Hi Dedroidify, I very much enjoyed the quotes you've included here, most of them provoked thought and/or a chuckle.
However, instead of commenting on the quotes/images I connect with positively, I'd like to draw attention to the quote I find most logically problematic; the Dale Carnegie quote "...fear doesn't exist anywhere except in the mind." Is this quote not contradicted by the illustration you included two pictures below depicting different bodily responses to emotional states (anger, fear, disgust...etc? That picture shows fear also affecting and existing in the heart. Also, isn't the idea of fear as existing solely in the mind (internal reality) as opposed to consensus reality demonstrably incorrect? Ie; one could be standing next to someone reluctantly about to bungee jump, the jumper's fear can be seen objectively as a visual phenomena (facial expression, breathing rate etc) and the fear can be felt empathetically. Emotions are contagious, their effects not confined to the source of origin. Ones emotions can have a visible effect on their surroundings, I see a lot of motivational quotes that seemingly encourage people to regard fear as a binary problem, like it's an on/off switch ("No Fear.""...Nothing to fear but fear itself"...etc.) I question the wisdom of this ethos and While these quotes can be read emotionally as a method to encourage courage, it can also be read as incitement to interact with fear by basically putting ones fingers in ones ears and singing "la la la, I can't hear you". Castaneda wrote about the idea of death as an advisor, since fear is often associated with death by humans, would it not likely also be endowed with advisory qualities? Fear as a tool for refining awareness re hazardous situations/objects etc.
Anyway, I'm not trying to be overly critical of one picture out of a post including 41 images, I just thought it valid to share some contrasting thoughts on the culturally accepted "No Fear" meme and would be interested to hear your opinion. Thanks for creating an excellent blog.
If I look at my own life I agree mostly with Dale Carnegie though you make some valid points.
I've overcome some fears easily simply by reframing them. Not with an on/off switch but you have to put some work into. This doesn't mean you put fingers in your ears, this means you work through educating yourself from other people's perspectives who do not share your fear, learning from that and reframing your own perspective through for example the NLP swish technique.
A silly example perhaps, I no longer fear big dogs in the street, I used to cross the street whenever I saw one just to avoid getting startled by getting barked at or bitten. Around ten years ago I worked on this irrational but understandable fear and I can now walk straight past or next to a huge dog without a second thought.
That being said, I have not overcome all my fears and I don't think I ever will or even want to overcome them all, simply because - as you also point out - some fears serve a protective purpose and do it well. Most of these fears concern people, which are far more treacherous beings than dogs.
I also wanna add that some phobias are really, really hard to overcome. I have a phobia I'm not willing to share but I don't see any way of conquering it as the advised therapeutic route to overcome it is a very long one that has to be conquered in group therapy, and I am simply unwilling to put that much embarassment and effort into it and just choose to live with this irrational fear.
So while the Dale Carnegie quote somewhat trivializes fear, it also inspires courage and change which is why I shared it. Reality contradicts itself all the time.
Thanks for the great comment and introspection it led to for me.
Jonny, at the moment I take the angle that there are different subtle centers which interface with the mind. Depending on a persons level of awareness they either see the mind on it's own, or they're able to see the mind and it's connections to the subtle centers.
It's possible if someone's operating from mind-only awareness, using mind-only techniques, and getting meaningful results that there are things happening in the background they don't recognise. Untangling the heart chakra or just redirecting the flow of energy in the body to a more open state for example.
Like if someone was scared, and they took a minute to think about it and felt better, they also sat down whilst thinking which gave their nervous system a chance to relax. If they didn't pay attention to sitting down and just focused on the thinking part, they could say it was "all in my mind", when it was a combination of things.
At least that's how I'd validate both Dale Carnegie and the picture of the bodies.
Ringo, have you bent down to clap a big dog and say "who's a good boy then?" in a gruffy enthusiastic voice yet? :)
Just need to chuckle at the name of the "nervous system" again ;p
The picture of the bodies was not very scientific btw, just a sketch of where people said they felt the emotions they were asked about, or something like that.
