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Mtn. Girl
Ill keep my fingers crossed for you while I already have them crossed for me! I had a job interview yesterday and was told ill be called back for a second one next week!

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mike5998
it'll happen mountain girl.

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Mtn. Girl
It happened indeed!!! I start my new job on Oct 10th!

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Doc Sanchez
So now I only have to convince the real boss that employing me is the best for him, his company and me. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

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mike5998
it'll happen doc.

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Doc Sanchez
And guess what - after a few days of fighting hard with my boss and getting all the others here on my side, of slamming doors and storming out of the office, they gave me regular employment yesterday, from october 1st!

if anybody else needs any wishes granted, just let me know.

or you can just do what i do.

i just flip a coin for good news or bad news.

half the time it's this.

half the time it's that.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/2011 11:56AM by mike5998.

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Doc Sanchez
Hey Mountain Girl, congrats!!! That's great!!!

And guess what - after a few days of fighting hard with my boss and getting all the others here on my side, of slamming doors and storming out of the office, they gave me regular employment yesterday, from october 1st! I won't get rich, it's only 25 hours a week, and it's limited to six months for now (until things get better, I suppose), but it's better than all the alternatives. I can work a little less and get paid the same, and have all the insurances I need, which is the very best part of the whole thing!!!

So, thanks to you all here, and Mike: Extra thanks for your Haikus, they're beautiful!

So, yeah, three cheers to all of us for fighting the world and having won this one battle!

Congrats to you Doc!!!

CHEERS!!

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mike5998
if anybody else needs any wishes granted, just let me know.

If wishes were horses
Beggars would ride:
If turnips were watches
I would wear one by my side.
And if ifs and ands were pots and pans,
The tinker would never work!

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A fly can't bird but a bird can fly.

i wish i had the ability to become invisible.

i mean, visible.

gotta be careful what you wish for!

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i'm not sure i want to be part of the system for too much longer.

there has to be more to this whole existence than just accruing money, moving from one awkward social encounter to the next, playing stupid mindgames to try, or to try and avoid, sex, and turning up to work day in, day out to a job i enjoy, just to accrue more money to continue to spend on merely existing.

and i say this from a position of reasonable comfort (defined by western standards).

maybe that's not a true position of comfort - maybe a position of comfort is not to do any of things i do and just exist in some other way that i'm missing.

i dunno.

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let's get dressed up in costumes and dance by the bar.

you're part of the system, even after death.

only, when you're dead, you have even less control about the way you're manipulated.

they could tack you up in the village square with a big sign above your head saying:

"corporate shill whose favorite band is foreigner"

i say, fall in love with the system, and give up complaining.

your life will be better.

as will everyone else's.

is there ever another option besides the one where the most people are pleased?

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Mike5998
is there ever another option besides the one where the most people are pleased?

I don't know, Mike, if you're right here. I see so many people not being pleased by the options they have but lacking alternatives. I somehow feel that I'm with Betamax: I don't want to be part of all this. But I can't think of a functioning alternative either.

Sometimes I get the strong feeling that there's something fundamentally wrong with it all. We have come so far with our civilization, we have invented so much stuff to make our lives comfortable and better, and still we lead our lives directed by others, by money, we do alienated work (I don't know how to say this expression by Karl Marx correctly in english), so many people suffer and are afraid every day of their lives (and this all happens in our so-called western civilisation and not in some war-ridden third world country). All because someone told us that we have to make money. But what for? Does satisfaction, does beauty and happiness come from money? Could our lives not be happier, only in some other way, if we didn't have to run after money all the time, money that's not ours, if we didn't have to do some work that's not attached to us at all, but that's just some capitalist pig's desire to make more and more money?

Most of this doesn't have to do with me at all. I just try to survive and to be as free as I can, but I can't find the other way...

But maybe you're right after all, Mike. Maybe the only way is to love the system. To give up the fight and to be happy within the system. To take your little liberties here and there, but to not offend anyone and anything. Maybe that's the only way to find some peace...

