REFLECTIONS

15-DEC-2015.

SARCASM
As a Weapon of Mass Destruction
("It's devastating!")

An artist or honest worker in any field can discover and align themselves with something like a river of creativity inside themselves. When you're "on the beam," everything is easy. Everything flows and you can perceive beauty inside and around you. The part of you that perceives all this is your higher consciousness, and to perceive this inner state, you don't have to be a god. It's inside you. You can also see that this state strongly coincides with "meaning." You might call this inner condition "the true meaning of life," allowing beauty to take over. Hold that thought!

Sarcasm, especially "dark sarcasm," is an attempt to constrain you, to rob you of inner meaning, or of meaning in general, and to thereby kick your adrenaline into high gear, thereby flooding out your connection with whatever I was just talking about.

Sarcasm is all about withholding (something from you, say, "honest and open communication") and is also about "ratcheting down meaning."

For instance, let's say I was back in the first paragraph and said, "Everything is easy!" A sarcastic person might easily interject, "Yeah, everything is easy!" See what a downer that is? They're clearly withholding from you whatever's really bothering them (WITHHOLDING WARMTH) and they're not clearly supplying you with the true meaning of what they're hinting at (RATCHETING DOWN MEANING).

You could easily imagine that the sarcastic person is dwelling in some sort of labyrinth of negative emotions. They go down one path and "start talking out loud to themselves" (withholding from you what they're actually talking about, trying to steal your attention, and trying to trick you into leaping (adrenaline alight!) into their labyrinth of darkness).

At its extreme you could envision that person as a vampire trying to suck the joy out of life! Upon spotting or perceiving them, you might say things like, "The predator cannot see," "A terrible thing," or if they say "Who are you to keep me from being who I really am?" cry out, "The Opposite of a Vampire!" "Stealing happiness!" or something disarming, such as "—Well-grounded." Never argue with a vampire! Give them air and liberty. Wait five days.

Sarcasm is Anger's Ugly Cousin, and Hatred is the Bride of Jealousy. What they're jealous about is your connection with the River of Life! They can see it and can't see they're stuck in their own Emotional Center. They think their anger is important! (Say, "Is it my fault?") They think withholding meaning is important! (Say, "Double-check!") They think implied menace is important! (Say, "A terrible thing.") They think their adrenaline is important! (Say, "This is where your life is.") Give them air and liberty. Wait five days.

15-DEC-2015.

ARGUMENT

Argument is simply someone tricking you into one-upmanship. They say something demonstrably stupid, and you get all fired up & leap headlong into the labyrinth to set them straight. You can't set them straight. Stop letting them trick you into thinking you're better than them! They're pretending to be stupid & wear an inner crooked smile from the outset. You can see it in their eyes. It's an act! They like making you wiggle! Don't set anyone straight! Say something noncommittal, like "—Isn't that a wonderful thing?" Pour it on thick.

01-AUG-1999.

Playing Dead, And ...

The way people get you is by hitting you in the imagination. When someone in the peanut gallery teases you that way, the solution is to play dead, as if you don't care. Remember you were doing just fine until they came along:

"I'd tell you the real scoop, but you really don't want to know."

—Someone must.

If they can trick you into forgetting all aspects of yourself except for your anger, and into thinking that the other person is important, you have lost your birthright — What were you doing before the insult?

Actually, you don't have to say anything at all. You can simply hold your breath, sense yourself, and realize. Holding your breath is like shifting gears. It quiets your emotions, lets you return to your own life, to your own breathing, to the part of you that is always healthy and well.

WASPS say, "Much of good manners is about knowing when to pretend that what's happening isn't happening." (1.) However, what do you say to someone who is pretending what's happening isn't happening?

1. Feeley, Mrs. Falk, A Swarm of Wasps. New York, William Morrow, 1983. p. 48.

01-AUG-1999.

... Considering Another Person

You're not considerate of someone when you make them work.

Liking someone is liking their consciousness.

When you talk to someone,
you're not supposed to say what you think —
You're supposed to say something
that corresponds to what they are.

Getting along with someone
has nothing to do with what you believe in —
It has to do with understanding what they need.

15-DEC-2015.

As follows

CODE WORDS: appropriate, «argument», Beethoven, compatible, concept, content, [counter], enough, excitement, [gangster], healthy, intersection, know, lay, moon, naïve, overthink, pronounced, registered, response, «sarcasm», scoop, serious, Simpson, [thug], wars, Wilmington