I have done this with a dog of an acquaintance, and he is near bear-sized! The mofo can jump at you and lick you and have both sides of your glasses wet, ew! Wouldn't approach any stranger dogs though, just as I wouldn't any stranger humans lol.
Thanks for the reference points, I've heard about NLP techniques but not really tried them, the info I looked at on the Swish technique seemed to be based around changing a specific fear, do you know if they work on fear in a general sense, or on general feelings of anxiety?
I also quickly tried a subtle center technique this weekend and I think it might be a helpful technique for re-arranging emotional flow. I am probably way too mind orientated at the moment, so I'll investigate further.
This stuff is helpful to me because over the past month, I've felt a need to go about re-defining what fear is and what it does. I experienced a real harsh period back in the early 00's where I was afraid of nearly everything, a season of living under a really dark cloud. But I kind of realized that thru the years some subtle and hidden positives came out of it, like perception sharpening and philosophical lucidity. During that period my dreams and imagination was very vivid and terrifying, but while the terrifying aspects lessened or were re-integrated, the vividness remained... and that vivid/lucid upgrade definitely improves ones engagement with creativity and inner imaginal/spiritual landscapes in my experience. So yep, emotional re-integration, body/spirit healing, conceptual re-definition feels right to me.
Definitely agree about humans being more treacherous than dogs, a lot of human behaviour can be downright terrifying! A scientifically unsound tip for dealing with scary dogs is swearing. I was walking alone on a street once and a massive hell-beast of a dog appeared without a lead or an owner and started really barking at me, I didn't know what to do, so I just kept looking at it and shouted at the top of my voice from the pit of my stomach a string of the most obscene swearwords and offensive language I could think of, the dog just stood and stared at me and I managed to walk away. Dunno if this works on all big dogs, but it worked for me that time.
Thanks for the reference points, I've heard about NLP techniques but not really tried them, the info I looked at on the Swish technique seemed to be based around changing a specific fear, do you know if they work on fear in a general sense, or on general feelings of anxiety?
I also quickly tried a subtle center technique this weekend and I think it might be a helpful technique for re-arranging emotional flow. I am probably way too mind orientated at the moment, so I'll investigate further.
This stuff is helpful to me because over the past month, I've felt a need to go about re-defining what fear is and what it does. I experienced a real harsh period back in the early 00's where I was afraid of nearly everything, a season of living under a really dark cloud. But I kind of realized that thru the years some subtle and hidden positives came out of it, like perception sharpening and philosophical lucidity. During that period my dreams and imagination was very vivid and terrifying, but while the terrifying aspects lessened or were re-integrated, the vividness remained... and that vivid/lucid upgrade definitely improves ones engagement with creativity and inner imaginal/spiritual landscapes in my experience. So yep, emotional re-integration, body/spirit healing, conceptual re-definition feels right to me.
Definitely agree about humans being more treacherous than dogs, a lot of human behaviour can be downright terrifying! A scientifically unsound tip for dealing with scary dogs is swearing. I was walking alone on a street once and a massive hell-beast of a dog appeared without a lead or an owner and started really barking at me, I didn't know what to do, so I just kept looking at it and shouted at the top of my voice from the pit of my stomach a string of the most obscene swearwords and offensive language I could think of, the dog just stood and stared at me and I managed to walk away. Dunno if this works on all big dogs, but it worked for me that time.
the swish technique is helpful for any reframing of a stimulus that would upset you. http://dedroidify.blogspot.be/2008/04/swish-reprogramming-and-transmuting.html
Could you give me any good linkes concerning these subtle center techniques? Not familiar with them.
Great that you were able to retain the vividness!
Haha, not sure how I would react in such a situation but nice quick thinking of you and glad it worked!
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Sweet attic ;)
Hi Dedroidify, I very much enjoyed the quotes you've included here, most of them provoked thought and/or a chuckle.
