ANSWER, RAMBLE then ASK any new question

[ant0n]

Hello Mysteriously Unexplained People!

 

Here's a new game allowing much freedom and fun:

- Look at the last post and answer the last question it contains in a SMART AND FUNNY way

- Ramble while Having Fun. It does not necessarily have to be related to the answer you've just typewritten: just ramble while having fun and show us how interesting you are

- Once you're done, Ask ANY new BENEVOLENT question to the next player.

 

Do try to keep it smart, interesting and funny, pretty please!

 

Alright, here I start with the first question:

 

What is your favorite picture today? (please display it here)

Edited September 30, 2020 by ant0n

[+Desertrat56]

My favorite picture today is the chipmunk with cheeks full that was posted in status.

I think it is time to get a new laptop.  The enter key doesn't work, nor the cd/dvd drive and Safari won't load a new version because the computer is too old, AND I can't download the Audible app for the same reason.  I have to have an external wireless keyboard just for the enter key.  It is really a nice, cool day today.  Yesterday was windy.

What kind of trees do you have in your yard?

[ant0n]

The main tree in my yard is a kind of maple tree. Then we have short apple trees and short pear trees. Right on the other side of the fence, there are a few hazel trees.

(by the way, I hope your computer issue will get solved real soon one way or another)

 

I recently found an interesting quotation but I'm not able to tell how pertinent it is yet... Because I'm personally involved in that questioning:

"Loneliness is not lack of company: lonely is lack of purpose." - Guillermo Maldonado.

I don't feel lonely except when I wander alone in Nature. I know the main reason (but I doubt it's the only reason): I grew up in an isolated farm and I suffered from being cut from my school friends. I deeply felt alone there, despite the mooing cows and the cackling chickens. And despite all that green, those ponds, the fish, the water fleas, the frogs, the... and so on. I felt alone, I missed a close friend - or several.

Anyway... The other reason might be a past lack of purpose. Things have recently changed: I do have a purpose, a stronger and better one now. I'm starting a new life. No: not starting a new chapter of my life. I do mean starting a new life. But that's another story.

 

"Loneliness is not lack of company: lonely is lack of purpose." - Guillermo Maldonado.

How true does that quotation ring to you?

[Blue Star]

1 hour ago, ant0n said:

"Loneliness is not lack of company: lonely is lack of purpose." - Guillermo Maldonado.

How true does that quotation ring to you?

kind of, Yes, I suppose, but I don't find the Quote of any use or comfort to the lonely but then,

I don't really get lonely, so what would I know?

I can quite happily be alone for months on end.

I can miss loved ones but I can still feel them and see them in my minds eye. Just like they are in the next room or asleep or something.

I can miss the intomacy, fun with others, doing stuff with others, cuddles and having pep's around but again, it's not loneliness.

So, I am not sure I am the right person to say if it rings true or not... Because for me,  I don't associate purpose with lack of loneliness.

I think it's more about feeling close even though your not. Feeling the love connection even though there may be a distance physically.

So, if I where to write a quotable quote it would be..

"Loneliness is not a lack of company: Lonely is feeling the lacking sense of connection." be it to your environment, ecology, people, humanity, earth, universe or creation.

 but what would i know. 

Do you prefer to be in front or behind the camera?

 

[Helen of Annoy]

Behind!  

It always takes an eternity for someone else to take a photo and I immediately start feeling like an idiot. I also I don't like seeing myself. I see enough of her in the mirror and she constantly needs something. 

Lately, I take no photos at all. I think it's the selfie obsession that adds to my lack of need to try catching a moment. You can't catch it anyway. It's gone. It can be found in moments to which it lead, but it's not in the photo anymore. Though it can jog your memory. But I'm not sure I want my memory jogged. There're too many things I do not want to remember and those I do want to remember inevitably touch those I don't so... it's best I try living in a moment. There will always be too many things that will make me remember anyway. 

So I enjoy photos (and pictures and paintings and so on) of others, especially those that are both visually pleasing and meaningful. 

Like this one: 

 

I forgot to ask... am I senile or what?  

Is forgetfulness a curse or a blessing? 

