Comments on: Sympathetic Magic http://www.oleoptene.com/2008/10/08/sympathetic-magic/ A blog for Mara Collins Sun, 20 Nov 2011 04:12:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: unreliable narrator http://www.oleoptene.com/2008/10/08/sympathetic-magic/comment-page-1/#comment-3050 unreliable narrator Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:22:55 +0000 http://www.oleoptene.com/?p=237#comment-3050 though = thought, SIGH though = thought, SIGH

]]> By: unreliable narrator http://www.oleoptene.com/2008/10/08/sympathetic-magic/comment-page-1/#comment-3049 unreliable narrator Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:22:18 +0000 http://www.oleoptene.com/?p=237#comment-3049 I try to have a thought. [time passes] [lots of time] [...] I fail to have a though. Only...wait...here comes one...I like cleaning out closets and nesting, to settle my heart when it is all tempestuous, too. Oh, and another one...I like that you get to set your own blog rules. I have lost this with mine, I think, with the advent of a small but mysteriously loyal readership. Several topics are somehow off-limits now that weren't originally—particularly a handful of relationships about which I ruminate, yes, obsessively, yes, but now I feel like I'm not supposed to do that anymore? Because it's gonna bore people? So now I need another secret blog that's secret from my already supposedly secret blog, that's actually somehow not so secret anymore? I should probably just clean out my closet. I try to have a thought.

[time passes]

[lots of time]

[...]

I fail to have a though.

Only…wait…here comes one…I like cleaning out closets and nesting, to settle my heart when it is all tempestuous, too.

Oh, and another one…I like that you get to set your own blog rules. I have lost this with mine, I think, with the advent of a small but mysteriously loyal readership. Several topics are somehow off-limits now that weren’t originally—particularly a handful of relationships about which I ruminate, yes, obsessively, yes, but now I feel like I’m not supposed to do that anymore? Because it’s gonna bore people? So now I need another secret blog that’s secret from my already supposedly secret blog, that’s actually somehow not so secret anymore?

I should probably just clean out my closet.

]]> By: Jenny http://www.oleoptene.com/2008/10/08/sympathetic-magic/comment-page-1/#comment-2988 Jenny Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:20:56 +0000 http://www.oleoptene.com/?p=237#comment-2988 It's weird how just getting something down in writing, or reorganizing a closet, can sometimes, almost magically, flip the switch. Of course, the catch to getting it down in a public forum like a blog is the fear that people might see that isolated moment in time and think that that moment defines who you are. At least that's my fear. I love having this forum to write honestly, but at the same time I frequently have a little twinge of regret every time I write about some of my less glorious moments, or how I'm struggling with something. Thank you for sharing yourself so honestly. It helps give me the courage to keep plugging away at it. Boy, that bit about becoming a fundamentalist really popped out to me, too. ugh. Don't really want to look at how many beliefs I hold onto for dear life and either hide away in the dark or try to force feed to others! It’s weird how just getting something down in writing, or reorganizing a closet, can sometimes, almost magically, flip the switch. Of course, the catch to getting it down in a public forum like a blog is the fear that people might see that isolated moment in time and think that that moment defines who you are. At least that’s my fear. I love having this forum to write honestly, but at the same time I frequently have a little twinge of regret every time I write about some of my less glorious moments, or how I’m struggling with something. Thank you for sharing yourself so honestly. It helps give me the courage to keep plugging away at it.

Boy, that bit about becoming a fundamentalist really popped out to me, too. ugh. Don’t really want to look at how many beliefs I hold onto for dear life and either hide away in the dark or try to force feed to others!

]]> By: Patrick http://www.oleoptene.com/2008/10/08/sympathetic-magic/comment-page-1/#comment-2969 Patrick Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:07:53 +0000 http://www.oleoptene.com/?p=237#comment-2969 “It makes me worry that we’ll all end up fundamentalists, unwilling to question any of our own beliefs because it feels so good to be empowered.” I love to think of myself as very open and erudite when it comes to my beliefs, that my beliefs are flexible enough to allow other people theirs, while strong enough to withstand criticism. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, my emotions do not always agree with my sensibilities, and I find myself becoming a very defensive “fundamentalist” reflecting a deep and totalistic commitment to the beliefs I hold most dear. And why shouldn’t I? The more I think about the idea “What is a Fundamentalist?” the more I am confronted with the idea that there are certain beliefs that I will allow to flit about and come under scrutiny, while others are held back, kept safe and secure. Despite or perhaps because of the negative connotations with “Fundamentalists” as religious advocates who stubbornly cling to an entrenched position that defies reasoned argument or contradictory evidence, I want to say “That’s not me.” When in truth I think it is all of us. Interestingly, I am not so surprised that I have a closet of beliefs that I can call on, rather I am surprised at just how big my closet really is: The myriad of differing beliefs, sometime contradictory or overlapping, that yearn to share the same space. Am I compensating for my fundamentalism by sharing my space with so many? I am pretty sure my closet is a little all inclusive, disorganized at times, but comfy and roomy the kind of place you can through a shirt on the floor and pick it up a few weeks later a little rumpled perhaps, but no worse for wear. “It makes me worry that we’ll all end up fundamentalists, unwilling to question any of our own beliefs because it feels so good to be empowered.”

I love to think of myself as very open and erudite when it comes to my beliefs, that my beliefs are flexible enough to allow other people theirs, while strong enough to withstand criticism. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, my emotions do not always agree with my sensibilities, and I find myself becoming a very defensive “fundamentalist” reflecting a deep and totalistic commitment to the beliefs I hold most dear. And why shouldn’t I? The more I think about the idea “What is a Fundamentalist?” the more I am confronted with the idea that there are certain beliefs that I will allow to flit about and come under scrutiny, while others are held back, kept safe and secure. Despite or perhaps because of the negative connotations with “Fundamentalists” as religious advocates who stubbornly cling to an entrenched position that defies reasoned argument or contradictory evidence, I want to say “That’s not me.” When in truth I think it is all of us.

Interestingly, I am not so surprised that I have a closet of beliefs that I can call on, rather I am surprised at just how big my closet really is: The myriad of differing beliefs, sometime contradictory or overlapping, that yearn to share the same space. Am I compensating for my fundamentalism by sharing my space with so many? I am pretty sure my closet is a little all inclusive, disorganized at times, but comfy and roomy the kind of place you can through a shirt on the floor and pick it up a few weeks later a little rumpled perhaps, but no worse for wear.

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