tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349472.post8089973988493965860..comments2024-03-28T14:22:37.153-07:00Comments on mole: Dubious FuturesDalehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523194846272870013noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349472.post-33337525517930524162020-11-24T09:29:38.761-08:002020-11-24T09:29:38.761-08:00"much of what I had to do was lose my disdain..."much of what I had to do was lose my disdain for practical planning and detail"<br />Yes. It takes a long while to stop hoping for divine intervention / fortune's arrangement of my fate. Doing the work to plan and execute, and as Joan said fail and keep trying repeatedly, is probably the whole secret of life. Nimblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16426446791363667887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349472.post-72620163777379865922020-11-23T11:22:33.722-08:002020-11-23T11:22:33.722-08:00"Such attraction as I had from the start, may..."Such attraction as I had from the start, maybe, was my willingness to confess that I didn't know how to live." Yep. It was precisely because you were always willing to second-guess yourself that many of your insights seemed genuine. B.S. and wisdom may not be as far apart as we suppose. Shamans, the original psychotherapists, often rely on sleight-on-hand. And the figure of the wise fool is nearly universal.Dave Bontanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349472.post-72624169659720309922020-11-23T10:39:18.427-08:002020-11-23T10:39:18.427-08:00I think the best any of us can do, really, is lead...I think the best any of us can do, really, is lead by example, but people really do want An Answer. I've managed to muddle through a number of Very Hard Things, and sometimes people want to know how I did it. My answer almost always is . . . I was willing to keep trying, and trying, and failing, and refining my approach, over and over and over again until I found a system that worked, and then I stuck to that system but no system stays static, so I still have to keep refining it, but it's much easier to refine a system in place than to build it from scratch every time.<br /><br />This is not, I find, the truth that people want to hear. And yet, it's how things work, as far as I can tell, and the only real baseline wisdom in the world is Stay Open. Be Curious. Don't Assume You Know How You Tick. Maybe the Thing You Hate Is the Thing You Need . . . Actually, It Probably Is.<br /><br />...all of which is very uninspiring, and not suitable for a bumper sticker. Joannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5349472.post-85292225176041707582020-11-23T10:15:47.263-08:002020-11-23T10:15:47.263-08:00When I was sixteen, I'd curated a personality ...When I was sixteen, I'd curated a personality for myself: wise, Earth-Mother, little hippie girl other people looked to for wisdom. Because for some reason other people DID look to me for wisdom, that personality gelled and set. In short order after entering college it began to break down. I didn't have my entourage. I had panic attacks for years and developed a very strong attachment to alcohol. You made me recall how delicious it felt to have other people consider me wise. In order to get to a place with more authenticity and fewer panic attacks and less alcohol, I had to give up on that false pleasure. Man, it took a while.Murr Brewsterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03422638986410813520noreply@blogger.com