So much of it is…
I keep glancing at the clock, thinking how I should be getting ready for work. Instead I’m taking a few minutes to think about my day, what I have to accomplish, and one of those things is to capture some thoughts here. The other is to shower and make it to work before the hour is up.
Something I find myself thinking about is how human behavior, self representation, social consensus, social behavior…are all factors when it comes to why a person writes a blog. Reading HearMeInTheHarmony this morning and DK‘s over the last few days, I found it interesting how a sense of human compassion and feeling of empathy can develop from reading a person’s blog1.
So as my morning rushes into the day I find myself reflecting on compassion for others and compassion for myself. I blog for personal reasons, for historical reasons, for social reasons, for sharing reasons, for the reason that I don’t know what might come of it. I read other blogs for many of the same reasons.
Image: This is a wooden statue of a grieving Buddha absorbing the pain and sadness of all sentient beings. I bought this during a particularly serious period of suffering in my life. It was suffering for someone very close to me who was going through a very challenging time. It was suffering for myself because I felt so helpless to do anything. This statute reminds me that we all suffer during life. It is that way. The article is one of the readings for class today.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ In near-real-time. This and many other factors, such as knowing more about the person, having met the person, having seen a picture that you KNOW is the person. All these things are important contributors. [↩]
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Thanks for the link, again! I really do start to feel connected to the people whose blogs I read, especially if I participate in them via the comments. I follow the little slices of their lives that they share, and I really enjoy it.
I started blogging as a way to get back to writing. I wasn’t sure at first that I was even going to share it with anyone. I did pretty quickly though, and I’m glad. I do wonder about the people who visit but don’t comment; I get about 10 views per commenter, on average. Sometimes it freaks me out, these invisible people reading about my life, but then I remember that that’s the nature of world today – voyeuristic. I might as well get used to it because the alternative – to stop posting – doesn’t appeal to me at all.
Nice statue.
I also went to read Melanie’s blog, liked it very much.
Hoping to get home tonight…
Have you ever heard of empaths? My understanding is that they are people who are something like your Buddha statue (or rather little/individual living representations there of) who “absorb” the pain of others, either figuratively or perhaps even literally (if you go with the idea that emotional energies can be a real thing). It’s related to the word empathy, like identifying with the pain of others, but I guess it just so characterizes one’s being, one may be considered an “empath.”
This sort of this is something my best friend and I have talked about among our conversations. One time he was telling me that there was a character I think on the “Next Generation” Star Trek who experienced something like this (only more the exaggerated sci-fi version, but who knows, they say reality can be stranger than fiction… ) where by touching someone she can literally take away their pain, I think perhaps both physical and emotional. The only thing being it can be so overwhelming, she has to be careful, but then again also very brave.
Then I there is also this other great Star Trek Quote (you’ll have to pardon me, I’m a trekkie) about how sometimes we our pain shapes us, makes us who we are. This one is from Star Trek Final frontier. Although I haven’t seen the movie (perhaps I should see it, shouldn’t I? =), I guess the story basically goes that Spock’s half brother Sypok is in town and saying he can take away all of the Enterprise crew’s pain (in large part so they will go with him in physical quest of “God”/the highest power/truth). However, Kurt’s reaction is:
“…Pain and guilt can’t be taken away with a wave of a magic wand. They’re the things we carry with us, the things that make us who we are. If we lose them, we lose ourselves. I don’t want my pain taken away! I need my pain!”
Well, I guess there are side to every coin. Sorry if that tangent was a little long. However, I did get on it because I really thought your Buddha statue and your comment offered a nice little bit of inspiration. At first when I saw the picture, I wondered, what the heck is that thing?! I see now though and I think it is a very beautiful image.