Edited October 1, 2020 by Helen of Annoy

[ant0n]

Forgetting my credit card security code makes me curse

(it's happened to me only once and I paid in cash then ^^)

 

Is ignorance really bliss?

I used to have memories I wanted to erase from me. I finally could, about 17 years later (yay).

Either erasing takes time or it can be done swiftly (but I don't know the recipe for that, unless one erases their own head).

 

I apply this A LOT:

 

To make annoying memories obsolete... thanks to new memories. Not to erase such annoying memories but to make them obsolete.

We give too much important to some memories, right? Let's make many of them obsolete. That suddenly looks fun, right?

 

Is it better to forget?

Well, you do know there's information you must not forget as long as you live this human life on this planet.

 

Instead of forgetting it all, imagine completely letting go instead = not caring about who you are/we/will be, not caring about anything, not even about being.

 

What do you typically let go of?

Edited October 1, 2020 by ant0n

[Helen of Annoy]

Would I have a whole separate personality consisting of obsessive neurosis only, if I knew how to let go of anything? 

But, I'm growing up. Or maybe that personality of mine grew tired of too many horrors to obsess over. It would be convenient if she would die and take all the mess with her, leaving my truer selves to live in peace. 

Would I allow that? Would I trade my memory for peace? I wouldn't. So why am I complaining? It's my choice, to keep the dead times alive in my head. 

Why do people make choices they know are irrational or even destructive?   

[Blue Star]

6 hours ago, Helen of Annoy said:

Why do people make choices they know are irrational or even destructive?   

Such a small question ...With such long tendrils and cobwebs....

People tend to make choices based on their given understandings and experiences to date.

From the perspective of where they are in their feelings, emotions, at any given moment.

However, they are mostly coming from the ingrained habitual patterns of thinking, experienced or long held beliefs and cemented into knee jerk reactions. More than, a fully thought through response.

It is far easier to come from a habit based reaction, than to take a fresh, new approach and from a fresh new perception into things. Particularly if you believe you know how it is.

I am trying to keep me response concise, so forgive me, if I leave bits out.

Which brings me to the 'irrational or even destructive'...You can only come from what you believe to be so. Ones perceived reality in fact is not the whole reality but the individuals slice of it, how they perceive reality, to be based on those ingrained training's, beliefs and prejudices. Quite often it isn't even really a slice of reality just their myopic view point based on faulty precepts. and the **** they have just picked up along the way from others, not actual truths but adoptions. 

If you are trained to give yourself a hard time, to believe certain faulty things. with out questioning and cross checking then, it is going to take a whole feast of readdress to see somethings differently.

Most of the time they are unaware that there are other options, other ways, that will bring them ease. and if they are aware that there are then it is the habitual stupid part that has already reacted... but i have said too much already enough.

It is easier to repeat than to do a new.    

 

I can't think of anything to ask...I shall nick one from Mrs H's list of questions, unanswered....

 'Would I trade my memory for peace'? Oh, Oh, I want to answer.....Darn....

 

[ant0n]

 'Would I trade my memory for peace'? 

 

Here's the question I get after getting to the root causes:

"Would I trade my unhealed wounds for personal tranquility?"

No, I personally wouldn't. I dig in my wounds, I work on them, I experiment thanks to them. I need them actually. I even partially built myself on some of them, which are apparently healed. I can see the patterns of my scars when I switch on the light:

 

I'm not saying everyone's unhealed wound are comparable to mine. I'm just stating my own case, which is not easily generalizable. I'm an experimenter, I'm my own suject of experiment.

 

I eventually think the original question actually leads to this one: "Would I trade my pain for personal tranquility?"

That question is quite interesting to me. Given my present amount of pain (which is bearable right now), I'd answer: "No deal! Do not remove my pain from me, as I need it to sculpt myself, to identify the parts I have to remold or remove. My pain is bearable right now but I can't tell anything about it is my unpredictable future. So carpe diem!"

Pain as a faithful indicator - but also as an annoyance when the body acts up.

