Regarding "Affirmations"

[LMNO]

So, a few things I've been reading and thinking about have converged in my brain.

Most people, when they hear about "affirmations" think about new-age self-help parodies like Stewart Smalley, and the belief that if you just look in the mirror and repeat a positive phrase to yourself, it will some how change your life.

I've come to the conclusion that once again, a good idea has been misunderstood and corrupted.

An affirmation (damn, that word makes me feel dirty, can't we call it something else?) serves the function of a trigger, designed to push you into a new mental state.  But you can't just start at zero, and say, "I'm a good person" over and over, expecting something to change.  You have to have the change first, and then code your trigger ("trigger"... that might be a better word for it).

As an example, in I3!, when George was on the submarine, Hagbard took him through an experience where he saw himself as a robot.  He had an epiphany, from which he took the phrase "I Am The Robot".  That became his trigger, his mantra, his affirmation.

One point of this, stressed later by Mavis, was that each person's mantra is their own, because each person's experiences and needs are their own.  The other point is that you'll never get a useful trigger without a supporting experience.

"Fine," you say, "but what the fuck is the point, anyway?"  Here's the point: It is incredibly easy to let yourself fade back into you null-state programming, to drift back to the Monkey Mind, to let the habits and conditioning of your Black Iron Prison take over when you're not looking.  The effort it takes not to simply say "fuck it" and join the pigs at the trough is immense, especially in times of stress.  So you gather yourself together, repeat the trigger, and go back to that moment of epiphany.

So, let's say you have a problem with your Ego, and of how you relate to others in a power dynamic (in the 8C model, I'm talking about C2 here).  You get yourself to a moment where you break out of your programming, and at that moment, a phrase comes to you.  It could be "I am here.  I am now," or it could be 'KICK THEM IN THE FUCKING NADS!"  Either way, it is a phrase that sums up your experience of epiphany.  Now, if you carry that trigger around with you, and repeat it to yourself, you are reminding yourself of that moment when you were able to overcome; and so are able to enter that mind state once again.

So, you can build yourself a set of code phrases that can help you change whatever metaphor you think you are to whatever metaphor you want to be.  But remember: You can't start with nothing, and you can't cheat off of someone else.  Like most everything in this life, it takes work.

LMNO
-will KICK THEM IN THE FUCKING NADS.

[Dysfunctional Cunt]

This is good and I agree with you!

[Cramulus]

somebody's letting The Secret out of the bag!

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

I like the TROOFYNESS of this post!!

[LMNO]

Also please notice a lack of any sort of "Madgjiyick" or "Occult" or "Ritual" language.

Dr. James asked if these things could be discussed without those things.

[Richter]

Nice!

It's useful to revisit these over time too.  Sentiments, memories, or conotations attatched to these may not always be relevant to who you are and where you're looking to develop.

I've come to the conclusion that once again, a good idea has been misunderstood and corrupted.

There are LOADS of these.

[LMNO]

And a lot of them are "occult".

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

Also please notice a lack of any sort of "Madgjiyick" or "Occult" or "Ritual" language.

Dr. James asked if these things could be discussed without those things.

The book "Mind Hacks" actually reads very much like several differnet "magical" books... except it uses entirely mundane terms. It's a good book for people that want to play in their brain but have an aversion to the occult model.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I will be a complete and utter bastard this weekend.

I will shit upon all that is Good and Right and most particularly on the American Way™.

TGRR,
Trying this as an experiment.

[LMNO]

Please to be taking copious notes.

[Rococo Modem Basilisk]

He took a duck to the face at 150 knots

[The Good Reverend Roger]

He took a duck to the face at 150 knots

wut

[LMNO]

Aaaaannd another thread killed.


I can see why you guys went on strike.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Aaaaannd another thread killed.


I can see why you guys went on strike.

Yep.

[MMIX]

from the blog of

scott d. feldstein
technology, politics, photography, movies
Archive for February, 2003
« Older Entries
Duck In The Face
Thursday, February 27th, 2003

As I've mentioned, I'm reading William Gibson's new book, Pattern Recognition. It's different from his other novels, being set in the present instead of the future, and I'm really enjoying it.

The main character in the book has few odd quirks. One of my favorites involves the use of a strange mantra; whenever she encounters something disturbing she says "he took a duck in the face at two hundred and fifty knots." It's a phrase she heard someone say once with regard to an aviation mishap, and the words magically soothe her for some inexplicable reason.

It's fucking brilliant. I wish I had a mantra like that. Something to help me cope with lifes little nasties.

Blown fuse?

Duck in the face

Humilliated in airport security check?

Duck in the face

Gruesome traffic accident, computer breaks, parking ticket?

More ducks, more faces, all intersecting at speeds of exactly two hundred and fifty knots.

Brilliant. The only hard part is coming up with the right magic words. I don't think it's a one-size-fits-all deal; you gotta have your own unique magic mantra. Suggestions?

I'm assuming the terror engendered by your proposed activities has rendered Enki only capable of brief quotations and left him otherwise dumb . . .