Comments on: People Really Do Make the World Go ‘Round

By: Jenna Warrell

Jenna Warrell — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:27:28 +0000

Well said Laura. Your post brought tears to my eyes! We are looking forward to seeing you around New Years!

Love, JennaW

By: jen

jen — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:40:59 +0000

lovely post laura.

love is all you need & people to share it with.
(though of course we all need shelter, food clothing, love and work too)!

-Jen:)

By: Chaz

Chaz — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:17:34 +0000

Mind if I share a “stepper’s” tangent on this?

“Stepper” being someone who implements the 12-steps in his life regularly.

So… you know those sound bites of profound wisdom and revelation one picks up at unexpected times and in unexpected places?

I receive them frequently. So I am in an AA meeting a few years ago in another city. It is one guy’s turn to share who says, “My sponsor always asks me 2 questions when he sees me… 1: How are you doing? 2: How are the people around you doing?”

Q 1 is logical and has pretty much become so routine, it is empty and superficial. But none the less, it is often asked with genuine inquisitiveness and can be answered truthfully…. although we can often filter things out when we are self-evaluation and just conclude we are “fine”.

Q2 is far more telling. Or rather, the honest answer to Q2 is far more telling.

Basically…. Q2 is asking how your relationships are. In my experience, the most meaningful barometer of a person’s life is the condition and quality of one’s relationships.

If we are emotionally and mentally well, we are usually capable of maintaining and growing healthy, functioning relationships.

Conversely, if most or all of our relationhships are a disaster, chances are we really ought to look more closely at the real answer to Q1.

The 2 question outlook really has absolutely nothing to do with money or anything else. It is really about truth of how we are expressed in the quality of our relationships.

Does this not further indicate the importance of relationships in our lives?

If Q2 had been, how are you doing financially? It would have far less meaning reflected back on the truth of Q1… wouldnt it?

I know lots of rich assholes. I know no assholes with consistently good relationships.

So we really ought to value them accordingly.

Ciao.

Chaz

By: Vaterland Girlfriend

Vaterland Girlfriend — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:00:44 +0000

I too am happier for having you in my life.

like you said, they don’t like it? bite me.

but be funny again next week, okay? cuz i’m also happy to be laughing in front of my computer.

By: Karmella

Karmella — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:27:55 +0000

This blog touches upon the question of why a big ole egg head like me takes the time to explain my research in lay terms. Although I may struggle highlighting the importance and laying out the big picture, it isn’t a waste of time. It is very important that my work means something to my family and friends. The impact of science on non-scientists underlies the greater significance of science.

By: VanessaW

VanessaW — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:07:36 +0000

Funny, but Saturday night, a friend and I were talking about very similar things, and I had the realization as I said it, that one of the things I like about mortality is that it gives meaning and purpose to life, to not take the things we want, the people we love, for granted. He said he wanted to live to be 200, I said I didn’t, not if it meant doing it alone, and he said, “you wouldn’t be, we’d be hanging out together.”

I still don’t know that I’d want to live that long, though he touched a nerve– the reason I don’t want to live forever is that I don’t want to do it without bringing the people I love into the future with me.

By: Svutlov

Svutlov — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:54:38 +0000

One of the biggest difference between my generation (generation X) and my parents (the baby boomers), is that my parents grew up with more than one sibling and lot of uncles, aunts, and cousins, where as I have a sister, and my children only have three aunts (all of whom live thousands of miles away), no uncles, and only one cousin (and they are not likely to get any more).
The social structure within most developed countries has changed dramatically in the past two generations with a dramatic decrease in the size of immediate families, and in addition to that we move around a lot more (usually out of necessity), which has caused us to become a lot more socially isolated with a feeling that we have a lot fewer people looking out for us or who we can go to when we are down or in need of help.
In general people don’t like going to strangers for support, and adults have a tough time forming tight bonds with people they didn’t know as children, and in America people are quite sue happy and extremely paranoid of “the other”. If you are lonely or fearful of getting laid-off at work, who exactly do you have to go to, and when was the last time you went to a reunion or party with your family members and close friends?
Life hasn’t become more difficult to live, but we have made it harder on ourselves to form strong relationships, and as a consequence we are a lot more lonely, a lot more vulnerable, a lot more paranoid, and a lot more susceptible to advertisers and other people who seek to profit off of our desire to escape misery (whether it comes from weight, aging, or other factors that reduce self-confidence or self-esteem).
Svutlov

By: Christopher

Christopher — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:51:15 +0000

You sometimes need something or someone to SLAP you back to reality in terms of “what is important”.
We take a lot for granted in the good ol’ USA… because most everyone has necessities and some nice stuff, and toys and baubles. But it ain’t everywhere else… where family friends and relationships are predominantly more important.