I just wanted to take this early opportunity to wish all my CigarPass brothers and sisters a most joyous holiday season. Whether your holiday is Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, or Festivus, I hope that it will be filled with all that makes life the rich and wonderful blessing that it truly is.
********* Warning! Philosophical digression ahead. *********
I haven't been around much lately for a number of reasons. School, job hunting, family, etc. You know, the standard stuff. But I've also taken some time away to examine my expectations of the whole forum experience...as well as my place in all of this.
Sometimes things get intense. I get intense especially when viewpoints clash. I reflected on this and came to the realization that I was drifting down a dangerous road. I wasn't proud of my own behavior. And worse, I was starting to believe my own hype, a serious form of self-delusion that often leads to disaster. I had lost sight of the natural, fluid nature of relations on the forum and started to pressure myself to teach and preach the example rather than lead by example. The example of charitable, inclusive, positive brotherhood and friendship.
As I think of it now, there really and truly is no such thing as a FOG. No one ever really attains the title because it is not a condition or a state. It is a process and an unending one that requires periodic reflection and the ruthless honesty to admit failure so that a wrong path can be righted. Traveling the road of FOG means to be just when you see wrongdoing. To be gracious when one is wrong. To be charitable when one is right. To be virtuous but never righteous. To be called a FOG does not mean you have achieved something. Rather, in the best of cases, it means that others have recognized your commitment to promoting that which is good for the one as well as the all and in a way that is consistent with fostering personal dignity.
Meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha.
I have met the Buddha...
In the coming year, I still may not visit or post as much as I used to. But you have my word that when I do, it'll be in the true spirit of the best that this community has to offer.
With kind regards,
Wilkey
********* Warning! Philosophical digression ahead. *********
I haven't been around much lately for a number of reasons. School, job hunting, family, etc. You know, the standard stuff. But I've also taken some time away to examine my expectations of the whole forum experience...as well as my place in all of this.
Sometimes things get intense. I get intense especially when viewpoints clash. I reflected on this and came to the realization that I was drifting down a dangerous road. I wasn't proud of my own behavior. And worse, I was starting to believe my own hype, a serious form of self-delusion that often leads to disaster. I had lost sight of the natural, fluid nature of relations on the forum and started to pressure myself to teach and preach the example rather than lead by example. The example of charitable, inclusive, positive brotherhood and friendship.
As I think of it now, there really and truly is no such thing as a FOG. No one ever really attains the title because it is not a condition or a state. It is a process and an unending one that requires periodic reflection and the ruthless honesty to admit failure so that a wrong path can be righted. Traveling the road of FOG means to be just when you see wrongdoing. To be gracious when one is wrong. To be charitable when one is right. To be virtuous but never righteous. To be called a FOG does not mean you have achieved something. Rather, in the best of cases, it means that others have recognized your commitment to promoting that which is good for the one as well as the all and in a way that is consistent with fostering personal dignity.
Meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha.
I have met the Buddha...
In the coming year, I still may not visit or post as much as I used to. But you have my word that when I do, it'll be in the true spirit of the best that this community has to offer.
With kind regards,
Wilkey