none of the above

[featherlamp]

House built previously on Straw

I am sorry to my self for being gullible
and for letting my interpretations of the
ideal replace reality.

I had my mind set on a different path forward.
I don’t know what to decide.
It’s like I don’t have any possessions any more.
I need to build my house
on something more sturdy.

Maybe I need to choose none of the above.

[inavalan]

Is this poetry, or you invite spiritually slanted commentary?

[melvin]

Nov 6, 2024 14:42:56 GMT -5 featherlamp said:

House built previously on Straw

I am sorry to my self for being gullible
and for letting my interpretations of the
ideal replace reality.

I had my mind set on a different path forward.
I don’t know what to decide.
It’s like I don’t have any possessions any more.
I need to build my house
on something more sturdy.

Maybe I need to choose none of the above.

I had this reputation of being called , " The Class Casanova, " because there was never a girl classmate that passed by I did not court. But when they found out I courted them, all rejected me. I should have chosen " None of the Above". I thought if I courted all of them, there maybe at least one or two that would accept me.

[featherlamp]

"What can I know?"  Is a standard philosophical question.  "None of the above" is more of a discipline about where not to look.  My ideals seem to tell me where heaven is.  What are my ideals but distractions.  If I am looking at my ideals, I am not looking at the truth.  I wanted my ideals to run for government office.  What are my ideals but my preference for entertainment.  And the people who ignored law and order, what are their ideals but their preferred form of entertainment.

One's entertainment preferences is not the equivalent of direct truth coming from one's source.  What amuses one, what tickles their fancy, regardless of how high or how low the ideal might seem to the neutral observer, is a form of self-amusement.  What can the child amusing himself with toys really know?  He enjoys a social contract with himself.  He values his entertaintment but he is not a thinker in the truest sense because his selections are coming from a closest system of what he thinks he knows.

None of the above is discipline that does not play favorites.  Thinking people need to give up their well-intentioned ideals.  People winning under these circumstances lead to temporary, flip flopping victories.  We all have to give up all of our ideals and live as innocent children.  The person writing this essay has to give up writing this essay.  None of the above means the writers of entertainment get to step down and stop trying to amuse themselves.

[inavalan]

Nov 7, 2024 3:37:20 GMT -5 featherlamp said:

"What can I know?"  Is a standard philosophical question.  "None of the above" is more of a discipline about where not to look. ...

I believe that such a question requires an intuitive answer. If your answer is intuitively reached, although likely still distorted by your beliefs, is more useful to you than when you reach it intellectually, and even more than when it is affected emotionally.

As somebody used to say, I paraphrase, you can know only that you exist, not knowing what this you are.

Edit: It seems your musing is mostly emotional, and partly intellectual, but there is always an intuitive interpretation (to be found in it) pointing to some useful knowledge, and guidance.

[melvin]

I think , "none of the above" is equivalent to "neti neti," which is a Sanskrit phrase meaning "not this, not that." Conveying the idea of negation/rejection of specific identities, options, etc.

[unseekingseeker]

I’d say, the answers are best found in the void of rippleless thought rested silence, realised in the heart, not mind.

[featherlamp]

Let's say a person's thoughts have been distorted by emotion, could it have been the failure of the thought that created the emotion or was the problem with the emotion all along, and the appearance of a failed thinking mechanism was merely a symptom?

Discrepancy in thinking mirrors discrepancy in feeling.  They compliment each other. A person who is loyal to his distortions, I feel, will have trouble telling them apart. He will not really be able to distinguish a problem with his emotions and a problem with his thinking mechanism.

I think this is where I am at right now because of recent anxieties. Though I am striving towards “not this and not that,” I have not arrived to this place yet.  What can I know? “I can only know I exist.” I agree with this. Though I am afflicted by distortions they are not truly defining me. I am aware that I exist which means I do not really fit into the mold of "problem with thinking" or "problem with emotions".  

Maybe the root cause of my distortions, for me, is that I use myself as a reference point for just about everything.  I talk about myself a lot.  As long as my self is a metaphor for other people, maybe I'm okay.  But as soon as I start to wallow in despair, I need to do something different.  Maybe I could try to be of service to others.  But I need to start small because I am in the habit of being a tad indulgent with my emotions.

[featherlamp]

I am in a state of healing.  
An idea has occured to me, a recurring idea in fact.
All things, all writings, all poems, all haiku, all creations
all mistakes, all errors, all shortcomings are are are are are are are good.

Dropping my cell phone in the mud is good.  
Person living outside my circle is good.

My strongest unintentions are good.

Not according to my will they are not!
Things are good when you let them be as they are
in God's time.

I am right now going to say a prayer for bumble bee.  I can't say his name.
O bumble bee let there be a gentle buzz in you.
Let the will of the people turn you into a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.
O Peppermint Paddy may she receive the sex change operation she had asked for.
And let pig pen receive the treatment he needs.
And let filabuster phil find some other government job.

O Lord help me change my attitude so I am no longer a hateful person.
Maybe if you think about it, this is where politics has gone wrong.
It's easier to hate one's enemies than spend a single moment in
Charlie Brown's shoes.

I am going to wake up tomorrow and this post will be gone.
I will kick not the ball and fall.  I will yell good grief angry
at the Charlie Brown.