." It was really scary stuff. There are times when all the rationality in the world cannot stop your chemistry from running amok. Also, trauma has it's affects, and I think in EPL she'd experienced relationship trauma. It was wise of her to take the year to address the trauma over and over again. You work past it that way.
I'll be back with more.