My first blogs were turbulent. Hundreds of comments, sometimes very aggressive, requesting answers. Just reading everything took hours off my time.
In the beginning it was stimulating and invigorating. But, as things got worse and worse (more visitors, more comments, more aggression) it became tiring.
I had to close them down. Later I came back anonymously, with this blog, at first a secret one. It was so quiet and peaceful... Later still I revealed its existence to a few friends. Some, remembering the old turmoil, speak of decadence. "Quiet as a cemetery" was one comment.
But stillness and tranquility are the conditions of any creative moment. Sometimes they are the prerequisites of happiness itself. "Ataraxia", according to the late Greek philosophers.
23 comments:
"But stillness and tranquillity are the conditions of any creative moment".
A hopeless wish for some of us...
How do you do that?
:)
It is great to find you here...away from the crowds!
It is probably the only requirement for people like us...
"...They move most quickly who stand still..."
[W.H. Auden, The Labyrinth]
For "Ataraxia" :)
Success can be measured by the number of comments-fine by me.
I guess if vanity had a heart, it would be numerical.
I'm very excited with this blog!
It's a work of art!
Many thanks...
Plenty of " ataraxia " when we die...
However, another Greek, Heraclitus, wrote that «War is the father of all and the king of all; and some he has made gods and some men, some bond and some free», as well as that «out of discord comes the fairest harmony». Of course, opposing and debating ideas is somewhat different from pure, brutal, barbaric, ad hominem agression. And in this respect tranquility is more valuable than war, although excessive tranquility may lead to «stasis».
Still, I miss your earlier blog versions - now i can only wish for the news section in your official site to expand...
I loved the initial feeling of this blog (I discovered it, of course, after the announcement in your site). It was something NDish, at its deepest. As if all the turbulence caused by popularity and fame was washed out and only the substance remained. Calm, quite, pure.
Wondering.
Longing.
Content in the quietness and at the same time, longing for interaction.
Message in a bottle by a happy castaway.
Ataraxia yes,
Apraxia no...
;)
PS- speaking of which... one year later and we still can't stand idle!
One should do as he feels. However, I too felt right from the beginning, that this blog is somewhat "pessimistic". The thing though that really annoys me is the persistance of the blog-owner to underestimate the value of visitors.
"Visitors are welcom but not necessary", he says.
I wonder if the blog would exist today, if the comment list continued as first started: filled with nothing...
It 's easy to say "I don't need you". Especially if you know deep down that "you 'll never -eventually- walk alone"...(from the F.C.Liverpool Anthem)
@fantomas
Isn't it enough for a visitor to be welcome? What more can you offer a guest but a warm greeting and the feeling that his presence is appreciated?
On the contrary: "necessary" means that you cannot live without visitors. That you depend on them.
The welcoming comes out of freedom - necessity shows an addiction. I wanted to free myself from all compulsions.
I think that different views are welcome to everyone that is openminded...But is pure criticism a view?And if a different view exists,why not show it?Why not throw it in the party (in the failed meeting..in the semetery..)instead of judging with a melancholic reminiscence?Let us view the view of you...oh view!(hehe...vocative case) On the other hand,if someone doesn't want to share his-her own view (or doesn’t have one) noone forces him-her to do so.Fair enough for me.
While wandering on the net, I came across this wonderful story that relates very well with this post:
A student went to his meditation teacher and said, "My meditation is horrible! I feel so distracted, or my legs ache, or I'm constantly falling asleep. It's just horrible!" "It will pass," the teacher said matter-of-factly.
A week later, the student came back to his teacher. "My meditation is wonderful! I feel so aware, so peaceful, so alive! It's just wonderful!'
"It will pass," the teacher replied matter-of-factly.
(from zen stories
Zen stories are beautiful - and so are Koans.
My favorite, which sums up all the experience of a lifetime:
When I was a child, rivers were rivers and mountains were mountains.
When I grew up and started to think and study, rivers were not rivers anymore, and mountains not mountains.
But when I reached Enlightenment, rivers became rivers and mountains, mountains..
River deep,mountain high...
The rhythm of comments in this blog (as compared to older ones) reminds me of the joke about Bedouins in the desert.
They sit under the shade of a tent and the one remarks: "See that horse on the horizon?"
Two hours later the second one says: "Not a horse but a camel".
Three hours later the third one exclaims: "If you two don't stop quarreling, I am leaving".
LOL!
that's exactly what I was thinking of, Dood!!!
Maybe it is time for a surprise, a hot topic, anexpected party, a funny story...some coffee...
:)
Τhe Doodler is displeased.
Anyone up for a fight?
@churchwarden
the Doodler is not displeased. Not at all!
He asked for quiet and slow moves.
He introduced "soft-blogging".
------------------------------
But then again, Rallou, I will consider your proposal...
Churchwarden,
Until the thumb points upwards gladiator!
So, I see a cat on the horizon...
Your turn!
I have been following your i-musings (and more formal writings) for years without jumping into the brouhaha of comments and stuff. This is interesting! You are using the enforce of English as some sort of content-filtering. Even so, I'm glad you are back :-) The story of your coming and going, fending off comments and alianating (perhaps) some of your followers that keep, regardless, coming back reminds me of a dialogue from the Monty Python's "Life of Brian":
Brian: I'm not the Messiah! Will you please listen? I am not the Messiah, do you understand? Honestly!
Girl: Only the true Messiah denies His divinity.
Brian: What? Well, what sort of chance does that give me? All right! I am the Messiah!
Followers: He is! He is the Messiah!
Brian: Now, fuck off!
[silence]
Arthur: How shall we fuck off, O Lord?
Greetings, Zen-master
“There is one thing worst than being told about: Not being told about!”
Oscar Wilde
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