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Author | Topic: boasts of Athiests II | |||||||||||||||||||||||
nator Member (Idle past 2169 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
Wow, that other thread went to 300 posts while I was away for 4 days.
Thought Robin should hear my reply, thogh, so here you go.
quote: Pretending that I am not good at certain things, or that I do not possess certain attributes, when I have a reasonable amount of evidence from appropriate sources that I really am good at them or do have those attributes, would be silly. It would be a very typically female thing to do; to put myself down and not accept or believe that I am good at some things or that I do posess certain attributes, but I reject that kind of behavior. In no waydo I believe myself perfect, or even particularly gifted or amazing in any way. I am most assuredly my own biggest critic. However, I have spent half of my life believing I was deficient in just about every way. I hope you will allow me the indulgence of stating confidently that I am, at least, sufficient at/in many things, proficient at/in a lot, and excellent at/in a few. Please also consider that these kinds of effusive comments that you have noticed are almost always forced out of me. They are usually preceeded by some theist smugly informing me how someone (like me) who doesn't believe in God cannot possibly lead a happy, full, joyful, moral, good life. I have no choice but to explain to them how wrong they are in as accurate and precice language as I can muster.
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nator Member (Idle past 2169 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
Robin, I read the entire other thread, and I need to correct you.
Ian had just told me that the things I write here at EvC didn't have the "light of life" in them, which he found strange, apparently, as he said that he perceived this "light" in the photo of myself that is posted here. For goodness sake, how can you blame me and find fault, or "bad manners" in my reply when Ian basically said to me, "Gee, your picture makes it look like you are vivacious and lively and really exude happiness. I would have expected someone who looked more miserable considering what you write here."? I am afraid that you misrepresented me. Never once did I say or imply that I constantly admired the wonder of life, or constantly lived life robustly. I usually do see, hear, smell, taste, or otherwise experience something, at least once a day, that I appreciate profoundly. It gives me pause and makes me appreciate being alive, and there, in that moment, able to experience it. I have thoughts like that all the time. For example, years ago I was refilling a pan of olives at this shop I worked at, and they were the most beautiful range of shades of purples and tans, all shiny with olive oil and brine, and deliciously fragrant. I looked at them for a moment, thinking the above, and commented as such to the young woman next to me. She gave me a weird look and said nothing, clearly nonplussed. After that, I have been very careful to whom I speak of such things. Many people do not understand, but I have found many who do. Now, that doesn't mean I don't have taste. I can't stand Anne Geddes, for example. That's overly cute and contrived and saccherine.
Anyway, this is a little bit of what I mean when I talk about finding joy in life and living life robustly. I really don't care if you approve, or if you are annoyed by my defending myself against Believers' smug incredulity with the truth of my experience. It's not my job to make sure I don't annoy a jaded, mopey cynic.
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nator Member (Idle past 2169 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
quote: No. Isn't is good, then, that I never said that I did? Of course, if you'd like to quote where I used the word constant...
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nator Member (Idle past 2169 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
quote: When my life is going well, many times a day. During an amazing meal, for example, which includes great company, in a beautiful setting...almost constantly. When I am not quite so happy, I am not so open to appreciating life and I spend more time inside my own head instead of interacting fully with the rest of the world. As a result, I miss and ignore that which and whom I otherwise would notice in that way.
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nator Member (Idle past 2169 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
LOL!!!!!
I despise Anne Geddes' work.
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nator Member (Idle past 2169 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
quote: You are a terrible flirt, Ian. Nerdy in all the right ways. Remember, I was 36 in that photo, not 38.
quote: ...or it might be that people, no matter what their belief or non-belief, go through good and bad times?
quote: Actually, that photo was taken in the middle of the very most stressful, difficult times of my life. However, I was also in New Orleans, at a wedding, and in the company of some of my oldest and dearest friends. It was a lovely restorative, that trip. It gave me strength to persevere in what I had to endure. Edited by schrafinator, : fixed quote box
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nator Member (Idle past 2169 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
despise Anne Geddes' work. quote: No. My sister sends me Anne Geddes greeting cards all the time. NOT as a joke. I don't get on with her very well.
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nator Member (Idle past 2169 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
quote: ...or maybe thay are just uneasy because this guy they just met keeps staring at them.
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nator Member (Idle past 2169 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
quote: Remember, Ian, I work in retail service. I read people pretty well and it's a big part of my job to repond to them and communicate in a way that makes them comfortable. I look into people's eyes all the time, although more with women than with men, and more with people I know than with those I don't. Men in American culture often find it either a come on or a defiant act if a woman looks into their eyes for any length of time. It is associated with dominance; "He stared the other guy down until he looked away in defeat." It's a very primal thing. It is also cultural. In some American Indian cultures it is considered disrespectful to look another directly in the eye when speaking to them. But at any rate, It does bug me, for example, when people wear their sunglasses in the shop and then try to have a conversation with me. I feel very disconnected from the person if I cannot look them in the eye when I speak to them. Edited by schrafinator, : No reason given.
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nator Member (Idle past 2169 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
quote: Well, yeah. I am a VERY good salesperson.
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nator Member (Idle past 2169 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
quote: I wish this were the case. No, she likes Geddes. She also stenciled her kitchen and bathroom, and gives me "country cute" Christmas decorations like this every year at the holidays:
I've given most of them away, they are so completely NOT my taste.
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nator Member (Idle past 2169 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
quote: I would agree with this in general.
quote: Sure, although personally I would say that most of my childhood and early adulthood was spent in moderate dissatisfacion, but since I got over the child abuse I consider myself to feel "very satisfied" with my life much of the time.
quote: I really don't understand how my imagination can crave anything.
quote: You know, I have always been a very practical, "take things at face value" kind of person. If I'm bored, I figure that it's my own fault, because I could live a hundred or a thousant lifetimes and still not experience everything I could. I have yet to become bored with blue skies, for example, but maybe that's because I have always lived in relatively cloudy places. Maybe I'm just easy to please and astonish.
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nator Member (Idle past 2169 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
quote: It has always been incredibly engaging and interesting to me! I remember the year that I was given a book that taught me how to put up preserves and pickles. I thought it was the most facinating thing in the world; all of this chemistry and physics. The absolute, very most coolest thing was the fact that I was supposed to put some of this food on a room temperature shelf for, in many instances, months before eating it. Utterly amazing to me.
quote: Easily done, easily done. How can one not think this way?
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nator Member (Idle past 2169 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
quote: ROTFLMAO!!
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nator Member (Idle past 2169 days) Posts: 12961 From: Ann Arbor Joined: |
quote: It happened with Cocowheats when I was a kid, so sure. But as an adult, I tend to not have particular expectations. I often have general ones, but they do not get very specific.
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