Strip away everything of yourself that is conditional — your name, your relationships, your language, your acquired knowledge, your body parts — and what is left? Nothing is left except a point of awareness. Since it is independent of all that is conditionally you, your awareness is identical to my awareness and to everyone else’s. I don’t mean identical as in “separate but the same.” I mean identical as in “one and the same.” I am you and you are I. We are the same being taking different points of view. - reality sandwich
“Do you begin to see, then, what kind of world we are creating? It is the exact opposite of the stupid hedonistic Utopias that the old reformers imagined. A world of fear and treachery and torment, a world of trampling and being trampled upon, a world which will grow not less but more merciless as it refines itself. Progress in our world will be progress toward more pain.”
- 1984
This first NPR clip relates to my previous post about personality tests, but I found both interesting, although they don’t discuss the Enneagram. P.S. http://www.enneagraminstitute.com/ is better site to look at than the one I linked to previously.
More and more hiring decisions are made with the help of personality tests. Employers, and even courts, increasingly use them. But critics say they don’t work. We discuss whether personality tests pass the test. Guest Annie Murphy Paul, author of The Cult of Personality: How Personality Tests are Leading Us to Miseducate our Children, Mismanage our Companies, and Misunderstand Ourselves.
Daniel Goleman, author of the book Social Intelligence, explains why human beings are hard-wired to connect, and how those connections can actually change our biology.
The most accurate personality assessment I’ve ever taken is the Enneagram. I remember the first time I half heartedly took “another personality test” and read the description of my type, #4. I felt embarrassed. I have never found something that so closely describes my personality. Thwarted! Doh! My innermost fears and tactics exposed!
Ahh, the illusion of self: the personality. A collection of conditioned reactions and thoughts. Its liberating to know its just another pattern. To recognize. To break. To survive.
Really I could go on and on about how my interpersonal skills have improved and the many revelations I’ve had about my life thanks to the insight the enneagram has provided. But I’d rather just do a bit of peacocking and paste the following snippet:
You want to be gifted, intuitive, original and unique. More importantly, you want to be passionate, true to your feelings and uniquely authentic. You see yourself as sensitive, expressive and spiritual. You would like others to see you as idealistic, emotionally deep and compassionate. Your idealized image is that you are accomplished and special.
I’ve been drowning in design as of late what with my massive google reader design blog subscriptions. So I’ve decided to start a re-occurring “segment” (sounds like I have my own tv show) called Trendspotting (watch out for the clever naming kung foo!) in an effort to expand my usual bag of tricks in photoshop, and push myself to do more “personal” work. I see tons of fresh ideas ripe for ripping off. So for the first installment, inspired by watercolor splatters, bright colors vs desaturation, and mirroring, peep the following:
P.S. My website is slowing being populated with content. Check it out: www.claudiamiranda.com
I’m feeling rough, I’m feeling raw, I’m in the prime of my life.
Let’s make some music, make some money, find some models for wives.
I’ll move to Paris, shoot some heroin, and fuck with the stars.
You man the island and the cocaine and the elegant cars.
This is our decision, to live fast and die young.
We’ve got the vision, now let’s have some fun.
Yeah, it’s overwhelming, but what else can we do.
Get jobs in offices, and wake up for the morning commute.
Forget about our mothers and our friends
We’re fated to pretend
To pretend
We’re fated to pretend
To pretend
I’ll miss the playgrounds and the animals and digging up worms
I’ll miss the comfort of my mother and the weight of the world
I’ll miss my sister, miss my father, miss my dog and my home
Yeah, I’ll miss the boredom and the freedom and the time spent alone.
There’s really nothing, nothing we can do
Love must be forgotten, life can always start up anew.
The models will have children, we’ll get a divorce
We’ll find some more models, everything must run it’s course.
We’ll choke on our vomit and that will be the end
We were fated to pretend
To pretend
We’re fated to pretend
To pretend
“From your 50 subscriptions, over the last 30 days you read 3,189 items, starred 96 items, shared 34 items, and emailed 1 items. ” - google reader trends
So as I explained in an earlier post, I’m just getting around to figuring out this blogging thing done proper. I’ve known for a while what RSS was and it seemed like a great idea. Then I saw google made a reader, and at the risk of sounding like a google-fangirl I just KNEW it was gonna be like 2 seconds before I have this RSS thing sorted. heh.
Honestly I have not used any other feed readers so I don’t know how well it compares.
Google, smart lass that she be, suggests blogs based on the blogs I subscribe to. I have discovered so much awesomeness that, as the internet says is “relevant to my interests” I just had to write a post about it. I love it that much. Its pretty much the only way I internet now! I view an average of 200 blog posts (and counting) per day!
Myths and Legends die hard. We love them for the extra dimension they provide. The illusion of near-infinite possibility to erase the narrow confines of most men’s reality. Weird heroes and mold-breaking champions exist as living proof to those who need it that the tyranny of “the rat race” is not yet final - Hunter S.Thompson
One of my favorite toy characters is Gloomy Bear. Check out this clip that breaks down what Gloomy is all about including a chat with his creator Japanese graphic designer Mori Chack:
