spending time

[einride]

I don't see a problem with being alone at all. It's not like I just enjoy it, it's like I need to be alone some part of my day.

yeah honestly. i'm exactly the same, probably because i've grown up being the lonely kid all the time and it rules. life is a lonely walk to a lonely grave and people who can't handle that realization are probably going to have problems somewhere down the line.

the flipside, though, is that i find it almost intolerable when i do have to be around people all the time -- like when i go visit relatives or something for a couple of weeks and never get to be properly alone. it's really difficult. in situations like those i have to go on frequent long walks and shit just to feel that i can breathe and hear my own thoughts.

I would take that $1500 offer as well, because damn, working 8-10 hrs a day truly oppresses me as 24 hrs is not too much to do all the stuff you can/want to do.

right. if there was 8 hours of work and 8 hours off work (well there technically is, but usually not 8 USABLE hours off work,) and the human was also built to have enough energy to last that long without getting tired, i would probably think full-time work was okay.

I don't remember last time when I was bored, actually I'm never bored. Probably because I have many hobbies (probably way too many) and always try to learn something new. And I don't understand young people who are always whine about them having nothing to do... I don't get it, and I find it pretty sad. Humans have been given a huge potential which they should discover and use for getting to the higher level of being, while most of ppls simply degrade living like a plant.

i love the way you think (because it's the same way that i think)

 

[donveneise]

Stamps.

 

[The_Isle]

Umm, you seem to be abit too gloomy about your prospects in this world mr erik.

I'm of the firm belief that with a lot of ingenuity and little bit of luck you will be able to do whatever it is that you want in life without having to worry about survival. If what you love doing also ensures food on the table at the same time, then you've hit the Jackpot of Life(tm), as a friend of mine would tell me.

Just be sure that you put consistent effort into at least ONE thing though... you can't actually expect to do all of those things on your list and focus on none of them and expect to be happy..... then you'll end up having nothing to show for all the time you spent living happily, and that in itself gives you something to be happy about.

 

[einride]

Umm, you seem to be abit too gloomy about your prospects in this world mr erik.

i'm only gloomy about what will happen if i DON'T realize my ambitions. i do, however, think that i eventually will, so i'm pretty positive really.

I'm of the firm belief that with a lot of ingenuity and little bit of luck you will be able to do whatever it is that you want in life without having to worry about survival. If what you love doing also ensures food on the table at the same time, then you've hit the Jackpot of Life(tm), as a friend of mine would tell me.

Just be sure that you put consistent effort into at least ONE thing though... you can't actually expect to do all of those things on your list and focus on none of them and expect to be happy..... then you'll end up having nothing to show for all the time you spent living happily, and that in itself gives you something to be happy about.

thanks, this all makes sense

 

[The_Isle]

just wondering to everyone at large: have you ever had really long ruts of just getting nothing meaningful/productive done for a really long time and maybe in short bouts of respite your realise this but push it to the back of your mind?

Then on the night before a really stressful day(say, an exam, or your first interview for a job or whatever) you suddenly are unable to sleep and all you can think about is SHIT what the FUCK have I been doing recently and then you frantically start to list down things you have to do and make plans for how to get back on track to your life goals?

In fact reading this thread has already had the same effect on me, and its like the 1123891293th time that's happened.

Kinda makes you pessimistic sometimes that you'll never actually change and that your life will just be an endless string of falling off the deep end and upon realizing this frantically trying to pull yourself out again only to continue the cycle.

Or maybe this one's just weird.

 

[The_Isle]

i'm only gloomy about what will happen if i DON'T realize my ambitions. i do, however, think that i eventually will, so i'm pretty positive really.


thanks, this all makes sense

no thank you, i'm the one being enlightened here. Was just offering my shaky, untested and perhaps completely worthless 2 cents

 

[Johanna]

"hey, there's something wrong with this -- why shouldn't i get to do what i want with my life, all the time?

Yesterday, Mike's mother told me about how Mike wanted to eat nothing but burgers every day when he was little. This reminds me of that!

edit: (these days he only wants them every second day)

 

[Johanna]

just wondering to everyone at large: have you ever had really long ruts of just getting nothing meaningful/productive done for a really long time and maybe in short bouts of respite your realise this but push it to the back of your mind?

Since the birth of Dis, the prospect of this ever happening again feels minimal. Even just sitting on my ass farting while she'sd in my lap feels like priceless bonding time.
In conclusion: get kids, it rox. Since i think so, it should apply to everyone.

/mr motörbike

 

[einride]

just wondering to everyone at large: have you ever had really long ruts of just getting nothing meaningful/productive done for a really long time and maybe in short bouts of respite your realise this but push it to the back of your mind?

yes, and during those times i am constantly aware of how i'm wasting time and it just furthers the cycle of destruction. the more you let the fact that that you're doing nothing worthwhile get to you, the harder it gets to do something about it. eventually i had to seek out a therapist to get that shit sorted, and i'm the kind of person who NEVER asks anyone else for help. sometimes i wish i was less aware or at least cared less but i don't think blissful ignorance is my style

Kinda makes you pessimistic sometimes that you'll never actually change and that your life will just be an endless string of falling off the deep end and upon realizing this frantically trying to pull yourself out again only to continue the cycle.

it does. the problem i had with that was that the words i told myself again and again were very empty and carried no real weight. i can tell myself "i gotta do something about this" as much as i want -- i mean on some subconscious level i do realize that something needs to be done, but it's another thing to manage to drag that up to the conscious and realize that not only do i have to do something about this, but I DO! (actually, for real) HAVE! TO DO! SOMETHING! ABOUT THIS! (NOW!) it's too fucking easy to be lazy. it's too easy to fool yourself into thinking that it's probably not your fault when you fail AGAIN AND AGAIN. it IS your fault though. if you REALLY wanted to do something about your situation you WOULD.

you know on some level what you WANT to do, and it's not enough to know that, it's not enough to know that you SHOULD do it -- nothing is enough until you ACTUALLY REALLY DO IT, LIKE, FOR REALSIES. the cycle will not continue if you break it, but noone else and no amount of thought-but-no-actions is going to accomplish that.

fuck pessimism, or optimism for that matter, the only thing that matters is what you choose to actually do. either you do it or you don't and in either case you're the one who's solely responsible.

