—> life is not that simple.
Life should be this simple, but it never is.
Sigh, I love/hate catchy slogans, even if they are overused.
Not you. I’m just projecting.
—> je sais. you upset me at times. but you must know your honesty and humor confounds me. now you must be in india? no? i am still reeling about the pot statement and the serenity prayer, by the way. but see your validity and recognize that you are smart and curious. so once again, why india? i wish we could talk about god.
No offense intended. Like I wrote, just projecting.
Not in India yet. Stateside until after the holidays. Don’t ever return. It’s impossible to leave in one piece.
Pot statement? Serenity prayer? Quoi?
Why India? Work, and it was the last place I ever imagined myself going.
Talk about God? Sure, but you have to post a picture of him first.
—> no, it’s you. come on. you post the pictures of food, no? bacon? am i nuts? don’t answer. but you did make fun of me when i posted the serenity prayer and you did say something about the concept of a higher power and that it was the shit kids talked about in high school and that’s why you never smoked pot? if i have mistaken you, then i guess that just proves how crazy i truly am. if not you, then who the hell was i supposedly insulted by? work in india? oh, it is you. aren’t you highly articulate and have a gift for writing? someone help me. look, i can’t stand paris. and i refuse to go back to the states. oh and i have posted pictures of god. i do on a daily basis.
I’m undoubtedly the bacon guy, the guy in India, and I’m hopefully the highly articulate guy with a gift for writing (if those last two compliments were correctly directed at me, then thank you very much)!
As for the Serenity Prayer and the pot statement, I’m definitely not the guy. Truly, you must be crazy. Must have been someone else. Or maybe it was me, but I really, really don’t think so. If you find it, reblog it. I’m quite curious now.
The Serenity Prayer is a beautiful prayer on its own, however I think it’s been soiled since being adopted as the drug/addiction rehabilitation mantra, which I personally dislike mainly because institutionalized rehabilitation is designed to train yourself to live without something, rather than train yourself to live with it.
I always felt completely abstaining from something is harmful, especially when “controlled appreciation” is an alternate option. That’s enough ranting, I guess. For now.
Why do you hate Paris? I mean, I completely agree with you. I spent, what, four days there? And I absolutely abhorred it. If that’s the case, why not return to the States? You don’t necessarily have to return “home,” ya know. It’s a pretty big country. Settle elsewhere!
God pics on a daily basis… Touché.
—> it is you, bacon boy. articulate as you are, we had a minor dispute or like i said, i took offense to a statement about the term or lack of term for god. but i absolutely agree on some levels with you. i am not going to dig the post up. impossible. but if i remember correctly, it had to do with the concept of god and this inherent responsibility that we should have as humans to call it like it is— or something to that affect. i thought it was too limiting and too christian. but i pick fights because i am not as happy as i could be. no, i am not crazy. but yes, i do not like paris. i stay because of my job and i am married to a wonderful woman. bah oui, france is big. but i am beginning to think it’s more me than the actual country: france. i am so ‘american’ in my thinking of liberty, justice and all. i never ever imagined myself a patriot? me? but american idealism is embedded within me so very deeply, that i myself am taken aback by my own thinking. is it even accurate when it comes to freedom of speech and just the beauty of being american? i think so? the issue is so deep. most of it derives from the fact that i cannot leave french soil yet. this and including everything else, i really should not even be detailing but i seem to have to. you are right about a lot of things. what i have seen is your own personal issues with america and going back. i have been away too long and maybe like all those times before, it is homesickness. it is the holidays. i have to give myself a break. yet is homesickness this profoundly painful? i am not so sure. i have lived on both coasts of america comfortably. so it’s not my family, so much that i long for. the love i have for american people is profound. no, i take that back. i was a misanthrope and i couldn’t take living with zombies. ok. ok. ok. i am judging again. see? you tell me not to come back and your posts have scared me quite frankly because they are so astute (besides the bacon posts—i lack humor on a certain level). yet, it’s so “the grass is always greener” syndrome and how does one deal with this conflict? feeling like a foreigner all the time? will i be one again in my native country too? of course, i will. so why do i miss it so horribly? there are so many reasons. yet, i have to stop revealing so much. so, here comes the philosophy, wherever you are, there you are. i want my life to be less complicated. my inner turmoil is taking its toll. a change is necessary. but moving is not that easy. you of all people should know that. and more importantly, where would i move?
My dear, I hate to say it, but you are incorrect. Perhaps it was another bacon boy who offended you, but it certainly was not this one. My blog has but only a whopping 163 posts spread across 16 pages. It was quite easy to skim through them in five minutes and identify that the only reblog conversations we’ve had in the past was a confused tussle over the original of a Nietzsche quote, and a long-winded-but-short-lived response to your question about my leaving India, and your initial allusion to your impending return to the States.
Another five minutes later: Not impossible. Here’s your serenity-god-high-school-pot post in question. Like I said, it wasn’t me; and I hope to never be associated with the opinions expressed forthwith.
http://prunelle.tumblr.com/post/263644606/swillis-prunelle-ceceliaruca-prunelle
With that finally out of the way…
I need to start at the bottom of your response. Moving is that easy once you commit to doing it, and deal with the mental turmoil, and the inconvenience of physically moving. Once it’s done, it’s done. Wherever you are, there you are? If that’s the case, just change the locale to a new wherever, and, poof, there you are. Of course, easier said than done, but I’m commenting on the idea, not the action.
However, I have to politely disagree with your philosophy, and challenge you not to re-conform, but to at least reconsider. I’ve found that every “wherever” have inherent similarities, and are mostly differentiated by weather, accessibility, and movie release dates (seriously). In every city I’ve visited there have been culturally nuanced versions of food, entertainment, drugs, and people.
Lots and lots of people, each with a different “story to tell.”
There are endless varieties of human personalities, while the personalities of a place are stifled by its physical existence and cultural boundaries (not to say these two thing are not limitless themselves, but we are sometimes blind to recognize concepts that are so sublime when compared to the minutia of our every-day lives).
I daresay it’s not where you are, but who you are with. Are not human relationships more profound and meaningful than a bond to a place like any other place?
Hopefully this makes sense. I think it could be helpful in alleviating your fear of being a constant foreigner, even in your country of origin. You may never feel at home again in any place you live, however you could feel at home in the presence of certain people.
So, where would you move? Anywhere.
Regarding being an American, I have to say that I do not know what that means anymore. “Liberty, justice, and all” have been brutalized, and the country our founders may (or may not) have intended to create has become a forgotten dream, now eclipsed by corruption, greed, intolerance, a divided population, and a clumsy foreign policy.
I see you’re shying away from more personal questions, but I’ll ask regardless, especially since your answers and experiences might help shed some light on my own. To you, what is the beauty of being American? What is American idealism? What is a Patriot?
Abroad, I was told I was “so American,” that I had a “boring American perspective,” and accused of being ignorant of many things, specifically due to my being American. In the end, I have no idea what these comments mean. After a while, I figured being American meant you’re from a country where you can drink the tap water and make out in public. There’s a little self-entitlement involved too, but even in typing that, I’m not so sure what it means. Clearly, I’m searching for answers.
Here’s to hoping this conversation doesn’t end.