 

How do you relate to this photo? (imagine a man or a woman sculpting themselves)

[Helen of Annoy]

The man in the photo is doing it right - he is already sculpting his legs, freeing them from the lump of raw material. 

While I'm chiseling my head again and if I keep doing that there won't be anything left in the end. I should work on my legs too. So it's not just static lump there, but a pair of limbs that can take me away from places I don't like to the places where my sculpture would feel at home. 

 

But, more importantly, I want to thank you both for sharing your insight in your own sculpting styles. It's very valuable for me and I think I'll apply some of your methods. Conduct some experiments. 

Hopefully it won't lead to this  

 

 

 

Or hopefully it will lead to this? 

[ant0n]

What will your experiments lead to?

 

I'd say this: expect the (positive) unexpected. The Earthling you are surely is surfacing - and I bet it'll serenely amaze you in a positive way (*).

 

(Here's the rambling: well, this is Friday evening here. It's weekend for me. I'm glad and lucky I have time enough to spend in my huge collection of digital pictures (31k). I've been harvesting for weeks: I did a copy of all my pictures and then I pitilessly delete those I do not find any interest in any longer (i.e. 98.7% of my collection). I love this process (I've done it several times before but this time, my method is quite optimized). I'll let you know about the final results.)

 

But before that (*), I invite you to ponder over this:

How do you relate to that picture right above?

 

Edited October 2, 2020 by ant0n

[Helen of Annoy]

I know why I stay. Even when the leaves fall and any sane bird would fly south. West, that is, in my geopolitical case. I stay. It's what I do in this life.

I used to travel and I liked all the places I've seen. Some were definitely not for me, but it didn't stop me from liking them in their own right. 

Maybe I sculpted my legs into roots. That could be it. I'm not half bird, I'm half tree. My cat would certainly agree, he likes to climb my legs like he's still a kitten, which makes my trousers look very fashionable. Thank god it's autumn, I looked like... cat was scratching me daily... during the summer. He doesn't do that to other people, probably because he knows it's not well received, but he also knows I can't ever hurt him. Not intentionally, that is. 

Is there a worse thing than hurting someone in a chain of idiotic events, someone you absolutely would never hurt on purpose? 

[Blue Star]

19 minutes ago, Helen of Annoy said:

Is there a worse thing than hurting someone in a chain of idiotic events, someone you absolutely would never hurt on purpose?

I don't know if I have done such a thing, have I?

If i have, i don't know i have, nor remember... I suppose it is possible, i have without intention or realising it, probable, even but i am unaware ...???

If it wasn't on purpose? Then how can it be, idiotic events? Idiotic events? I can get to it being a mistake, unintended but a chain, a chain of idiotic events?.... How does it become a chain? Why, if unintended, did i not stop the chain, at any given point?

For argument sake, lets say I have .... Is there a worse thing...Wow! i don't think i can honestly say.  Imagine that I now go off and suddenly recall such an event, as you describe, where I have... i would then know.  But instinctively, i think there may well be.....Many a worse thing to do.  No?

How does it become a chain of idiotic events?

[Helen of Annoy]

Easily, that's how... 

we can never foresee every exact consequence to each action and we can never know what exact factors will influence the events. Not even if you're truly psychic. 

Oh, a trumper quoted me in one of the political threads... will you excuse me, I've got some educational charity work to do? 

[ant0n]

2 hours ago, Helen of Annoy said:

Easily, that's how... 

we can never foresee every exact consequence to each action and we can never know what exact factors will influence the events. Not even if you're truly psychic. 

Oh, a trumper quoted me in one of the political threads... will you excuse me, I've got some educational charity work to do? 

You are excused

 

By the way, it's good to forgive others and... self.

So you are unconditionaly forgiven, alright? You can repeatedly tell yourself: "I forgive and I'm forgiven". Or only: "I forgive".

 

After decades of trying to forgive thanks to reasonings, I recently decided to unconditionally forgive others and myself altogether, without reasoning more, without excuses, justifications or kneeling. I let go of that heavy burden. I hopefully still have years to live and I quit wasting my time with that burden. It doesn't matter if some people feel like they get away with "murder". I'm accepting the main person I dislike gets away with "murder". I have other things to spend time on, much more interesting than wasting it on such donkeyholes.

