Perceptions

[TC]

Sometimes life rushes by to quickly to notice the little things, those simple moments that have been replaced with the rat race routine. As I traveled around Europe this week, I had the luxury of stepping off the highway to hell long enough to take a second look at humanity, and if you take away the ideology, religions, and politics, you can find the same joys and desires expressed by just about everybody.

Perhaps spending so many hours on AO this last half year has in some respects left me with a different perspective, not necessarily negative, but at least more aware of the world as it really is, given the influence of topic ( you know....the " we're all gonna die" topics)

Although one finds the debate of issues ( or arguments) stimulating, and it does draw like minded people, but it seems to drain the soul a bit ( if that makes any sense) with whats involved in trying making yourself understood on a faceless media.

AO has its attraction, but one can only discuss doomsday so long before the subject gets absurd, personally I've found the everyday situations that people find themselves in to be much more interesting than why the world is going to end next Friday.

Maybe simplicity is more of a necessity than we realize, after spending the afternoon watching two small kids playing on the beach, and neither could speak the others language, I was amazed at their ability ( and want) to enjoy the same things! I found myself saying out-loud...my god what have we become...with our concepts and ideals.

When I got back here this evening, I had the overwhelming urge to heave my laptop in the trash, and quite simply longed after those days when playing in the sand was all that was important. ( again, if that makes any sense) Perhaps the old saying "what we don't know won't hurt us" but we can't seem to leave the information monster alone in its cave, we come back again and again poking at it with a stick.

This shouldn't be deemed as a negative rant, its just a laid back view on a sunny afternoon, and no doubt I'll find myself flirting with the beast this evening as well, but I have to admit its nice to walk away from the animal now and again.

Anybody else ever feel like that?

[Harry61]

Funny you should experience this on your vacation, sounds to me like you might have needed one! :bounce:

When I was first "watching" AO I went in to the doom day threads, the conspiracy and Political ones. I loved watching everyone argue, or agree and sometimes (yes you all know it) bond and make friends. I wasn't looking for anything like that for that matter. But once I was in and clicking, I like the interaction.

Now I find myself clicking into the entertainment or off topic ones first. It was once said to me that AO is like an extended family. Some of us login just to see what everyone else it doing, and what news they have to share. I know I did that a few times. Good news, bad news, hard luck stories, successes, helpful hints, etc. I could go on and on and on and you all know I can.

The kids, couldn't communication in the same language, but verbally isn't the only way to communicate. Non verbal is highly important tool. We don't see it here on the net, we can only express it by the icons on the side.

And, yet we are people from all over the world who communicate here. Most of us can and do get along on at least one issue. We can express ourselves without feeling guilty or going against our own Public norms. You all probably wouldn't know me if you met me in a Public setting. (however I do ramble on there too) You haven't seen my professional side the hat I have to wear every day. And I probably wouldn't be able to pick any of you out of a line up in person. (Except Maybe Demon, I know just enough to put 2 and 2 together... hee hee hee)

So in a way, being young and really not knowing or experiencing bad things would be a blissful life. Keeping it simple would be a wonderful way for the world to work, too bad it can't.. Remember the kids will grow up and adults can't play well together.

But it is nice to stop and smell the flowers. I hope I can take some time and sit on the side of a mountain and feel the same way.

Thanks for the lift up!

[Traveler]

There is no doubt that as adults we have lost something important.

The world system that we are required to conform to is a prison of our own making. The negative aspects of greed and thirst for power or authority over domains has triggered a rat race and the need to carve out a nitch that should not be nessesary.

The requirements to comply in a system that consume a never ending supply of cash enforces a constant demand for labor that consumes ones whole being for the most part of our entire productive lives.

The contentment of just being and enjoying the simple ways has been taken away from us by the constant demands that we provide sustenance to our invisible prison walls called the state which demands our loyalty to the detriment of some other, thus sparking constant competition for resources that could just as easily be shared.

