Archive for June 2009
Become Nothing
Stumbled across this poem by the 13th Century Sufi poet Rumi and instantly fell in love:
Knock,
And He’ll open the door.
Vanish,
And He’ll make you shine like the sun.
Fall,
And He’ll raise you to the heavens.
Become nothing,
And He’ll turn you into everything!
In this country, sometimes happiness feels like it’s defined by what you have: the car you drive, the house you live in, how much money you make, and the clothes you wear. With my move to Austin, I gave up a lot of that to pursue a lifestyle and a career that brings me happiness instead of glory. It was rough at first–it still is–but I feel like my potential for happiness and a different kind of success is endless.
Perception and Experience
In the novel, I wanted to look at the problems that occur when one’s individual perceptions don’t sync up with those of the outside collective. The next book is going to be a study of how our impressions of people are shaped by the opinions of the group. In preparing for both books, I’ve been reading psychology and philosophy books that discuss individual and collective perceptions. So far, the best has been a Buddhist psychology book by Thich Naht Hahn called “Understanding Our Mind”
Our perception of the world is based on our past experiences and the collective perceptions we share with society, our family and our friends. When we add more personal experiences to our lives, we can calibrate our perceptions against those we have learned from others.
When I play back the moments in my life that define the perceptions of the moment I’m in, it’s always like a movie: The action takes place in the present, even though I’m aware it is actually in the past. I am all the experiences leading to this moment, but the person from 5, 10 or 20 years ago is not the same. I’ve changed.
In Austin, I’ve been constantly aware of the perceptions and experiences I had in college. It’s been a process of rediscovery and reconciliation. It offers the chance to look at my past ideas, compare them with my current ideas, and then decide which make sense. It’s kinda like recalibration of my perceptions–rebuilding myself based on who I was then with the experiences I’ve had up to now. It’s an interesting process that is difficult at times. Do people who’ve lived in one place all their lives ever experience this?
Mainstream Media Doesn’t Care About You
Andrew Sullivan posted this on his blog:
A reader writes:
Reading your blog over the past 30 something hours makes me realize why the MSM is really finished. I mean, this point has finally hit home.You are blogging real time events, with descriptions, evaluation, analysis, and eye witness accounts. You are gathering information from a myriad of sources and putting it out there for a cohesive message.CNN, NY Times, et al are merely running an article about “thousands” of protesters. Its a canned message from just a few stale sources.The revolution is definitely on in Iran. And its on in American journalism too.
The mainstream media filters and pushes messages. The news talks down to you. There’s no insight. There are no local stories. It’s a loud speaker squawking at you. It’s a business that has lost the ability to tell a story. It doesn’t care about you.