 

This morning, I went to the market to buy 3 roasted chicken thighs. I asked 3 *nice* ones, i.e. not small ones. I could "read" the merchant's mind while he was choosing the thighs. It ensues he's just lost me as client

 

How do you relate to telepathy?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Helen of Annoy]

Oooooh, telepathy! 

I keep being perplexed when people say there's no telepathy and it wasn't proven... what do they mean - it wasn't proven? 

I just can't believe there actually are people who don't experience it themselves. Is there a better proof? 

It certainly isn't complete communication, like a phone call, but it absolutely does let you know when it's time you phone someone. Or don't phone someone. 

Now, how to explain it, without crashing down the materialist model of existence? Well, it probably could be done, maybe it's just a form of natural radio-like waves, only we've got no idea where to start because some rigid materialists said it cannot exist because they cannot explain it. Or maybe it cannot be explained by material means. Maybe it truly is the soul connection. 

I don't really care for the explanation, or lack of it, I just welcome every telepathic event in my life. Not only it's useful, but it also reaffirms my belief that we're not down here just to process food. Not that there's anything wrong with enjoying the food too. 

The older I get, the more I appreciate little, everyday pleasures. Such as a simple dish that turned out just right. Or fruits that taste just right. Which reminds me my preserved cherries evolved into cherry brandy on their own. There's recipe for making drunk cherries, mine were supposed to be non-alcoholic, but there it is, brandy, and for some inexplicable reason people seem to be more enthusiastic about receiving them as a gift, than they are with plain preserved cherries. 

Personally, I can't drink. It just confuses me too much. I used to think I must be a control-freak, fearing loss of control, but now I think it's more than that. After all, I bet many people think I am drunk while I post, so there...   

Enough of me and my drunk cherries. 

 

What is your opinion of telepathy?   

 

 

 

[ant0n]

2 hours ago, Helen of Annoy said:

What is your opinion of telepathy?  

I'm interested in what's related to "telepathy" and "remote viewing" but my own way. I think both are generally taken in quite a simplistic way. I think "it's not what it's commonly believed to be".

I used to be a member of a few telepathy groups on Facebook. I was horrified there: most of the people I interacted with in there just wanted to read others' mind and to mind-control them. "Lovely", really... I quickly left, as I was much purer in my intent.

NB: I was not horrified because I feared my intimate thoughts to be read or to be mind-controled. No: I was just horrified by how those members managed to pervert such an interesting phenomenon. They looked like cavemen & cavewomen to me. Retrogradation of the human species

 

I do think "telepathy" happens but not in a simplistic way. I also have a much more abstract way to deal with it.

To me, "telepathy" can occur between two beings or more, wherever they're from in space and time. It looks much less like a "phone conversation" than a global remote subtle sharing of beings. To me, any telepath is not able to lie during a telepathic sharing. It's 100% based on authenticity and if you "lie", that's not intentional then.

 

Similarly, remote viewing is simplisticaly described as seeing something/some being remotely (like seers are supposed to do). I'm still a member of several RV groups on Facebook. The intent of the members there is benevolent. It's so funny to let them assume they can screen any member they focus on, including me. I really believe they are not able to do that. I don't take them seriously actually.

RV leads to Remote Influencing, which excites some members, who imagine they can control someone remotely. An old dream come "true"?

 

Come on... I let them "screen" me as much as they need. I need people to know me deeply at times - but the members of those RV / RI groups just fail, obviously.

 

To me, the non-simplistic versions of "telepathy" and "remote viewing" are one, and only a part of the whole thing (global remote sharing).

 

Imagine you're a seer who can clearly see any thing or being: what is it?

[Blue Star]

7 hours ago, ant0n said:

Imagine you're a seer who can clearly see any thing or being: what is it?

I don't understand the premise of your question, 

Firstly, you ask me to imagine I am a seer....Then you ask who or what can i see?

So are you wanting imagined or seen, I am confused.

May i take this opportunity of my confusion to respond to one of your earlier post's.... As i do find this sculpture inspiring.

