Is it time for a jailbreak?

[Cramulus]

I'm wondering what sort of things you can do to see the shape of your cell.

One of the dangers of a successful jailbreak is complacency. You escape into a better cell and then rest there. This is not to say that it's necessary to constantly reinvent yourself and your environment, but one should be careful not to think that their escape is ever over. The best time for a jailbreak is often the time you need it the least.

So what's my cell made of? For me, it's the place I live, the goals I have, the language I use to describe my world. It's the Colbert Report every night at 11:30. It's my body and its drives. It's my hobbies and interests. It's my sense of static self.

But I like a lot of that stuff - how can I tell what parts of it to cut out? How can I distinguish the bars of my cell from the things I use to decorate it?



For me, a change of scenery is the most effective tool. I like to take off for one or two weekends a month and spend time doing something else entirely. I need to go away and be somebody other than me - then when I come back to myself I can look around with a fresh perspective.

It's a ritual that I reccommend to everyone. Go be someone that's not you. Hang out with new people. Do something unusual, something out of character. Challenge yourself in a new way. These small reinventions of self give you a sense of the shape of your cell. If you're staring at the bars all the time you often forget what they are. A good self-liberated prisoner eagerly anticipates the discomfort of novelty.

So what about you guys? How do you know it's time to escape?

[LHX]

until you detect harm you cant react to it

also
there is no sense causing a fuss where there is none


a lot of times - the best you can do is ride your hunches

try not to sacrifice tomorrow in favor of today and find enjoyment in today at the same time



maybe 'enjoyment' is the wrong word

Superman never seemed to enjoy things much - and he was Superman for fuck sakes



maybe the key is excitement more than enjoyment

exploring unknown uncharted regions and sending messages back to base


amongst all the wrong delusions out there
there is a right one

[Darth Cupcake]

until you detect harm you cant react to it

also
there is no sense causing a fuss where there is none


a lot of times - the best you can do is ride your hunches

try not to sacrifice tomorrow in favor of today and find enjoyment in today at the same time



maybe 'enjoyment' is the wrong word

Superman never seemed to enjoy things much - and he was Superman for fuck sakes

Well, Superman was concerned with a lot more than just himself. It strikes me as no surprise that he didn't enjoy things much. How can you really enjoy things when you're always trying to look out for everyone else's enjoyment more than your own?

maybe the key is excitement more than enjoyment

exploring unknown uncharted regions and sending messages back to base

I endorse this message.

Maintain a constant in-flow of stimuli. As soon as you cease receiving stimuli, having new experiences/learning new things/allowing yourself to consider alternative perspectives and/or the possibility of change... Then you have become static. There's no point to staying static. I'd rather be uncomfortable than static.

A jailbreak becomes imperative when you have become so comfortable that you stop taking input from the outside world and work just in a closed system.

Cram's idea of stepping outside of yourself, spending time out of character, is a very good way to not only jump-start yourself back into absorbing and reacting to external stimuli, but also a good diagnostic tool. "Have you gone static? Follow this simple program to test!"

[Cramulus]

until you detect harm you cant react to it

also
there is no sense causing a fuss where there is none

true in some sense, false in some sense...

I spent months on my couch, jobless, stoned, content. It wasn't until I started to run out of money and pot that I realized I needed to ignite myself - while there was still time.

I easily could have remained motionless and happy. but in the long run I think the risk was worth the reward.

[LHX]

that and the fact that your ass wouldve got beat worse than it will now that youve stepped up

[LMNO]

I try to see what my bars are by seeing where they aren't.
Try to learn something new:

Learn a new language.

Take up cooking.

Figure out how to build a guitar and an amplifier.

Study a scientific discipline.

Spend an entire week painting 30 minutes a day.

Get high.

Don't get high.

Go to a part of the town/country/globe you've never been before.

Eat a kind of cuisine you never have before.

Do something that makes you vaguely uncomfortable (talk to strangers, buy an expensive suit, go to a republican convention).



But most importantly, after you do these things, think about how they are different than what you normally do, and think of how you might be limiting yourself. 

[AFK]

My daughter is my vehicle for this sort of thing.  (Who's driving the bus?)

I see this as an opportunity for me to kind of vicariously see the world through another set of eyes.  Seeing how she encounters different things and how she reacts.  To watch what brings her joy and happiness, to see what makes her eyes light up with intrigue and interest. 

Because I still vividly remember being that kid.  I remember the unabashed joy I had out of pretend and make-believe.  I remember walking down the old abandoned train tracks in my neighborhood and just exploring the environment.  Noticing small things, big things, things I'd never seen before. 

As an adult, for myself, I am continuing that exploration.  I am fortunate to be in a place in my life where I can afford to do this, and not just financially.  I've decided I want to expand my musical horizons.  (and thanks to Mang I have a supplier now).  I want to learn new instruments from different parts of the world.  Go beyond the guitar/drum world of rock and roll.

Anyway, I'm rambling. 

[Darth Cupcake]

I try to see what my bars are by seeing where they aren't.
Try to learn something new:

Learn a new language.

Take up cooking.

Figure out how to build a guitar and an amplifier.

Study a scientific discipline.

Spend an entire week painting 30 minutes a day.

Get high.

Don't get high.

Go to a part of the town/country/globe you've never been before.

Eat a kind of cuisine you never have before.

Do something that makes you vaguely uncomfortable (talk to strangers, buy an expensive suit, go to a republican convention).



But most importantly, after you do these things, think about how they are different than what you normally do, and think of how you might be limiting yourself. 

Cheers to you, sir. I raise my cup of coffee to that.

I like the more positive tone of this post. In general I find the BIP to be accurate, but often phrased in a really negative light. I get tired of doom and gloom. It's nice to take an approach that is active and attacking the bars of the BIP, as it were, but in a positive way.

[LMNO]

Well, it's also a lot more effective than saying "Waaaah!  My BIP has these bars that make me hate math!  Waaah!"

Find a way not to hate math, even if it's from a conceptual angle.

[Darth Cupcake]

Well, it's also a lot more effective than saying "Waaaah!  My BIP has these bars that make me hate math!  Waaah!"

Find a way not to hate math, even if it's from a conceptual angle.

I agree with that.

But I'd also say that if you keep looking for a way to not hate math and it isn't working, move past it. Move on to something else. Don't get hung up on it when there is so much more to it. It's as important to see the bars of the BIP as it is to be able to look through/around them, sometimes.

[Jenne]

Shaking your life up works as long as you do it in the right way (and LMNO, that's what I call your list above, a sort of "shake up" of the same-old same-old).

What do I mean by the "right way"?  What I mean is:  if you're going to a place you haven't been to before, explore it.  Eat the food the indigenous people are eating.  Go to THEIR places of entertainment.  Don't carry your own home environment around WITH you.

I've seen this happen before:  people take up a new "hobby" or adventure and turn it into something familiar.

[AFK]

You mean kind of like going to France for vacation and eating at the McDonald's?

[Jenne]

Ding ding!  Yup.  Nevair fails.  Americans go to Mexico eating...Taco Bell. 

[That One Guy]

But it's a ROYALE with cheese. That makes it foreign!



Regarding the OP, I'm still ruminating over this and will probably go in-depth later (been super busy lately).

[LHX]

i got more to add on to this as well