It is our taught mindsets that need an overhaul. But the kids only get poisoned by it later.

[Mezurashi]

once, at work, on a rainy day, I was watching a few brave souls wander into an empty outdoor public seating area to try and do lunch under one of the somewhat inadequate canopies set up around the place. two women with three kids between them. the older two girls were obviously friends and the youngest girl was adorable in a 'waterproof' winter snowsuit looking thing, it was pink and everything.

the women and two older girls huddled close over the table and shared smiles as they tried to eat while being beset by flocks of pigeons and seagulls - kept at bay by the brave girls who swung their brollies to keep the table clear (since there weren't many people feeding said birds, the avain hunger quotient was up).

meanwhile, the littlest girl had wandered a few steps off, promptly found a puddle and began splashing with those absolutely similar 'kid stomps' that look the same no matter what part of the world you see it. a few splashes, a few giggles, then the girl sat down and started splashing the puddle with her hands.

the woman noticed and got her up, no dismay just a sort of 'oh jeez' thing. but the flash I had was that suddenly I missed being young enough that a wet ass mattered less than having pure fun in a puddle.

I still miss it - and these days having a wet ass can mean many things to me, pretty much all of them bad :shocked:

[Protostar]

Here is yet another reason why Shortround is respected here on AO.
As we all trudge through life with it's ups and downs, I have noticed a "surge"
here on AO with new-comers posting links and giving information to share with the rest of us. This shows us "old timers" that these particular thought provoking subjects are needed. And the need to share this info is equally important to all of us to keep us somewhat sane in a world of so much strife.

We all have become addicted to this information outlet. When we start the research, we post everything and talk about everything. To me, when I see a new-comer here I smile because they are on the road to getting the information and actually looking it up and responding instead of just taking say, George Noory's word for it. That way we learn the specifics. Not just pass around rumors to hype the end of the world thing. Learning how the world works <the mechanics> is the right step to take. Everyone works in their own "time frame" and eventually come to the same conclusions after the reasearch has been going on for awhile..
After 2+ years I have finally taken my hands off of the keyboard and enjoyed life more. This needed to be done in "my time" and I am able to enjoy life more because alot of questions have been answered or put into perspective.
It took over 2 yrs with dead eyes glaring at a soggy screen in the middle of the night pouring over abstract after abstract until I just couldn't take it anymore. heh.
But that's just me. I had to know how that damn magnetosphere worked and it's effect on the Earth. heh.

[Smoke]

Sometimes life rushes by to quickly to notice the little things, those simple moments that have been replaced with the rat race routine. As I traveled around Europe this week, I had the luxury of stepping off the highway to hell long enough to take a second look at humanity, and if you take away the ideology, religions, and politics, you can find the same joys and desires expressed by just about everybody.

Perhaps spending so many hours on AO this last half year has in some respects left me with a different perspective, not necessarily negative, but at least more aware of the world as it really is, given the influence of topic ( you know....the " we're all gonna die" topics)

Although one finds the debate of issues ( or arguments) stimulating, and it does draw like minded people, but it seems to drain the soul a bit ( if that makes any sense) with whats involved in trying making yourself understood on a faceless media.

AO has its attraction, but one can only discuss doomsday so long before the subject gets absurd, personally I've found the everyday situations that people find themselves in to be much more interesting than why the world is going to end next Friday.

Maybe simplicity is more of a necessity than we realize, after spending the afternoon watching two small kids playing on the beach, and neither could speak the others language, I was amazed at their ability ( and want) to enjoy the same things! I found myself saying out-loud...my god what have we become...with our concepts and ideals.

When I got back here this evening, I had the overwhelming urge to heave my laptop in the trash, and quite simply longed after those days when playing in the sand was all that was important. ( again, if that makes any sense) Perhaps the old saying "what we don't know won't hurt us" but we can't seem to leave the information monster alone in its cave, we come back again and again poking at it with a stick.

