IGX

I live in a small town with a lot of hostility. Lots of keep out signs and fences and dogs inside the fences. Lots of neighborhood watch signs. A lot of cop activity too but that's everywhere now. It seems that people want to have some kind of community activities but they hate and fear each other. It doesn't help that everyone seems to be really far out there politically, far left or MAGA. It seems to me that we should have a sense of community since it's kind of isolated but that doesn't seem to be the case. I've had some conversations with people who are way more socially connected and their impression is largely the same as mine.

What's the local mood where you are?

Things seem pretty good here. Stopped watching or reading the news at the turn of the year, so maybe things are worse, but not being informed about it. Also this site is the last social media form am currently using, so that probably helps.

About six months ago, read an article about how, over the past decade, the average American’s weekly time with friends slipped from 10 hours to 3-4. Immediately set up a weekly hangout with two buddies — last week it was The Whale, the week before it was The Shining, this week it’s a sleepover and pastry mission. Then made a list of potential friends and reached out to them too. That was intimidating to start, but it’s turned out well!

There does seem to be a lot of potential darkness (like you mentioned), so looking at it as a challenge to turn up the brightness.

I live in a pristine little slice of heaven in middle of nowhere Oregon. I must be an extreme outlier, because I've lived here for 19 years without incident. The springs/summers here are idyllic.

It's been pretty nice here overall lately. People will say hello if I do first. There are a lot of parks. There are organized youth soccer games as well as pick up games for kids from elementary school on up without adult supervision. There are basketball pickup games for kids with no adults around. I even saw a girl about ten years old shooting hoops. One of the nicest parts of my childhood was going to the elementary school yard to play sports with my friends. It wasn't organized. No adults were around. I was out of the house in the summer during the morning, afternoon and evening until dark.

Not bad.

Police who attend the same dojo say they are handling about double of daily calls today as before 2020 and Covid.

Bumping an old thread instead of asking the same question 18 months later . . .

People have been acting very strange lately. I don't know if it's the election or what, but I've had a lot of odd encounters. Just tonight I had another person following me. The vibe was very strong as well. This wasn't some random criminal but a guy who lives near me. Anyone else have experiences like this?

I haven't had spooky shit like you have with people following me, but I argued with a couple personal training clients, heard about a fist-fight at a local surf break, and most people I know are open about how stressed out they are.

There's definitely something in the air, haha, and I'm trying to avoid it. I've cut back on socializing, and am trying to eat healthy, exercise a lot, read, and be productive.

I haven't left Israel yet but plan to if I survive the next wave of Iranian strikes. It's a long story of why I haven't left that I sent to Bram. I'm coming to the conclusion that it's better not to judge people here but it's hard not to. Israel is a puppet client of America. I don't understand the mentality of people just accepting that this place could be destroyed by Iranian nukes and not doing what is necessary to survive despite what Biden or whoever runs the USA wants. It is frightening at times. I'd rather die than have missile fragments in my body and be in pain and incapacitated for years. I probably will at least ride my carveboard tomorrow if I sleep enough which has been very problematic recently.

I have a lot going on. I made an appointment with my psychiatrist who I have not seen in years that my wife of 38 years will attend and I finally will tell her a lot of stuff that i have not said. basically this 38 year marriage is over but it's pointless to get a divorce since neither of us want to remarry.

i have a plane ticket to Miami. I was supposed to go last January and got sick and then a few weeks later and got sick again and put off going. right now it's hurricane season in florida and it makes no sense to go. It could be as dangerous there as here.

I was brainwashed by my parents, school teachers, rabbis to believe that i was completely evil. not that i did wrong but that my being was evil - the way the Nazis related to the Jews. The only way out of this kind of programming is to let it die. i don't have to physically die but to stop judging myself by achievements and what i did and didn't accomplish. To separate the sense of being from doing. I'm very tired so this may not be clear.

It's not that I don't want to improve at certain things but I have to let go of the sense of inner worth being related to achievements. What is our being or self worth? It sounds weird but it can not be quantified in numerical terms. It has no value. Some people say it's infinite. The Buddhists say there is no self - it's just an illusion. I don't know and don't believe there's a way to know. In any case, the program inside of me that was created in my early childhood that says i'm evil, rotten, ugly etc. has to die. I have to let go of it. not fight with it. This may make no sense and tomorrow I may feel differently but that's what it seems like now.

A lot of times I feel this is really the way it is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu8u9ZbCJgQ
there are people better than this but these days it's hard to remember.

Living in the same middle-of-nowhere farm town in central Oregon. All is well. I've never been more connected to my community. We good.

I was in the middle of nowhere at a 1 gas station town when the Crowdstrike outage hit and took out the pump system. A reminder even in the Australian bush the rest of the world isn't as far away anymore...but it's still far, far away. There is so much beautiful coastal and rural terrain near where I live, an Indian immigrant remarked how he can be in a nature reserve and be the only person there for miles. Completely alien to someone from that part of the world and hard for me to grasp as well.

People who I deal with mostly in my new city seem to operate at on different frequencies. Shouldn't say lower, maybe simpler. It can be endearing and then frustrating - like you're trying to negotiate with trickster spirits. They like Trump and have wild concocted fantasies about what happens abroad. But in the city there are a lot of homeless, addled freaks and I walked through a block of them yesterday.

It still feels to me like somewhere over the seas something larger and more horrid is brewing.

I'll be in the States over Xmas - I need you all to be subdued!

Haha, I’m chill as fuck. Most people in the States are too. There may be some colossal Lovecraftian beast about to slither to the surface, but I’ll just have to raise my eyebrows and say, “Oh, dear,” when it does.

Hope you’re taking advantage of that natural beauty often

Luke wrote: ↑Sun Nov 10, 2024 3:36 am I'll be in the States over Xmas - I need you all to be subdued!

Where are you going? Maybe we can organize a riot or something for you.

Bram wrote: ↑Sun Nov 10, 2024 3:34 pm Haha, I’m chill as fuck. Most people in the States are too. There may be some colossal Lovecraftian beast about to slither to the surface, but I’ll just have to raise my eyebrows and say, “Oh, dear,” when it does.

Hope you’re taking advantage of that natural beauty often

I should be doing it more, and being more present when I do. I can bed rot on the weekends and then see the most amazing views at the beach when I finally go outside. I live 20 minutes away from some of the most renown wine country, in well, the country.

motherjuggs&speed wrote: ↑Mon Nov 11, 2024 8:13 pm

Luke wrote: ↑Sun Nov 10, 2024 3:36 am I'll be in the States over Xmas - I need you all to be subdued!

Where are you going? Maybe we can organize a riot or something for you.

St. Louis and El Paso to see family!