On 10/2/2020 at 2:20 PM, ant0n said:

How do you relate to this photo? (imagine a man or a woman sculpting themselves)

I see it as a person who knows who they are, has done the work of becoming and is now freeing themselves of the confines of what is supposedly set in stone. I see this as the spirit rising out of the entangelment of the human condition into freedom from restraint...Thank you.  

I need a question to ask...

 

If you were to meet yourself but five years older...What would you ask yourself? 

 

[Helen of Annoy]

If I were a seer, I'd try seeing the sign that would direct me so I know what I should see and what to do with the seen. I've got nothing that intrigues me personally that much and I believe that if such ability was given to me, then it's certainly for much more important purpose than my curiosity alone. But in my spare time, I'd probably scan the time and space so I can avoid people and situations I don't like. (It actually does kinda work like that with me, except when it's been written I have to bump into a particular moron or live through certain crappiness.)

If I was to meet my five years older self, I'd ask her - how the hell you're still alive?  

I wouldn't have to ask her anything, she'd flood me with everything I need and don't need to know and she'd know better than this me what are the most important things to know. 

Or maybe it's possible for someone to change beyond recognition in relatively short time? It's not. We are what we are, I've never seen anyone who has truly changed. Sometimes people change the rhetoric, but they remain who they are. Any real changes are very slow and partial. 

Growing up, growing old, it seems like you're changing, but it's just us discovering who we really are. 

I'm quite happy with the real me that is emerging. Positively surprised, even. I'm very, very far from perfect, but I think I can handle my faults, now, when I can clearly define them. When I was younger it all seemed much more confusing. Like, you can see it's not right, but you can't say what exactly is wrong. Now I can see, so I can also look for ways around it, if it cannot be reshaped into something better. 

 

What is the colour of the sky in your own inner world? 

[ant0n]

6 hours ago, Blue Star said:

If you were to meet yourself but five years older...What would you ask yourself?

I would be in my early 55 then. I'd ask myself: "What did I achieve during the first half of my 50's and what should I achieve in the next one?"

I consider the 50's decade of my life the most important one, during which I must achieve as much as I can.

 

Now rambling: how could I have survived without the Web and a fully functioning computer?

Well, I could have literally survived without that but... I could not have gotten the English-speaking influence I necessarily need in my French life. I need both languages.

And now, I try to learn Russian, because I love the Russian-speaking world for several reasons. And, as expected, I consider the language stupidly complicated (while English looks so smart and simplified in some ways). In Russian, the letter 'o' is said "o" or "a" depending on whether it's in a stressed syllable or not. Same for 'e": "ié" or "i". And where is the stressed syllable? There's no rule, it can be anywhere in the word! Why not write an 'o' voiced as "a" an 'a' then? Don't tell me the stressed syllable position can shift in a same word... Let's consider it is fixed: why not rewrite such an 'o' as 'a' then? That'd be much simpler for Russian kids in school, for any learner of Russian. For example, Союз (meaning 'union') is written in Latin as "soyuz" but is pronounced "sayuz". Why not write it ' Сaюз '?

Then I remember that French is stupidly difficult as well ^^

I'm not fond of the French language but I'm really glad to be fluent in it, as it is a difficult and a relatively widespread language.

 

Back to my previous question. I really need to ask it but the Frenchman I am could not find the appropriate formula yesterday.

So I'm rephrasing it:

 

What is the thing or being you'd really like to see?

[ant0n]

25 minutes ago, Helen of Annoy said:

If I were a seer, I'd try seeing the sign that would direct me so I know what I should see and what to do with the seen. I've got nothing that intrigues me personally that much and I believe that if such ability was given to me, then it's certainly for much more important purpose than my curiosity alone. But in my spare time, I'd probably scan the time and space so I can avoid people and situations I don't like. (It actually does kinda work like that with me, except when it's been written I have to bump into a particular moron or live through certain crappiness.)

If I was to meet my five years older self, I'd ask her - how the hell you're still alive?  

I wouldn't have to ask her anything, she'd flood me with everything I need and don't need to know and she'd know better than this me what are the most important things to know. 