This shouldn't be deemed as a negative rant, its just a laid back view on a sunny afternoon, and no doubt I'll find myself flirting with the beast this evening as well, but I have to admit its nice to walk away from the animal now and again.

Anybody else ever feel like that?

S.R Without this site I would still just be a a clueless idiot, Because of this place I have opened up my mind to the world and opend up to every thing it has to offer I have looked at the people in the world and i have looked at humanity as we know it and its nothing pretty at all, Auctually its sad.

And I Agree with your information beast statement again also.


thats my 2 cents.

[Devon]

Shortround, it is odd that this topic has revealed itself to me in such a time of surfacing and questioning my place in this puzzle. You said simplicity is maybe more of a necessity than we realize and I believe that is 100 percent truth. We are given life and we choose to do what we want with it in that little period of time. The only thing you can do is fill your cup and nurture others with the overflow. I'm thankful for this site and the peope on here. I'm so much more spiritually in tune then before and I understand the fact that it is sometimes draining to put forth views that will really do justice to your perception and what signifies your personal purpose here, but I enjoy what you have to say and it's power sticks to me. I hope to have that effect on people as well. Spread the purity of it all. The simple little things that make it easier to live. Accept what we cannot change and act on what we can.
I hope to find beauty in the rest of my life and bring the same feelings to others. It is a journey full of lessons and of course it's not all happiness and sunshine, but that's something that we will always have in our lives and it makes us stronger. I think that's why teenagers all go through that selfish, excluded phase. I think it's time dedicated to us because we need it to realize what is important in life and how to accept our differences and appreciate them. Anyways... that's my say. Peace guys and have a wonderful day =]

[Demonskates]

I agree. I had a moment similar to that today. Today i droped $2400 on my new bass amp and bass speakers. ( Ampeg SVT classic tube head, and the SVT 8 x 10 speaker cabinet) While people are fighting in some shitehole for my right to play loud ass music it hit me. If they are doing that, well im gonna play that damn thing into the ground to the best of my ability, because they afford me that freedom. I finally know what i was put here for. I heard that thing, and it was the best sounding amp i ever heard, and i own it. i was like "hello tall dark and gorgeous, where have you been all my life?"
Im gonna play that thing until it kills me. Music is my sanity and freedom and religion, all in one. Instead of worrying about everything going on around me, im gonna focus on music. It was that simple all along. where the hell have i been?:vbroll:

[Smoke]

Shortround, it is odd that this topic has revealed itself to me in such a time of surfacing and questioning my place in this puzzle. You said simplicity is maybe more of a necessity than we realize and I believe that is 100 percent truth. We are given life and we choose to do what we want with it in that little period of time. The only thing you can do is fill your cup and nurture others with the overflow. I'm thankful for this site and the peope on here. I'm so much more spiritually in tune then before and I understand the fact that it is sometimes draining to put forth views that will really do justice to your perception and what signifies your personal purpose here, but I enjoy what you have to say and it's power sticks to me. I hope to have that effect on people as well. Spread the purity of it all. The simple little things that make it easier to live. Accept what we cannot change and act on what we can.
I hope to find beauty in the rest of my life and bring the same feelings to others. It is a journey full of lessons and of course it's not all happiness and sunshine, but that's something that we will always have in our lives and it makes us stronger. I think that's why teenagers all go through that selfish, excluded phase. I think it's time dedicated to us because we need it to realize what is important in life and how to accept our differences and appreciate them. Anyways... that's my say. Peace guys and have a wonderful day =]


It gets better and bettter :)

[Devon]

