(no subject)

[nny]

I don't understand or particularly agree with things that come without effort.

I'll clarify - I don't disagree with opportunity or luck, that would be ridiculous. I'm frequently exceedingly lucky and I'm very grateful for it. What I mean is more... short cuts. I don't really like short cuts.

For instance, take jacket potatoes. They taste a hell of a lot better when cooked for an hour and a half (or however long) than they do when microwaved for ten minutes. That's just a fact. And I think the same kind of thing applies pretty much universally.

I don't trust remedies or beauty treatments that replace time with money. I don't like the idea of liposuction or stomach stapling, and I frankly don't trust tanning booths. Not to mention the fact that it astonishes me rather that people would rather go and lie/stand in a coffin for a few minutes than go and sit in the sun with a book for an hour or two. (That's what I've just been doing, by the way - The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami, which I'm enjoying the same way I enjoyed Life of Pi). I don't believe that eating healthily and taking regular exercise can be replaced by diet pills.

Then of course there's the factor that if you haven't really worked for something, it's less enjoyable to reap the rewards. Again, just my opinion.

Of course, I don't live by my principles. Everyone's thinking it, I'm just saying it. When I have employment I work very hard for it but I take my sweet time finding it. I need to be pushed very hard to actually do any work at all for myself, and my writing is... effortless and thoughtless and as a consequence really not very good. I have some natural talent, I think, and my stories always tend to go down well but they're unmemorable. If I want to ever do anything with them, ever satisfy myself with what I've written, I need to put some effort in.

I guess it's like any system of beliefs or set of values. At the moment I'm an... it's not Christianity obviously but the best term I can think of is 'armchair Christian', of my own beliefs. I've always wanted to find something to believe in strongly, to get fervent about - and this is only a small thing, when it comes down to it, a very tiny part of my personal philosophy - and the things are really already there. I have opinions and beliefs that are very important to me, I'm just not someone that energy and fervour comes to naturally.

If I want it, I'm going to have to work for it. Which is precisely my point.

*grins*

Yet another somewhat incoherent ramble from the brain of 'Nny. It's a phase, don't worry, I'm sure it'll pass. I'll go back to the thoughtless bouncing sooner or later.

Comments

[apiphile.livejournal.com]

Mm, I tend to be quite ... distrustful of things that I haven't worked to get, but similarly don't really do much in the way of work because I can get a), b) and c) without putting in any effort.

I don't know, I find it odd that people could go their whole lives without ever asking "what do I believe about X" or "what do other people think of Q and do I agree with them?" and yet I keep being presented with evidence that this is what they do; ask What Do You Believe and the response is invariably confusion and or irritation or even fear: "I don't know about that kind of thing. I don't see why I should think about it. Shut up."

Very odd.

(Hi, tangent! Occasionally I actually REPLY to a post instead of using it as a cack-handed springboard ...)

[villainny.livejournal.com]

*giggles*

I absolutely do the same thing. And it's like we were talking about; I do know vaguely what I believe but I... am funny. I'm a comic, in RL. So it's very rare that I end up having a conversation in which I get to articulate what it is that I think and believe and therefore I'm kind of fuzzy on it myself. I need the interaction to fully understand what I'm talking about, and to experience my beliefs more fully I guess, because there are a lot of things I don't have opportunity to think about until it's forced upon me.

Then again, since I'm frequently working things through as I'm speaking, this means I can disagree with myself, modify my opinions on the fly, and sometimes completely changed my mind - allowed the other person to convince me. Which is commonly, I think, seen as a form of indecisiveness or weakness.

Which would be why I've been scared of expressing my opinions for the longest time, and why my journal is so frequently utter fluff.

[apiphile.livejournal.com]

So it's very rare that I end up having a conversation in which I get to articulate what it is that I think and believe and therefore I'm kind of fuzzy on it myself.

Conversations like that *are* incredibly rare, though. People don't like having them, as a rule, and they get derailed or distracted easily if you don't set out specifically to talk about that.

because there are a lot of things I don't have opportunity to think about until it's forced upon me

You need someone to question you or you need someone else to be talking about it first?

Which is commonly, I think, seen as a form of indecisiveness or weakness.

Or adaptability, or of a mind in flux. :P If the nature of the universe is change, what wrong is there in the nature of the individual being change too?

[ctah.livejournal.com]

Regarding microwaves (http://www.rense.com/general70/microwaved.htm).

If that's what happens to a plant, what the hell does it do to a human body? I've never trusted them.

[moons-storm.livejournal.com]

*agrees*

As far as stomach stapling?

>.>

It's freaking doctor-prescribed and aided anorexia.

Really.

*shakes head*

[cyanei.livejournal.com]

Not to mention the fact that it astonishes me rather that people would rather go and lie/stand in a coffin for a few minutes than go and sit in the sun with a book for an hour or two.

Well, I used to live in a place that only got three warm months, and tanning really helps with both acne and seasonal-affective disorder, as well as being useful if you are a fair person who's going away to a tropical place; if you build up a base tan before you leave, you're less likely to burn while you're there (which really ruins a vacation).

I must say, I like that our world offers shortcuts for practically anything. If we all had to do everything the harder or longer way, doing so wouldn't be admirable at all.

[ulalune.livejournal.com]

the same way I enjoyed Life of Pi

What, reading it every opportunity, even in the bath, even at parties, and if you're not reading it, you're thinking about reading it? Then when you're done</> reading it, you sit and go 'wow' for several hours? And then read it again?

I love that book.

*ahem* Sorry, random, carry on :)