Man, look at me: I finally got my job, I finally got rid of loads of problems, but I still feel unhappy and so damn tired... My body is completely exhausted by fighting a fight I actually don't want to care about, I should be out at a concert and party tonight, but my head aches, my belly aches, and I'm sick since days... All because I had to fight like an asshole to get this job. This all sucks.

beta and doc.

get this book from your local library.

it's short, simple, easy to read.

it's everywhere you wanna be.

[www.amazon.com]

i'm not kidding around here, either.

it's rare.

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Mike, that's a pretty good idea. I've been reading the Tao Te Ching recently, as well as the Zhuangzi and Confucius dialogues. It does me good, I somehow understand it on some subconscious level. But I don't agree in the complete passiveness of their teachings.
I think that you sometimes have to fight, even though you don't want to. I rather go with Marcus Aurelius and his "Try to humbly cope with the world where it's not worth fighting, but fight where you need to". If I got him right...

What also soothes me is reading Plato. He's so cheerful and humourous and teaches me to use my mind. And before all, those thoughts are so far from today's times but still so precious and important. It brings me peace to read words that are two and a half thousand years old. They make today's problems seem idle and small. (I don't want to say I understand Plato, I'm far from it, but I love reading his words.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/01/2011 10:21PM by Doc Sanchez.

i've ordered that book, mike.

i'll shuffle it up to the top of my 'to read' list.

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let's get dressed up in costumes and dance by the bar.

Doc, you just totally convinced me to go out and buy some plato. it has been a long time since i read him. the characterization of reading plato as soothing sounds so appealing. that is my new late afternoon task. my early afternoon task was working, which is a lame sunday early afternoon task.

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The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone. - Martin Amis

the way that he writes is special. Whilst his 'Portrait of Socrates' (apology, crito and phaedo) isn't his work, the way it scans is still wonderful.

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let's get dressed up in costumes and dance by the bar.

we all have the ability to change the way we think about things.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/03/2011 10:33AM by mike5998.

Yall homeboys all love yaselves too much! U'll never be happy no matter what "system" ya is in! It's not da system dat need to change, it's all da gunk and rubbish in ya mind dat need to change?

Mike have no idea, just feed da delusions, thinks he's got "free will" yet is attached to all the habits his addicted with. Don't listen to the homeboy about life. Blind leading the blind with meaningless witty words.

Confucius is right, of you reject what you don't want to hear. Fighting will just gets you into more suffering.

Seriously, look around the world, you think you've got problems?

i'm aware of all i am.

thuggy, are you aware of all you are?

here's a hint.

you present no solutions.

you only point out things you see as problems.

point out some nice stuff sometime.

make people see nice stuff.

know what i'm saying!

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thug4lyfe
Confucius is right, of you reject what you don't want to hear. Fighting will just gets you into more suffering.

Seriously, look around the world, you think you've got problems?

I agree with this. And I don't think I've got problems, I think the world is trying to make it's idle problems mine.

I don't want to fight to make my life better, but to make the world better, even if this sounds like a cliche and a lie. Actually I'm satisfied with my life. But I've got the impression that "the system" doesn't want me to lead a simple, satisfied and humble life. If I say so, people always ask me why I've no motivations to do better and don't believe me when I say I do it the best I can, and that it feels good. So they poke me here and push me there, and over is my little peace.
And then I have to fight - fight to get my balance back. Fight to make them believe I'm fine the way I am. And last but not least fight to survive because they won't grant me the little I'm asking for, maybe because they envy my simple life, maybe because they're evil and want to destroy everything that's not like them. Maybe because they're secretly afraid of realizing that their super-duper way of living and having a career and money and all that crap isn't the only (and maybe not even the best) way of living. And so they poke and push me harder to make me like them.

But still: My own problems are small and not worth mentioning. Actually I've got enough to eat, I've got a small flat, now I even got insurance and a small but steady job. I've got a wonderful partner and I've got music and literature and friends. That's far more than I'm asking for - a little peace without fear. And I'm so grateful for all of this.