However, instead of commenting on the quotes/images I connect with positively, I'd like to draw attention to the quote I find most logically problematic; the Dale Carnegie quote "...fear doesn't exist anywhere except in the mind." Is this quote not contradicted by the illustration you included two pictures below depicting different bodily responses to emotional states (anger, fear, disgust...etc? That picture shows fear also affecting and existing in the heart. Also, isn't the idea of fear as existing solely in the mind (internal reality) as opposed to consensus reality demonstrably incorrect? Ie; one could be standing next to someone reluctantly about to bungee jump, the jumper's fear can be seen objectively as a visual phenomena (facial expression, breathing rate etc) and the fear can be felt empathetically. Emotions are contagious, their effects not confined to the source of origin. Ones emotions can have a visible effect on their surroundings, I see a lot of motivational quotes that seemingly encourage people to regard fear as a binary problem, like it's an on/off switch ("No Fear.""...Nothing to fear but fear itself"...etc.) I question the wisdom of this ethos and While these quotes can be read emotionally as a method to encourage courage, it can also be read as incitement to interact with fear by basically putting ones fingers in ones ears and singing "la la la, I can't hear you". Castaneda wrote about the idea of death as an advisor, since fear is often associated with death by humans, would it not likely also be endowed with advisory qualities? Fear as a tool for refining awareness re hazardous situations/objects etc.
Anyway, I'm not trying to be overly critical of one picture out of a post including 41 images, I just thought it valid to share some contrasting thoughts on the culturally accepted "No Fear" meme and would be interested to hear your opinion. Thanks for creating an excellent blog.
If I look at my own life I agree mostly with Dale Carnegie though you make some valid points.
I've overcome some fears easily simply by reframing them. Not with an on/off switch but you have to put some work into. This doesn't mean you put fingers in your ears, this means you work through educating yourself from other people's perspectives who do not share your fear, learning from that and reframing your own perspective through for example the NLP swish technique.
A silly example perhaps, I no longer fear big dogs in the street, I used to cross the street whenever I saw one just to avoid getting startled by getting barked at or bitten. Around ten years ago I worked on this irrational but understandable fear and I can now walk straight past or next to a huge dog without a second thought.
That being said, I have not overcome all my fears and I don't think I ever will or even want to overcome them all, simply because - as you also point out - some fears serve a protective purpose and do it well. Most of these fears concern people, which are far more treacherous beings than dogs.
I also wanna add that some phobias are really, really hard to overcome. I have a phobia I'm not willing to share but I don't see any way of conquering it as the advised therapeutic route to overcome it is a very long one that has to be conquered in group therapy, and I am simply unwilling to put that much embarassment and effort into it and just choose to live with this irrational fear.
So while the Dale Carnegie quote somewhat trivializes fear, it also inspires courage and change which is why I shared it. Reality contradicts itself all the time.
Thanks for the great comment and introspection it led to for me.
Jonny, at the moment I take the angle that there are different subtle centers which interface with the mind. Depending on a persons level of awareness they either see the mind on it's own, or they're able to see the mind and it's connections to the subtle centers.
It's possible if someone's operating from mind-only awareness, using mind-only techniques, and getting meaningful results that there are things happening in the background they don't recognise. Untangling the heart chakra or just redirecting the flow of energy in the body to a more open state for example.
Like if someone was scared, and they took a minute to think about it and felt better, they also sat down whilst thinking which gave their nervous system a chance to relax. If they didn't pay attention to sitting down and just focused on the thinking part, they could say it was "all in my mind", when it was a combination of things.
At least that's how I'd validate both Dale Carnegie and the picture of the bodies.
Ringo, have you bent down to clap a big dog and say "who's a good boy then?" in a gruffy enthusiastic voice yet? :)
Just need to chuckle at the name of the "nervous system" again ;p
The picture of the bodies was not very scientific btw, just a sketch of where people said they felt the emotions they were asked about, or something like that.
