Rejecting the norms (=chains)

[atena]

Lately pressures coming from the society have begun to annoy me a bit. I've always tried to be a 'good guy'... That role seems to keep me chained in predictable and boring way to look at life... get a woman, have some boring job as long as you're making money, don't offend anyone even by accident, don't do anything that looks insane, blahblah. Boooriiing! Is that set of boring norms all there is to life? I question the values society sees as the only way to live my life. I question the need to be perceived as a normal person by the society, or as a 'good guy', or 'good' anything. I question the good of goodness!
ARRRR! ] <--- A pirate with two eye patches!

[sagebrush]

I spent the other afternoon reading thru the information I could find on the computer regarding wild parsley.

I don't feel normal and I don't give a damn.

I felt driven to eat the wild parsley I found on a walk. what fun. to be in nature and eat something right out of the ground. I chopped up some in my potatoes for breakfast.and then was terrified to be questioned from someone else how did I know it was parsley?

well-I knew it to be parsley it smelled like it and looked like it and tasted like it-
but mortified that I may have gotten a hold of fools parsley which is deadly toxic.

ps.

I don't think you are normal atena.
and I also think that the pressures are only coming from yourself.

my advice is to go find and eat some wild parsley-live on the edge a bit.and be an jerk all day if you feel like it.
[)]a punch in the nose

[CarsonZi]

Hi Atena and thanks for starting what I'm sure will turn into a great discussion......


Personally, (coming at this from a pretty specific perspective, at least in the past) I think that this is a double edged sword.  I don't think it is a good idea to let society dictate for you what is "right and wrong", what is "best and not best", what is "normal and wierd".....but at the same time, we can take this to an unhealthy extreme (and I have done this)....

I was the type of person (especially up until maybe 2 or so years ago) that if you wanted me to do something, all you had to do was tell me not to do it.  Then I would do it.  I grew up in a very strict Fundamentalist Christian household, and was told what was "right and wrong" from a very very young age.....when I got to a certain age, and I realized that some of the things I was told were "wrong" were actually really beneficial for me (namely smoking pot and using hallucinogens/entheogens) I decided I would find out what else was beneficial for me that I had been told was "wrong" or had been "taboo-ed" for me.

This led me to a long stretch of "wandering" including some time periods which were not very healthy for any aspect of "me" (physically, mentally, spiritually).  I don't regret anything, as all this trauma and struggle has led me home, but if you can save yourself unneccessary suffering, well, why not!?

In my experience, if you can get to a point of permanent connection to inner silence, then these types of questions start to fall by the wayside....  You begin to see that there are no "good guys or bad guys", and that everything (including all the "crappy stuff) happens for a reason.  You start to live from a place that "flows" from inside of you, and you stop worrying about offending people, looking normal to society, and meeting all of societies standards.....It probably becomes fairly rare when you offend someone (as Unconditional Love becomes the primary motivator/motivation) but even if you do, it is not seen as something "done by you" and more something that just happens....no judgement.  You can't stop someone from thinking/feeling a certain way....you can be the most courteous person around and still offend the odd person....but that is not "your fault"...you can't choose other people's reactions for them.  All you can do is live from the "flow" and enjoy being Unbound Awareness.

In short....there is no "good" and no "bad".....these are "relative/subjective" terms....they mean different things for different people.  Ultimately there is no good and bad....everything just Is, and that is perfect.

Love,
Carson[^]

[miguel]

Yeah,i like pirates also[]! very interesting persons,you are always learning something new about them or about you (if you have some pirate spirit)...