But why do they put this fear into my heart all the time? I don't want to bother them. Why do they always want to bother me?
And me, I'm still strong enough to withstand all this up to a certain point. But there's so many real victims out there, people who are too weak or sick or blind to fight. And that's the point where I lose my temper and get really angry. Poor people just want to make a small living, and "the system" does everything to make it harder and harder for them, instead of protecting them. I can't sit still or even leave the room to not fight when I see this, no matter what Confuze or Lao Tse teaches.

Oh, and WC: That's cool! I recently managed to read the whole Politeia, which was pretty hard for it's so packed with ideas (and some ideas I didn't understand at all). A friend of mine studies Plato and is writing his State doctorate about him, and he told me to now go back to some earlier dialogues about virtue to better understand the way Plato argues. This friend is a big help finding my way through Plato, I guess without him I wouldn't have the courage to dive into his texts.

What also soothes me very much is reading the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus by Ludwig Wittgenstein. I really don't understand one single word in it. No kidding. This is just far beyond my understanding. But Wittgenstein has such a clear, structured, simple language that I feel very comforted by reading his sentences. If you have trouble sleeping, try this.
It's like my dentist: He mumbles very much and has a calm voice, and when he wears his mask and is talking to me, all I understand is "mumblemumblemumble", but this calms me down so much. (Jeez, Wittgenstein would turn over in his grave if he read this...)

nobody can do anything to you; it's your choice to allow or disallow.

being aware of the choices you're making is crucial.

i'm making this choice.

why am i making this choice, if it's making me miserable?

am i

some kind of fuck nut!

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thug4lyfe
Seriously, look around the world, you think you've got problems?

No, but that doesn't mean i can't feel dissatisfied with my own direction in life.

I've said before that i'm relatively comfortable, but my issue is with how i'm living my twenties. i enjoy my job, but I've just pulled back to back 12 hour shifts and will probably do a couple more this week just to get a project out on time that has the benefit, really, of speeding up people's journeys to work. It makes them safer, sure, but it's mainly about speed. When i look at the deadlines we're trying to hit, and the response of the management if we don't hit them, i just want to laugh at them. so. fucking. hard. Does it really matter if we're a day late? Of course it doesn't. it's a fucking road, for pete's sake! Is this any way to spend my twenties?

and then i think "shit, people less fortunate pull 18 hour shifts just to get water" and it just throws my head in the other direction.

i think i'm angling towards a shift in using what i know (i'm an electrical engineer) to go abroad and help people, but i'm so scared to put that idea out there for three reasons:

1. it's not very altruistic to declare your intentions when the plan is nothing more than a thought.
2. because the plan is nothing more than a thought, i'm scared to pin it down to text in case i don't fulfill it and then i just feel like a shit failure as a result.
3. what if i hate it? what then?

also, i'm not so bothered about responses to this - it's really fucking good to vent

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let's get dressed up in costumes and dance by the bar.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/04/2011 03:38PM by betamax.

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betamax

i think i'm angling towards a shift in using what i know (i'm an electrical engineer) to go abroad and help people, but i'm so scared to put that idea out there for three reasons:

2. because the plan is nothing more than a thought, i'm scared to pin it down to text in case i don't fulfill it and then i just feel like a shit failure as a result.
3. what if i hate it? what then?

I would far rather try, and find that I'm not cut out for something, then be left wondering if I ever could. (Not that I do, but I would rather.) And if you do fail, in addition to having having tried, you can at least fall back on something that sounds at least like moderate success.

you only have to be yourself.

doing more gets you brownie points though.

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dtrom4

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betamax

i think i'm angling towards a shift in using what i know (i'm an electrical engineer) to go abroad and help people, but i'm so scared to put that idea out there for three reasons:

2. because the plan is nothing more than a thought, i'm scared to pin it down to text in case i don't fulfill it and then i just feel like a shit failure as a result.
3. what if i hate it? what then?