I agree. I had a moment similar to that today. Today i droped $2400 on my new bass amp and bass speakers. ( Ampeg SVT classic tube head, and the SVT 8 x 10 speaker cabinet) While people are fighting in some shitehole for my right to play loud ass music it hit me. If they are doing that, well im gonna play that damn thing into the ground to the best of my ability, because they afford me that freedom. I finally know what i was put here for. I heard that thing, and it was the best sounding amp i ever heard, and i own it. i was like "hello tall dark and gorgeous, where have you been all my life?"
Im gonna play that thing until it kills me. Music is my sanity and freedom and religion, all in one. Instead of worrying about everything going on around me, im gonna focus on music. It was that simple all along. where the hell have i been?:vbroll:

Nice. I am so thankful for music, I know what you're saying. I've also decided never to stop playing it. It's also something every race has in common..heh.
p.s....sounds like a pretty killer system!!!

[Cartesiantheater]

Sometimes life rushes by to quickly to notice the little things, those simple moments that have been replaced with the rat race routine. As I traveled around Europe this week, I had the luxury of stepping off the highway to hell long enough to take a second look at humanity, and if you take away the ideology, religions, and politics, you can find the same joys and desires expressed by just about everybody.

Perhaps spending so many hours on AO this last half year has in some respects left me with a different perspective, not necessarily negative, but at least more aware of the world as it really is, given the influence of topic ( you know....the " we're all gonna die" topics)

Although one finds the debate of issues ( or arguments) stimulating, and it does draw like minded people, but it seems to drain the soul a bit ( if that makes any sense) with whats involved in trying making yourself understood on a faceless media.

AO has its attraction, but one can only discuss doomsday so long before the subject gets absurd, personally I've found the everyday situations that people find themselves in to be much more interesting than why the world is going to end next Friday.

Maybe simplicity is more of a necessity than we realize, after spending the afternoon watching two small kids playing on the beach, and neither could speak the others language, I was amazed at their ability ( and want) to enjoy the same things! I found myself saying out-loud...my god what have we become...with our concepts and ideals.

When I got back here this evening, I had the overwhelming urge to heave my laptop in the trash, and quite simply longed after those days when playing in the sand was all that was important. ( again, if that makes any sense) Perhaps the old saying "what we don't know won't hurt us" but we can't seem to leave the information monster alone in its cave, we come back again and again poking at it with a stick.
This shouldn't be deemed as a negative rant, its just a laid back view on a sunny afternoon, and no doubt I'll find myself flirting with the beast this evening as well, but I have to admit its nice to walk away from the animal now and again.

Anybody else ever feel like that?

This is where the wisdom of the Adam and Eve Myth presents itself. There comes a point when you go too far down the rabbit hole to EVER get back. I don't think it is all bad, but we really do sacrifice something irreplaceable to make the journey.

A journey that may very well lead us right back to where we started.

[Smoke]

This is where the wisdom of the Adam and Eve Myth presents itself. There comes a point when you go too far down the rabbit hole to EVER get back. I don't think it is all bad, but we really do sacrifice something irreplaceable to make the journey.

A journey that may very well lead us right back to where we started.

CONCUR!!!!

But I dont think it could ever lead me back to where I started.

[Becks]

I consider myself lucky in the simplicity category. I keep things simple and I keep the state of mind of a child while embracing the maturity and responsibility of an adult. I know I have more fun this way. I think this came about because certain people that I have come in contact with have touched me in a positive way. I saw quickly that if people tried to put me down for any reason and I let them know it didn't bother me, I remained happier and then became more aware of people throwing compliments at me.

I also starting acting as if the things that went on around me were a social experiment. I get on the bus and watch everyone. I have come up with generalizations about people and learned that not all generalizations are bad, racist, sexist, culturalist etc. I learned that in most cases when those terms are used, it's because people are afraid to see the truth or what people might think of them for using them. I also figured out what makes certain people make certain generalizations about someone like me based on my looks, how I act, where I shop and eat, etc.

I learned to be a bit of a smarty-bum when necessary and when to play nice.

I have applied all of this to the people I interact with on the Internet as well.