Or maybe it's possible for someone to change beyond recognition in relatively short time? It's not. We are what we are, I've never seen anyone who has truly changed. Sometimes people change the rhetoric, but they remain who they are. Any real changes are very slow and partial. 

Growing up, growing old, it seems like you're changing, but it's just us discovering who we really are. 

I'm quite happy with the real me that is emerging. Positively surprised, even. I'm very, very far from perfect, but I think I can handle my faults, now, when I can clearly define them. When I was younger it all seemed much more confusing. Like, you can see it's not right, but you can't say what exactly is wrong. Now I can see, so I can also look for ways around it, if it cannot be reshaped into something better. 

 

What is the colour of the sky in your own inner world? 

 

Firstly, I must say I'm very glad my seer-question can actually get understood by some without my rephrasing it!

 

My answer to your question.

I love it, by the way. I have two answers, a spontaneous one and the one I actually have:

 

1) My inner world's sky color is... some of those incredible colors my human eye is not used to create (colors are brain signals).

So came to my mind a vague name of an actual "incredible color", ending with ...line". A sort of peach hue, pinkish-orange, as soft as a peach skin.

 

2) I'm beyond colors / brain signals in my inner world, which mostly is abstract. It could look "black" to some but actually its "colors" exist yet "invisible" (beyond brain signals). One could associate it with the relative darkness of the Cosmos (but it is beyond the concept of 'Cosmos'). It's a sort of blackboard from which surface patterns, out of the "void". That's just a metaphore. You have to feel it, not to understand it. (I know you can ^^) It's pretty difficult to explain otherwise.

 

By the way, I think you're accepting Your-self, accepting your gift. Acceptance.

 

What is the thing or being you'd really like to see?

Edited October 4, 2020 by ant0n

[Helen of Annoy]

Before answering your question, let me just say that my favourite colour always was black and one of the reasons why is because it contains all other colours, it's the sum of them all. And the sum is greater than its parts. 

And that yes, Slavic languages are insanely complicated and there are more exceptions to the rules than there are rules  I'm native speaker of Croatian and I can confirm that even the native speakers are wrestling with the language in sometimes hilarious ways. (Plural of "konj" - horse - is "konji", due to unknown reasons, so when people use "konjovi", which is much more consistent with the way plural is usually formed, it's not just incorrect, but considered absolutely ridiculous.)   

 

My maternal grandmother and her mother, my great-grandmother. They departed a long time ago, but I still receive their advice. I just find their answer among my own thoughts. I could see them when they were recently passed, but I can't actually see them anymore. I wish I could see them again, just to tell them... everything. But they know. They know. 

I believe in reincarnation and they might be reincarnated by now. They probably are. Yet they still exist in the reality above ours. So I exist there too, though I'm down here incarnated, so I guess the contact actually happens over there, in the greater reality and I can take just tiny drops of that ocean back into this material pond. 

So much pain is down here. It confuses me still. I can't comprehend. It probably cannot be comprehended. But it cannot be accepted either. Or it can. My urge to stop the pain never stops growing. I might find the purpose of the pain plausible, but I still need to stop it. It's pouring out of the news, it's overbearing my senses and it's chewing its lair inside my heart. Loudly chewing. I hate that. 

I probably went insane. Like, clinically insane. Because I can literally feel that tar-like weight was lifted from me now. 

The pain keeps existing, but it can't hurt me now. No matter how contradictory that sounds.   

If I read my post I'll delete it so I'll just hit submit and not overthink it. I'm not overthinking anything anymore. 

 

Do you feel weird when crossing a bridge? 

 

 

[ant0n]

6 minutes ago, Helen of Annoy said:

Do you feel weird when crossing a bridge?

 

No. I'm used to crossing bridges. I don't really pay attention to that action. I usually cross bridges by car or train. Rarely on foot.

When I cross a bridge and I pay attention, I try to see what's further down. But I never feel weird.

I could feel weird if that bridge was not reliable but I've never questioned that so far.

