I Like This ...

[pt_tangles]

Step one is to say "I feel sad/angry/upset/powerless" rather than using the old "I am". The "I am" should be rarely used. The "I am" is reserved for those moments when we want to remind ourselves that we are whole, that we have a part of ourselves that touches the fabric of the Limitless and that we can touch this part. The "I am" is not our anger or our sadness. The "I am" is only ever about full connection.
http://yezida.livejournal.com/84061.html

It makes me think about when I was little, and I would run around singing 'I am' (one of my mom's favorite stories about baby Phae) ... nothing else, just that phrase. Perhaps I was having a moment of profound understanding at the tender age of 2! ~_^

Seriously though, I find the thought very beautiful. I wonder how hard it would be to change our thinking from 'I am' to 'I feel' ... perhaps it would make what we 'are' a little more stable.

--Phae

Comments

[elf]

You might check out E-Prime, a semantic/linguistic meme created by Korzybski. It posits English without the verb "to be;" this requires some very bulky re-wordings for a person unfamiliar with it, but it gets smoother with practice. (I occasionally play with e-prime. I find it fun and mostly very effective, but I still haven't figured out how to say the sentence "I am pregnant" without resorting to bizarre euphemisms.)

The wikipedia entry has more details & technical terminology, and much less entertainment value. (I adore Robert Anton Wilson's writings.)

The verb "to be" in English has slippery uses and meanings. If you want a mind-bending exercise, try cutting it out of your vocabulary for a week. (You wind up saying "this seems" and "this looks" and "I feel" a lot. And people will probably look at you funny.)

[pt_tangles]

I imagine that is a lot harder than it looks (or, is it, 'that would be in my estimation' harder than it looks?). ~_^

--Phae

[elf]

"I assume many people would find it difficult to put into practice, even though it looks simple."

Can't use the phrase "would be." :)

Try it for a week on the pagan forums. Can't say "Wicca is..."; have to say "Wicca's practitioners describe it as..." or "Wicca includes the following..."

It changes the way you perceive concepts.

[pt_tangles]

Damn! lol Ok, I'll give it a shot, though, I might end up rather monosyllabic at the end! ^_^

--Phae