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Trying to make sense of life and to learn living it happily.

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Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Agree to Disagree OR My Posting Schedule

MoMa Perpetual Calendar


I often disagree with mainstream trends and notions. I believe our society regularly goes off in directions that put us further away from the happiness everyone is looking for. 

One such trend is the amount of data surrounding us and the speed with which the next bit of information replaces the last one. There is so much news and so many fads, and we are rushing along with them, changing our commitments to diets, work-outs, fashion, extracurricular activities and our ideas. Sometimes we don’t even get to the ones we are interested in, because we already are on to the next thing. How can people develop strong convictions and/or opinions if they don’t spend at least some time with the ideas that form said convictions/opinions?

When we read a thick book, we can’t help but spend some time with it. And by the virtue of time spent thinking about it, the meaning settles in, spurring ideas of our own (assuming it is that kind of book :)). When we watch a screen version of the same thing, we spend only two hours with it, and it just can’t take root and affect us as much.

People nowadays don’t get the opportunity to spend some time with one idea, to mull it over, to explore it fully, and to understand our attitude toward it. If we spend some time, we may find that our initial reaction to some outside event or idea may evolve, deepen or even change altogether.

Of course, as with everything, moderation is key. While clearing the mind of all thoughts seems impossible and impractical for our lives, bringing too much stimulation and thoughts will result in them cancelling each other out and just cluttering our heads with chaos.

With that in mind, I will post to this blog once a week. I hope it will give everybody a chance to give each topic enough attention, to feel a personal reaction to it, and of course, to comment.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Welcome OR To Think or Not to Think?

"I think and think and think, I‘ve thought myself out of happiness one million times, but never once into it." ~ Jonathan Safran Foer
"Misery is almost always the result of thinking."  ~Joseph Joubert

Welcome to my first blog post!

Its purpose is to make sense of life and to learn living it happily. To that end I will post my musings triggered by books, works of art and life itself. I also plan to get to the root of what makes people happy and share it with everybody! Your comments are welcome and appreciated. I hope for heated discussions, as we all know that "in a dispute born truth".

Some think that thinking too much will drive you away from happiness. Others wonder how do we live the life and not think about it, not trying to make sense of it?

Buddhism and Yoga teach us that the ultimate goal is to quiet the mind, clear it of any thoughts. Our tangled thoughts are the only barrier between us and bliss.

Well, I enjoy the thinking process and a stimulating debate as much, if not more than a delicious meal. In fact, I hold that a meal will nourish us for several hours, whereas a good discussion may nourish our minds for life. It may even change our lives. No meal can do that (that I am aware of, unless you consider poisoning :))

So what do you think is the best way to understand it all: try and clear your mind, or nourish it with life-changing (or possibly "poisoning") thoughts?

Let the discussion begin!