Comments on: apocalypse soon http://glow.whyiamnotdying.net/2009/06/apocalypse-soon/ taking dancing lessons from god. Thu, 29 Dec 2011 02:22:50 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: elana http://glow.whyiamnotdying.net/2009/06/apocalypse-soon/comment-page-1/#comment-1670 elana Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:25:28 +0000 http://glow.whyiamnotdying.net/?p=884#comment-1670 Thanks for the response, I see much more clearly what you're getting at now and am inclined to agree with you. Thanks for the response, I see much more clearly what you’re getting at now and am inclined to agree with you.

]]> By: stacia fuchsia http://glow.whyiamnotdying.net/2009/06/apocalypse-soon/comment-page-1/#comment-1642 stacia fuchsia Sun, 07 Jun 2009 18:54:16 +0000 http://glow.whyiamnotdying.net/?p=884#comment-1642 i think that in your example, the person's love for the earth is not a real love but an abstraction. i think that our cultural norms OFTEN (or even always) make it impossible or very difficult for love to be more than an abstraction or even pastiche of love... maybe. my point is not that people do not feel intense, positive, enormous emotion towards one another (and the earth, etc), because they indisputably do, but that we are so wrapped up in professions of and symbols of love that we are not actually loving. one can say "i love the earth" but to actually love the earth would be to improve it, to regenerate it, to protect it, etc... love as an action. it's sort of like standing at the opposite end of a room from someone and saying, "i touch you," instead of walking across the room and hugging the person. only in the latter scenario does the person really receive the warmth, strength, etc in the touch. with regard to love it's almost impossible for us to understand the difference, especially since we're so inundated with pop culture and other stuff that tells us that sentences like "i love you, that's why i had to hurt you" are not semantically impossible. i also think that because people think of love as that intense emotion, instead of that hard work of support etc, that they are really sensitive to and defensive of implications that one can love better, etc, which makes this sort of a hard topic to talk about. i think it's a really difficult thing to do, and yes i think that learning to appropriately love one another is really important. i think that as we practice loving with each other, it will get easier to love the earth and all the life around us, too. i think that in your example, the person’s love for the earth is not a real love but an abstraction. i think that our cultural norms OFTEN (or even always) make it impossible or very difficult for love to be more than an abstraction or even pastiche of love… maybe. my point is not that people do not feel intense, positive, enormous emotion towards one another (and the earth, etc), because they indisputably do, but that we are so wrapped up in professions of and symbols of love that we are not actually loving. one can say “i love the earth” but to actually love the earth would be to improve it, to regenerate it, to protect it, etc… love as an action. it’s sort of like standing at the opposite end of a room from someone and saying, “i touch you,” instead of walking across the room and hugging the person. only in the latter scenario does the person really receive the warmth, strength, etc in the touch. with regard to love it’s almost impossible for us to understand the difference, especially since we’re so inundated with pop culture and other stuff that tells us that sentences like “i love you, that’s why i had to hurt you” are not semantically impossible. i also think that because people think of love as that intense emotion, instead of that hard work of support etc, that they are really sensitive to and defensive of implications that one can love better, etc, which makes this sort of a hard topic to talk about.

i think it’s a really difficult thing to do, and yes i think that learning to appropriately love one another is really important. i think that as we practice loving with each other, it will get easier to love the earth and all the life around us, too.

]]> By: Elana http://glow.whyiamnotdying.net/2009/06/apocalypse-soon/comment-page-1/#comment-1641 Elana Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:54:57 +0000 http://glow.whyiamnotdying.net/?p=884#comment-1641 Interesting post. I think that it is not so simple to distinguish love from not-love (or destruction?) in practice, though in theory I do find your love/destruction dichotomy useful. I think that, for whatever reason, human beings are somewhat incapable of displaying pure, unabashed love towards one another all the time. I think that for practical reasons it is perfectly possible for people to love the earth and destroy it at the same time. What if they love something else more (or at least they love something more immediately) that is at odds with their love for the earth? For example, what if a person loves his/her family and the only way he/she can think of to express that love (because of cultural norms) is to buy them gifts which are manufactured to the detriment of the planet? Sure, one could argue that materialism is not a "true" expression of love, but what if the impulse comes out of a genuine and honest expression of love? Something that I am increasingly attracted to is the idea that that the journey of life, or at least the idea of the "journey" that most appeals to me, is learning to appropriately love one another. This is a messy process, and often we will hurt those we love most (sometimes without even realizing it), but I do like the implications of this. Interesting post. I think that it is not so simple to distinguish love from not-love (or destruction?) in practice, though in theory I do find your love/destruction dichotomy useful. I think that, for whatever reason, human beings are somewhat incapable of displaying pure, unabashed love towards one another all the time. I think that for practical reasons it is perfectly possible for people to love the earth and destroy it at the same time. What if they love something else more (or at least they love something more immediately) that is at odds with their love for the earth? For example, what if a person loves his/her family and the only way he/she can think of to express that love (because of cultural norms) is to buy them gifts which are manufactured to the detriment of the planet? Sure, one could argue that materialism is not a “true” expression of love, but what if the impulse comes out of a genuine and honest expression of love?

Something that I am increasingly attracted to is the idea that that the journey of life, or at least the idea of the “journey” that most appeals to me, is learning to appropriately love one another. This is a messy process, and often we will hurt those we love most (sometimes without even realizing it), but I do like the implications of this.

]]> By: stacia fuchsia http://glow.whyiamnotdying.net/2009/06/apocalypse-soon/comment-page-1/#comment-1629 stacia fuchsia Fri, 05 Jun 2009 22:24:30 +0000 http://glow.whyiamnotdying.net/?p=884#comment-1629 i just updated to a new version of wordpress, so i can reply to this and (i think) it will be nested below your comment! hurrah! anyway, i think love is a verb (and an action!) that means the opposite of destroy. if you are destroying the object of your love, you aren't loving it. you're lying to yourself or to the loved one/thing, or both. i think i was starting to figure this out before based on my own experience (with love, and with what i called love but was actually addiction), but what really solidified this for me was reading (though i didn't finish it) bell hooks' book, <i>all about love</i>, last spring. i just updated to a new version of wordpress, so i can reply to this and (i think) it will be nested below your comment! hurrah!

anyway, i think love is a verb (and an action!) that means the opposite of destroy. if you are destroying the object of your love, you aren’t loving it. you’re lying to yourself or to the loved one/thing, or both. i think i was starting to figure this out before based on my own experience (with love, and with what i called love but was actually addiction), but what really solidified this for me was reading (though i didn’t finish it) bell hooks’ book, all about love, last spring.

]]> By: dorkas http://glow.whyiamnotdying.net/2009/06/apocalypse-soon/comment-page-1/#comment-1626 dorkas Fri, 05 Jun 2009 03:45:15 +0000 http://glow.whyiamnotdying.net/?p=884#comment-1626 i really like this entry. it leaves me really fascinated by what your definition of "love" is. because in my experience people *often* destroy what they love. i really like this entry. it leaves me really fascinated by what your definition of “love” is. because in my experience people *often* destroy what they love.

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