No Subject
 

love- A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness.

indifferent - Having no particular interest or concern, having no marked feeling for or against, not mattering one way or the other, characterized by a lack of partiality, being neither too much nor too little, being neither good nor bad.


I really don't know what to do with this one. I have no feeling one way or another, though distrassed, it doesn't really matter.

what's your take?

^:)

I'm reminded of Dr. M. Scott Peck, who says in People of the Lie that the opposite of love is not hate, but apathy.

Also, one is dynamic and alive, and the other has a lot in common with being dead.

However, from a Buddhist point of view, one is passionate and can possibly lead to suffering while the other is closest to a the ideal of serene existence.

I could care either way, really....I suppose or suppose not.

I don't know where I was going with this, I supose you can take it or leave it if it pleases you, or not, doesn't really matter unless you feel a greater need to make it matter, maybe, yes or no, has potential, if you decide to put the energy into it, it's up to you, have to choose your priorities, set it on the back burner or go full force, I don't care, most of the time, it's round and round and ...

Sorry, thought you were being ironic ^ so I was just going with the flow. I guess it took me a minute for the nickel to drop.

To be honest I actually care quite a bit about this subject - its connection to loneliness/heartbreak/alienation. How does a person care deeply about another without losing oneself in the process?

True indifference would be a much more comfortable way to go through the world, and I sincerely wish it was a more accessible tool for me that I could turn off and on instead of going around raw all the time - but usually when I'm feeling really indifferent, it's because I'm severely depressed.

I've reluctantly come to the conclusion that life is a full contact sport, and we don't really have much of a choice about our participation in the matter. I'd prefer tennis or chess, for instance, but it seems like every other day, someone insists on playing tackle football instead.

You know, over in your short story/fiction project, alienation might be an interesting subject to explore - nothing healthier than artistically exploiting one's own questions about any subject at all, for that matter. Then when you're done with it, you end up with something actually in your hands, which is always a good thing.

"Sorry, thought you were being ironic "

I was :) Aaaaaaaalthough, I started with the intention, the exploration of the contradictions of love and indifference, inspired by another topic in another place, but then just before I hit submit I caught myself and thought this may fall flat and/or put others in a position of either ignoring it (pout) or feeling like they would reveal too much personal junk, which could be way cool or way burdensome. So I added some distance with the irony for good luck. I didn't want to be like a doctor, putting pressure on a patient's wound, and saying, “This hurt?” What I was trying to do, or thinking I was trying to do, by not using the topic, “no subject,” was to talk about something personal without using any proper nouns. So the conversation would always sound like you were walking into the middle of something; not knowing who or what the topic was about, yet revealing as much information as possible with out making a commitment to the opinion left. Basically, treading a fine line. If it sounds like I'm not making any sense, I'm blaming the coffee.

“How does a person care deeply about another without losing oneself in the process?”

I think you are talking about detachment. Perhaps, that comes with age and/or practice (shrug). But I think of it this wise, imagine if you could feel everything your body was doing right now to regulate itself, 24/7? It would drive you mad. Or if you thought about thinking for more than a few seconds. Personally, I think I'd self-combust. I've noticed, however, that some people seem to grow so close or get so used to each other that they start to look related. Like how the roots of some trees will surround a fence and become one thing, weird. I am certain of the power of the mind and that you can talk yourself in or out of anything. In part, I think it's a sophisticated survival skill that leads to a set of coping skills and the goal, like any craft, is to get so good at it you don't know you're doing it, or not.

“I've reluctantly come to the conclusion that life is a full contact sport, “

I like dodge ball and every once in a while I catch the ball, there's a sense at that moment of euphoria and that the whole of the cosmos lined up just for me. But, after that happens I am left knowing one thing, that I know, I don't know much of what I think I know and that really pisses me off! Then it's like being in a very long bread line listening to yourself say over and over, “Suck it up!” My only saving grace is the bent in my temperament, I'm pretty sanguine and can remember to get distracted, so I paint. Death helps too.

“You know, over in your short story/fiction project”

I'll take a gander, thanks :)

This makes fine sense - it's a very good idea. I almost get it.

Dodge ball - that's good. Try to hit someone again and we'll try to catch it.

But when someone throws too hard, right at the face, it always makes some kid cry, and for what? Just because a person's angry and having a bad day? Because they can? Some kind of blind revenge thing going on - misdirected, or payback for some perceived slight. And if there's any shred of the slightest attachment there, so much the worse for the target, because then there's a streak of betrayal thrown in for good measure.
Being indifferent in dodge ball can't possibly end well, btw.