Interruptions

I try not to let this be a place where I come to rant. There
is usually a cool down period on topics that get me steamed. This has had about
a 12 month cooling off period, but just when the coals cool, they are given a
new blast from the blow-torch of society. In the interest of fairness, I am not
with out fault in what we are about to talk about, which as always, makes the
irritation all the more stinging.

It appears that interrupting has become a nationwide
epidemic. We feel a right to make our opinion known, and that MUST be done
right this minute. Where did this come from? You see it in on television… hear
it on talk radio… and you can bet you will find it in everyday conversations
that range from the work place, to the worship space, to… in the case tonight…
just outside the theater. 3 times,
I tried to say something relevant to the conversation, 3 times, by two
different people I was cut off. It’s rude, but we as a society have decided
that rude is good, ok, and normal.

This is an irritation for me, and unlike some of the
mysteries that raddle my brain, this one, I know the origin of. When I was
being raised, one of the fundamental values that you give each person their
turn to say what they have to say. You listen to what the person is saying, not
just hear the words coming out of their mouth. Wait a beat, and then give your
response.

Verbal interruptions are not nearly as irritating as
physical interruptions. Mind your body positioning when in a conversation with
more than one person. If there are three of you, and one person decides that
they are going to stand between the other two, with their back to one of them…
that is an interruption… that is rude.

Are we so impatient that waiting five minutes will really
ruin our day?

Is it going to be so tough to take a few breaths and have a
moment of silence between thoughts?

I didn’t think so.

Digital Vacation

Many seem to find that this creation, this new virtual world, is a place where we can go to escape the real world. I know, I used it like that for many years. When I realized that this was becoming a second life, on top of my real world, I knew things had gotten out of hand. Yesterday, I deactivated my Facebook page. There are others whose pages will be taken down, but they are so minute that it is not worth mentioning by name. Suffice to say, my digital life is about to become a digital hobby.

Why? Why all this hoop-la about a digital life and an second world? Because it can be used as an escape hatch to get away from this world. We are all living a profound existence whose lessons, though sometimes apparent to one person alone, are worth more than any amount of code. Games can be fun, but not when they get in the way of life.

I am not demanding that the world do the same. Such a foolish gesture would be the very definition of arrogance and idiocy. I do, however, want to bring this to the blogsphere: How much do you spend in this new life... this digital life? Are there other things you should be doing? What chances are you missing... searching the internet landscape for "new and thrilling" pages of code?

The Next Page

For some time, I have taken a leave of absence from the blogsphere. Mostly, it was because I didn't have anything to say. Most of what I was spewing on a daily basis was a cloud of liberal this, and neo-con that... but then again, this is an election year.

November the 4th has come and gone, and now, I believe that a new course is in order. A revamping and reboot of the blog. You will notice that I have kept very, very few of the posts from before. This happened for two reasons. The first, most of them were not worth salvaging. They were angry, ill-directed and inflated. The second, they were helping no one, least of all me. If this publication, digital though it may be, is going to have a future, it must be one of purpose, one that has a goal, one that speaks a message that is near to my heart. So, from this point on, I am going to try and do bi-monthly posts on topics related to inner peace. In my absence, I have found a number of fantastic books on the subject, and will be citing from two principle sources.

The first is Thich Nhat Hanh, a Zen Buddhist Master from Plum Village, France. His teachings on ecumenism, cooperation, human worth, and environmental stewardship have made him a source of light and right thought for me, a safe harbor when the storms of life get a little too serious. Poetic that this safe harbor is found in a tradition of Buddhism that is founded in the principle of laughing at how serious and crass life can be.

The second is one that I found almost by acciedent. Hastings, a local video store, has had several copies of one movie for sale for a long time now. The movie is called “Peaceful Warrior,” and is the film adaptation of the book, Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman. In the book, and film, Millman gives a story of Millman's own personal journey of self discovery. I won't ruin the story, because it is far too good to sum up even beyond what I have done already, so please, pick up a copy of either and settle in for a good story. Millman has also expounded upon the teachings that, over the years, he has received from numerous teachers, most notably, a man named Socrates who worked in an old service station in Berkley, CA.

So, to sum up what I hope to be putting up on here for you all to read, the purpose of this blog has become clear. In the words of Plato “Be kind, for we are all on a long journey.” I hope that what I find, and share, will be of use to someone.

Until next time,

Remember... Life has just 3 rules.