 

It looks clear to me you're what is simplistically described as "empath". I prefer the term "highly sensitive", which I am. But I've protected myself and anchored myself over years. I constantly need to anchor myself, to focus on my body, humans/Earthlings, Earth, i.e. to focus on my own earthliness. It's easy for me to fly away, intergalactically ^^

 

Colors are brain signals therefore the source of colors is not external to you: it is your own brain. Same for sounds, touch sensations, tastes, smells, etc.

So the source of the pain you feel is your brain. You may suffer of induced pain. The source of pain is not external. Even if something external hit you, the pain you feel is generated by your brain. Then there's a pain one generates without being externally stimulated.

 

Also, keep in mind pain is an indicator and can alert us, prevent us from danger. So ask yourself this: how does that pain HELP you? It sounds counter-intuitive, right... How does your pain help you? See your pain as a useful information.

 

So yes, I think you should read NON-newagy stuff about "empathy" or - better - NON-newagy stuff about "hypersensitivity". There are many newagy/spiritual traps for gifted hypersensitive people...

 

By the way, I've repeatedly noticed I absolutely have to avoid to immerge myself in spiritual/religious groups (I don't mean sharing with a spiritual individual). My curiosity can so easily get caught in that, then I'm petrified (and even more caught) because of the dissonance I feel there, without mentioning the deceptive signs of tribe I could lured into in such environments. I really have to avoid that for my safety. I think I know what I'm talking about because I spent decades in spiritual groups but, fortunately, they rejected me I dared ask them for evidence, which is quite disrespectful and pointless (they said)...

 

What usually are your very first words when you answer the phone in your own language?

Possible words, translated in English:

- "Uh?"

- "What?"

- "Who are you?"

- (gross words)

- "Yes???"

- "What do you want?"

- "Hello?!"

- (silence - you don't say a word)

[Helen of Annoy]

 !

When reading your post, at first I was  and more of  and then  but it very spontaneously turned into nice, healthy  

When you said "fortunately, they rejected me". I resonate with that so much. And it's funny. Maybe morbidly funny, but funny - bringing honest spirituality into supposedly spiritual groups, getting, of course, rejected. But yes, it's fortunate. There probably are a lot of people who can happily fit their spirituality into a system and resonate with a group, but if it doesn't work, or works better with some distance... then distance it should be. 

 

Now, your question. 

If at work, I answer the phone in neutral voice, stating who I am, asking the equivalent of the English "how can I help you?". I must admit I absolutely love it when people conclude they called the wrong number. Yes! It rarely happens, so it's even sweeter when it does happen. 

At my private phones, depends on the number that's calling, of course. From the warm "Oooh, hello" to "Say right away, what happened?" if a call is coming at unusual time and I had premonitions. If it's a telemarketer I say "I've got no time or money for anything." which is the magic phrase that drives them away. They're not crazy to waste time on someone determined to not spend any money. 

When people call and ask if they're speaking to *name*, before saying who they are, I go berserk. I actually educate them on proper phone etiquette. 

Yeah, I can be a nitpicker. Though usually I'm not. 

 

Would you call yourself a nitpicker? 

 

 

 

[ant0n]

53 minutes ago, Helen of Annoy said:

Would you call yourself a nitpicker? 

Not really. I'd rather call myself a "selective and moderate perfectionist" instead and someone who likes to improve things.

I've learned to tame my perfectionism because I was blocked and suffering because of it. I intentionaly add a bit of imperfection in the way I express myself, in the way others express themselves, in how I sort my files in my computer and so on. After all, Nature is not perfect - and that's why it is perfect. It is perfect the way it is, whathever it looks like to us, Earthlings. I'm not a perfectionist regarding how my house is arranged, regarding how I look.

 

Many times I read or hear words I don't consider coherent or accurate enough, yet I don't intervene. I choose not to spend my time improve that. I don't want the selective perfectionist I am take over there.

So yes, I'm a selective and moderate perfectionist. I tend to "perfection" but I don't mind I don't reach it. I do hold back a degree of freedom.

 

There are people I know in person I intentionally don't have deep conversations with, because if I do, I get even more confusion, dissonance, misunderstandings, waste of time, pointless questionings.

 

What does the word "weird" mean to you?