I would far rather try, and find that I'm not cut out for something, then be left wondering if I ever could. (Not that I do, but I would rather.) And if you do fail, in addition to having having tried, you can at least fall back on something that sounds at least like moderate success.

this is my currnet feeling, i think.

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let's get dressed up in costumes and dance by the bar.

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betamax
i think i'm angling towards a shift in using what i know (i'm an electrical engineer) to go abroad and help people, but i'm so scared to put that idea out there for three reasons:

I is a civil engineer homeboy. Thought about doin dat as well, cuz I is thinkin dat my work and life is pointless just sitting hur in a comfortable earnin big bucks while da rest of da world in such a bad shape. I thought exactly da same thing, why is I too chicken to go help others?

But then I realised that I should be grateful for the current comfortable situation I am, it's not in conflict with wanting to help other "less-forunate" people. Especially I also believe dat there is no such thing as luck or un-warranted previlage, we are the way we are right now because of our actions in the past, we deserve everything we get. But at da same time we also have everything because of the contribution of everybody else on this planet, including "annoying bosses" and other "stupid office drones". Simply stop spending less money on little hobbies/distractions on more cds, computer games, drugs and alcohol means you can spend an extra dollar on charities etc. By distracting ourselves on play things and stupifying our brain on substances won't make the mental suffering and suffering around the world dissapper, it's simply escapism. We may not able to be inside disaster or famine zones right now, but there are trained people who are actively helping people around the world that need your $ for support. Every baby dying of starvation is grateful for every drop of nutrient that helps them survive.

"Self-help gurus" and internet smart guys like mike can simply say things like "be yourself". But what is the "self"? the angry, professional and high incomed youth thats dissappointed with the world? Where our emotions and happiness is controlled by other people's actions, the weather and the type of music thats around us? Is that actually free will that can constitute a "self"?

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thug4lyfe

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betamax
i think i'm angling towards a shift in using what i know (i'm an electrical engineer) to go abroad and help people, but i'm so scared to put that idea out there for three reasons:

I is a civil engineer homeboy. Thought about doin dat as well, cuz I is thinkin dat my work and life is pointless just sitting hur in a comfortable earnin big bucks while da rest of da world in such a bad shape. I thought exactly da same thing, why is I too chicken to go help others?

But then I realised that I should be grateful for the current comfortable situation I am, it's not in conflict with wanting to help other "less-forunate" people. Especially I also believe dat there is no such thing as luck or un-warranted previlage, we are the way we are right now because of our actions in the past, we deserve everything we get. But at da same time we also have everything because of the contribution of everybody else on this planet, including "annoying bosses" and other "stupid office drones". Simply stop spending less money on little hobbies/distractions on more cds, computer games, drugs and alcohol means you can spend an extra dollar on charities etc. By distracting ourselves on play things and stupifying our brain on substances won't make the mental suffering and suffering around the world dissapper, it's simply escapism. We may not able to be inside disaster or famine zones right now, but there are trained people who are actively helping people around the world that need your $ for support. Every baby dying of starvation is grateful for every drop of nutrient that helps them survive.

"Self-help gurus" and internet smart guys like mike can simply say things like "be yourself". But what is the "self"? the angry, professional and high incomed youth thats dissappointed with the world? Where our emotions and happiness is controlled by other people's actions, the weather and the type of music thats around us? Is that actually free will that can constitute a "self"?

amazing post thuggy!

post more!

i'm an internet smart guy!

i know what the self is, and i can tell you what it is.

you would probably say though, "dat ain't de tru self."

i'm just goin by the dictionary biz!

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kobe
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Can someone turn this into a tender, heartfelt ballad?

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betamax
i'm not sure i want to be part of the system for too much longer.

there has to be more to this whole existence than just accruing money, moving from one awkward social encounter to the next, playing stupid mindgames to try, or to try and avoid, sex, and turning up to work day in, day out to a job i enjoy, just to accrue more money to continue to spend on merely existing.

It's all in the way you think about these things. For example, try thinking about it this way: "Cream, get money, get bitches, stay on my grind."