I wasn't gonna post today, but I would like to say, Yes, Sky is the one person in ten years that even knew of SOTT, etc. and I met him cuz he was here on Hawaii, and was flying to Seattle, only to find all flights were down for the night, and he was just gonna sleep at the airport, but security wouldn't let him(its a pretty small airport), so he ended up at the gas station next to my camp "The Tunnel", which I have been living in the past five years with an open-door policy, if you need a place to go, or have "nowhere else to go", and an absolute tolerance policy, basically a homeless shelter for those who cannot, for whatever reason, stay at THE homeless shelter.
And that's where my friend who also lives with me, found Sky, and brought him by.
Concerning Self-importance.. I understand semantics are involved here, try not to " shut down". I like how one person said self-value.. But personally I value the word Importance, because some things are important, and if the self is not important, why even communicate? Why not just eat everything you see, including your fingers.. Maybe because you value your fingers, because they are important to you.
Also, doesnt STS preach selfLESSness? Money is money. Work is work. Any ol' job will do.. Think of the greater good! Starbucks has this sign, BE APART OF SOMETHING BIGGER THAN YOURSELF. which is rather, some good comedy, in my opinion.
Because... If I am just a drop in the ocean I can feel three ways about it. I can say Woe Is Me, I Am Worthless. OR I can say, I am THE ocean! ..but neither of these is spot on. The truth is, I am but a drop, but worthless I am not, for everyone else is also but a drop, but without ALL the drops, there would be no ocean. Thus I value my self within the whole, and understand it is not Me.. Or They.. But what happens between US, that is ultimately important.
thus, I believe it is important to value the self as important, knowing that the whole is contained in the part, how can you be apart of something BIGGER than yourself? The way I see it, you can't. If the C's say WHERE IS THE LIMIT TO YOUR MIND? than if THERE IS NO LIMIT, than you and everyone else are limitless.. How can there be anything bigger, BIGGER than the infinity that is you?
Once again, honoring everyone's place within infinity. I believe the issue is OVERLY Self-important. Or UNDERLY self-importance, which is that feeling, that critique of being worth less than an other, which is completely false, since we are ALL EQUALLY IMPORTANT. but if the TIRE says to the MUFFLER I don't need you, I got this handled... Things begin to get muddy. Now maaaaybe you don't neeeeed a muffler, but that makes it no less important, it provides a service or two, better compression for example, which translates to better gas mileage, etc. Now if the MUFFLER says to the TIRE I don't need you, than this car is going nowhere. Does this make the tires MORE important than the muffler? Yes and no. Mostly yes, but.. Degrees and levels.. Things get debated, argued.. But this is not necessary. The muffler should not be concerned with the level of importance of the tires, and vice versa. Everything works together, it is only(generally) important to be concerned with one's own level of importance, for how can you judge another's worth? Let another express their worth, and appreciate their worth, for what its worth. Thus you come to KNOW the TRUE VALUE of a thing. And henceforth, be able to APPRECIATE that value.
Concerning Compromise. This involves a little wordplay. Compromise, to promise together. Promise, PRO- Good/Beneficial. MISE, as in miser, to pinch pennies, to be very exact, precise. (It doesn't have to have a negative tone)
Therefore to Compromise is to Formulate a very precise plan together for our mutual benefit. That's how I see, in my world. I'm not sure how its come to be known as some kind a lose/lose situation where in the end we both plan to Win. Sacrifice may be involved in a compromise, but in no way is this the essense of a compromise.
So to address Tracy Anne, I am very willing to compromise, but not CONpromise.
And as a note, what I've been doing has been working for me, and sometimes working well, but not VERY well.. This is what I mean by, maybe I'm TOO ambitious. Its a war zone after all, I can't expect it to be TOO good, but I always strive.
To towahubohu, I see that you see.
Concerning the cigarette, amongst other things. It comes down to how willing you are to being manipulated, amongst other things. And to note, later on my friend lathered himself in DEET to repel bugs.. And I didn't want him to roll his tobacco with poisoned hands, so out of kindness, I rolled about 7 cigarettes for him, that day.
Concerning Give & Take. This is a strange philosophy. And somehow it becomes a tally. Like, oh yesterday I bought you lunch! So why can't you give me a foot massage!!!??? A lot of crying and boo-hooing. Personally I feel what happens on one day has no bearing on another day, or what I did an hour ago, means nothing right now, concerning the topic of give & take. To me, the Giving is its own Reward(taking). If it is not Rewarding to Give, it is probably more Rewarding to Not Give. If my friend wants a cigarette, I am very happy to be able to provide one, thus i am rewarded with this exchange. An hour later, do I say, he "owes" me.. The next day, do I say, he "owes" me.. ? No, because I gave it whole-heartedly. There are no strings attached to my Giving. The Lord loves a cheerful Giver. Why? Because if you give wholeheartedly, you can let go of that which you gave, and thus truly GIVE. if you give less than wholeheartedly, you create a vacuum because you extended a part of yourself but cannot let go, and this vacuum naturally pulls back, essentially creating a defecit, or DEBT, and thus you will feel you are OWED something to make up for your loss, and thus your "Giving", has now become "Taking".
If Time does not exist. Let every transaction, the giving and the taking, be simultaneous. There should be no LOSS, aka STS NEGATIVITY DEBT, there should be only BALANCE, balance your books, as they say.
(There should also be no INFLATED PROFIT, which is IMBALANCE, and another kind of debt. not to open another can of worms)
...time for a cigarette!