It's funny how the internet has spawned the troll phenomenon. They say people get gutsier in forums because they don't have to face people in person and feel more at liberty to say what they want. Not me. I like it that way.

Some people find me weird and other people are attracted to me because of it. I'm a random person who says and does random things as a part of my regular routine and I will never change.

I got simpler when things became more complicated. The interaction on internet forums is another social experiment for me that helps me to remember why I became this way.

[TC]

God you people make me proud sometimes, I don't think I've read such down to earth and realistic posts since I joined this site! Hats off to you guys. ( came home from France today, nice to be home again)

[Demonskates]

God you people make me proud sometimes, I don't think I've read such down to earth and realistic posts since I joined this site! Hats off to you guys. ( came home from France today, nice to be home again)

Glad your back safe Shortround. Good to know your back home proper. I soppose that means we get the unabridged Shortround posts now hopefully,lol.:bounce:

[Becks]

Glad to hear you're home safe Shortround!

From your pics, it looks like you had a wonderful time.

[TC]

Glad your back safe Shortround. Good to know your back home proper. I soppose that means we get the unabridged Shortround posts now hopefully,lol.:bounce:

Not to fear! I type as we speak.... and unabridged as needed. LOL

[TC]

Glad to hear you're home safe Shortround!

From your pics, it looks like you had a wonderful time.

Why thank you dear heart! its nice to be home, and yes I had a wonderful time. BTW, I'm glad to see you posting more girl!

[Violet Haze]

What an excellent thread.

It poses an exciting, attention-getting advertisment of this site for newbies here.

[TC]

Thank you! thats nice to hear.

Welcome to AO, there is a lot of good people here who post some great stuff.

[medicvet]

I also starting acting as if the things that went on around me were a social experiment.

You know if I could think like that without the part that I think the VA is using me as some kind of test subject or guinea pig, I would be doing a lot better than I am now, lol!

I like this forum and found I haven't been as bad off because I am able to open up here in a way I haven't been able to online in a long time for some reason which I have yet to figure out. I don't even think I should try to figure it out because if I do that might spoil it. ;)

But I do like it here.

[TC]

Well I'm glad your here, personally I think you've become a real asset to this place.

[medicvet]

I'm an asset? Well I have a set, because my ass is so big it deserves to be in the plural and not singular sense..

but I gotcha. :p

[TC]

I guess in some respects AO makes you acutely aware of the perspectives of others, and with age, this ability to see or hear ( inwardly) becomes diminished because of permanently fixed opinions.

I know personally that certain issues are difficult to let go of, and one ends up being prejudice towards things that have been hotly debated, maybe its this dilemma that motivated me to post the original thread to begin with, as I suddenly realized just how short life really is, and the need to take in the small genuine gestures that we once gave so easily in our youth.

I have been with this site going on 9 months now, and if one thing has become apparent to me, its the reflective image of myself, as well as the perceptions of others,( if that makes sense) that comes out in a written word, and sometimes its a rude awakening (personally) when I see just how unbending we become.

We all wish a peaceful world, yet we allow our own opinions to limit that possibility even on a public web page, and every time I find myself howling at someone for their opinion, I regret ever opening my mouth, simply because I'm tired of the negative side of it, ( if that makes sense) even if the person I howled was a complete pain in the ass.

At this point in my life, I would part with a testicle just to relive some of those moments as a child when seeing someone else happy was enough to satisfy any needs you may have had at that given moment, and maybe thats the wonder of life that we have lost with the passage of time.

But the upside to this place is the slow but steady making of good friends, that may have otherwise slipped by if this medium didn't exist, so I'm on the plus side no matter what.

[Harry61]

.
But the upside to this place is the slow but steady making of good friends, that may have otherwise slipped by if this medium didn't exist, so I'm on the plus side no matter what.


:Bow: :Bow: :Bow: :Bow: :Bow:

I couln't have said that.. I would have meant it but I couldnt have said that....