 

[Hell Mike]

fuck pessimism, or optimism for that matter, the only thing that matters is what you choose to actually do. either you do it or you don't and in either case you're the one who's solely responsible.

Wurd on that, optimism usually helps you in getting your ass off the wagon though.

 

[~Neurotica]

the flipside, though, is that i find it almost intolerable when i do have to be around people all the time -- like when i go visit relatives or something for a couple of weeks and never get to be properly alone. it's really difficult. in situations like those i have to go on frequent long walks and shit just to feel that i can breathe and hear my own thoughts.

Ce grand malheur, de ne pouvoir être seul.* - Jean de la Bruyère

*Such a great misfortune, not to be able to be alone.

 

[Guthrum]

What is wrong with you people?

 

[dorian gray]

They're not American

 

[Disgustipated]

Or maybe being American is what's wrong with you.

Seriously though, Erik, you've more or less written what I could never get into words. I wholeheartedly agree with pretty much everything you've said in this thread.

 

[Conspicuously Absent]

It is fast paced, I'm relatively free from overzealous boss types, I can get away with lots of fun stuff on the job, etc.

Its about the only redeeming factor for my job. I'm looking forward to getting to do the project work though. Being paid to travel around europe for a few days up to a year.

have you ever had really long ruts of just getting nothing meaningful/productive done for a really long time and maybe in short bouts of respite your realise this but push it to the back of your mind?

Not quite as you described it, but at some point I find myself churning a rut, I take a break for some period of time and come back with renewed vigor and take it further than it was before.

i mean on some subconscious level i do realize that something needs to be done, but it's another thing to manage to drag that up to the conscious and realize t

This is a big thing that so few people actually understand. You can understand somethng at either the subconcious or concious level, but to have the other level actually understand that is something totally different. Its often a concious thought that needs to penetrate to the subconcious. Many people who suffer from depression live in this state, they conciously know that x is actually bullshit, but their subconcious still holds it for truth and refuses to let go.



As to the topic of work vs free time. I agree with the concept that being forced to work is horrible. I do believe that you should need to work for the things you like, but the 9-5 grind is often more of a soul-crushing adventure in demoralisation.

I would love to own a small farm/B&B somewhere remote (read: Austria?). Be my own boss, meet interesting people, easy to get away and "just get by" as an income.

Before I can do that though, I need to work the grind to save up capital for that, to do some of the other things I want (travel, get some "stuff", etc).



And to whoever mentioned mastering fly-fishing, thats on my list.

 

[Demilich]

at this point i'm just going to accept that this thread has strayed into another "work sucks" thread and go with the flow


but who decided in the first place that you need to earn your free time? i realize that our entire society is built upon the idea that nearly everyone needs to work in order for it to function properly, and that even before society was organized like this you still had to "work" every day, often much harder than now, (though in olden times, work was more directly connected to survival -- now the relationship between food on your table and sitting at a desk 8 hours a day is hidden between several layers of abstraction) -- but don't you ever feel that "hey, there's something wrong with this -- why shouldn't i get to do what i want with my life, all the time?" whether that's practically plausible or not is not within the scope of this discussion.

i should clarify that i don't feel that i'm earning my free time, simply that i earn the cash to indulge myself during the free time that kind of happens to be left over after a 44 hour work week. in a way i suppose i wish i had the means to do more of what i want - i.e. just pick up and leave at any time with little concern for the consequences. perhaps its a matter of just being a little more pragmatic and grounded in the contemporary world as it exists: it isn't going to change for any number of hippie fantasies. we still need to make ends meet, and to do our best to ensure security for our loved ones.

you're right though. my job is "pointless." providing people with Coca Cola's products so they can over-consume and indulge in extremerly unhealthy beverages is not directly ensuring survival... it may be much closer to the opposite. but it is providing a service and product that people want to consume. demand necessitates supply, and all that. i dunno.

 

[Vittra]

Ce grand malheur, de ne pouvoir être seul.* - Jean de la Bruyère

*Such a great misfortune, not to be able to be alone.

Agree completely with you and einride on your comments about requiring time alone.

 

[dorian gray]

My job security is based on people getting sick and contracting diseases. How sad is that?

 

[Vittra]

That depends, are you FDA, or a doctor?

 

[Conspicuously Absent]

I can see the headlines now:


Man who invents immunity to sickness found brutally murdered, lab destroyed

The scientist who discovered a chemical combination that allowed the human immune system to overcome any sickness was found brutally murdered in his garage. The word "scab" was written on all the walls with his own blood. Later on the research lab that contains all of his research data was turned into a smoking crater.

One RN was quoted to say "better to die on your feet, than to live on your knees." A puzzling statement that was followed by headbanging.