I have done this with a dog of an acquaintance, and he is near bear-sized! The mofo can jump at you and lick you and have both sides of your glasses wet, ew! Wouldn't approach any stranger dogs though, just as I wouldn't any stranger humans lol.
Thanks for the reference points, I've heard about NLP techniques but not really tried them, the info I looked at on the Swish technique seemed to be based around changing a specific fear, do you know if they work on fear in a general sense, or on general feelings of anxiety?
I also quickly tried a subtle center technique this weekend and I think it might be a helpful technique for re-arranging emotional flow. I am probably way too mind orientated at the moment, so I'll investigate further.
This stuff is helpful to me because over the past month, I've felt a need to go about re-defining what fear is and what it does. I experienced a real harsh period back in the early 00's where I was afraid of nearly everything, a season of living under a really dark cloud. But I kind of realized that thru the years some subtle and hidden positives came out of it, like perception sharpening and philosophical lucidity. During that period my dreams and imagination was very vivid and terrifying, but while the terrifying aspects lessened or were re-integrated, the vividness remained... and that vivid/lucid upgrade definitely improves ones engagement with creativity and inner imaginal/spiritual landscapes in my experience. So yep, emotional re-integration, body/spirit healing, conceptual re-definition feels right to me.
Definitely agree about humans being more treacherous than dogs, a lot of human behaviour can be downright terrifying! A scientifically unsound tip for dealing with scary dogs is swearing. I was walking alone on a street once and a massive hell-beast of a dog appeared without a lead or an owner and started really barking at me, I didn't know what to do, so I just kept looking at it and shouted at the top of my voice from the pit of my stomach a string of the most obscene swearwords and offensive language I could think of, the dog just stood and stared at me and I managed to walk away. Dunno if this works on all big dogs, but it worked for me that time.
Thanks for the reference points, I've heard about NLP techniques but not really tried them, the info I looked at on the Swish technique seemed to be based around changing a specific fear, do you know if they work on fear in a general sense, or on general feelings of anxiety?
I also quickly tried a subtle center technique this weekend and I think it might be a helpful technique for re-arranging emotional flow. I am probably way too mind orientated at the moment, so I'll investigate further.
This stuff is helpful to me because over the past month, I've felt a need to go about re-defining what fear is and what it does. I experienced a real harsh period back in the early 00's where I was afraid of nearly everything, a season of living under a really dark cloud. But I kind of realized that thru the years some subtle and hidden positives came out of it, like perception sharpening and philosophical lucidity. During that period my dreams and imagination was very vivid and terrifying, but while the terrifying aspects lessened or were re-integrated, the vividness remained... and that vivid/lucid upgrade definitely improves ones engagement with creativity and inner imaginal/spiritual landscapes in my experience. So yep, emotional re-integration, body/spirit healing, conceptual re-definition feels right to me.
Definitely agree about humans being more treacherous than dogs, a lot of human behaviour can be downright terrifying! A scientifically unsound tip for dealing with scary dogs is swearing. I was walking alone on a street once and a massive hell-beast of a dog appeared without a lead or an owner and started really barking at me, I didn't know what to do, so I just kept looking at it and shouted at the top of my voice from the pit of my stomach a string of the most obscene swearwords and offensive language I could think of, the dog just stood and stared at me and I managed to walk away. Dunno if this works on all big dogs, but it worked for me that time.
Hey Johnny,
the swish technique is helpful for any reframing of a stimulus that would upset you.
http://dedroidify.blogspot.be/2008/04/swish-reprogramming-and-transmuting.html
Could you give me any good linkes concerning these subtle center techniques? Not familiar with them.
Great that you were able to retain the vividness!
Haha, not sure how I would react in such a situation but nice quick thinking of you and glad it worked!
Sure thing, the main site I was looking at was this one-
http://www.sufischool.org/practises/lataif.html
there may be more detailed sites out there, but it gives a decent overview.
I also found this old Stormy Weather podcast with Jake Kotze to be relevant to some of the stuff we were talking about-
http://auticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/Stormy-Weather-21b.mp3
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