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[axver]

I am sometimes a complete fool. I initiate theological and political discussions when I haven't the time to see them through whatsoever. I squander a day I should be putting to good university use on watching the Bathurst 1000, though eye fatigue is kicking me in the arse anyway. My apologies; I'll get back to things eventually

Comments

[evilmissbecky]

I mean, nobody cares about how I feel or what I did today or what I ate for dinner or whatever other useless shit I could potentially write.

That's where you're wrong. I care. And I bet all of us here care. That's why we're your friends.

What you feel does matter.

[axver]

Thanks. :)

But I don't know, emotions are such terribly fleeting, transient things. Thought and creativity evolve, but emotions ... sometimes lack rationality. I mean, on balance, I should be feeling good right now, but the last week I haven't. I figure it shouldn't matter.

[evilmissbecky]

but emotions ... sometimes lack rationality.

That's why they're emotions. They need no logic. They just are.

But that doesn't make them any less important.

[augustine]

but emotions ... sometimes lack rationality

I know this probably doesn't address your point at all, but you left me the perfect opening for a Chesterton quote, and so I had to deliver! (I hope you don't mind; I'm just bored at the moment)

"It is true enough, of course, that a pungent happiness comes chiefly in certain passing moments; but it is not true that we should think of them as passing, or enjoy them simply 'for those moments' sake.' To do this is to rationalize the happiness, and therefore to destroy it. Happiness is a mystery like religion, and should never be rationalized. Suppose a man experiences a really splendid moment of pleasure. I do not mean something connected with a bit of enamel, I mean something with a violent happiness in it--an almost painful happiness. A man may have, for instance, a moment of ecstasy in first love, or a moment of victory in battle. The lover enjoys the moment, but precisely not for the moment's sake. He enjoys it for the woman's sake, or his own sake. The warrior enjoys the moment, but not

[serena_vox]

To elaborate on the comment above me, as I agree with it:

Yes, we do care how you feel. Sure, a blog, you can write serious stuff in, but it's yours to do with as you please and if you feel like spamming your friends list with what you had for dinner, by all means, go for it! We're here because we want to be, not because we feel obligated to be.

You're a human being, just like the rest of us (though some could argue that you're perhaps robotic ...! /lame attempt at bringing a smile) and just like the rest of us, you feel. You have your happy points and your sad points. Just like the rest of us. And that's what friends are for, to care and listen, or to talk and bullshit with. Not one or the other, but both. Because your feelings do matter. Maybe not to the random bugger reading this thing, but to the people who care about you (us, your friends), they do.

[axver]

I often look at my blog and find myself pretty disappointed with its content. I don't write as much on serious topics as I would like, then I make some rubbishy, pointless post like this one.

I like the theory that I am in fact just a setlist bot.

[serena_vox]

Your feelings aren't rubbish and they certainly aren't pointless. At least they're not to me and they never will be. How each of my friends feels from day to day is very important to me, hence my asking very frequently as you may notice on the Superthread. Overall, I really do enjoy reading your blog - both the serious entries and these ones. I know you think they're rubbish and well, I certainly can't change your opinion there, but I like them just as much as the serious ones because I like to know how you're feeling, what's on your mind and that type of thing. It really helps to let stuff like this out and write it down. Even if it's not public, it makes good therapy if you ask me

[sarafinapekkala]

*hugs*

The entire point of having a blog, at least to me, is to write things on worthwhile topics.

Your emotions and your life are worthwhile topics. I know I don't comment much, but I enjoy reading about whatever you have to say.

[axver]

Thank you. :) I don't know, bland life details and emotions just don't seem like such worthwhile entry subjects when I could be discussing, say, current political events. But I simply don't have the energy for that at present.

[dysprosium]

The entire point of having a blog, at least to me, is to write things on worthwhile topics. Things that matter in life, like politics, theology, and history [...] Life is an intellectual exercise.

I'll have to disagree with you on that one, André. You're implying that emotions are pointless and that they do not matter in the greater scheme of things; I would argue the exact opposite. Without emotions, we would not enjoy anything, we would not feel outraged over anything, we would not love anything, we would not hate anything, and we essentially would have little reason to do the things that we do. Life is not merely an intellectual excercise -- it is a multifaceted thing

[axver]

'You're implying that emotions are pointless and that they do not matter in the greater scheme of things; I would argue the exact opposite.'

I don't know. Emotions don't exactly fill academic libraries. And it seems any decisions made based on emotions just end up being all kinds of flimsy and prone to problems. I can't trust emotions like I can trust some fairly detached intellectualism. Shame I can't stop feeling them anyway.

'we would not love anything, we would not hate anything'This sounds like a good thing to me, heh. Well, wait, I suppose my love of Kiwi history is something I kind of need. Damn

[dysprosium]

Emotions don't exactly fill academic libraries.

Do have a look through your library's English literature section at some point. ;) Or the psychology section, for that matter. Some of the world's greatest academic minds have written extensively on the value of emotion and, particularly, the value of expressing that emotion.

I understand where you're coming from, though. When you're in a funk, it's often much easier to distance yourself from negative feelings than it is to confront them or deal with them in an effective way. Like you said, though, the only problem with doing that is that it doesn't always work.

Now, this is going to sound ridiculous, but hear me out.

Buy a small exercise trampoline. If you find yourself ruminating over negative things, stop thinking, immediately procede to the trampoline, and jump about for five minutes or so - just long enough to get the endorphins flowing. You might feel like a bit of a twit while you're doing it, but trust me, it can help. People always underestimate the value of exercise. It is

[dysprosium]

It would help if I could spell "proceed" correctly.

[pineapple_head]

You need to see beautiful Australia. It is far far from the ugly place you think it is. I wish I could show you MY Australia, the places I have seen here, the beauty in the bush and particularly the desert country. None of that however, makes you feel less homesick when you are stuck in your Melbourne suburban shoe box.

I always feel enriched when you write, no matter what you write about. I am learning more about you and enjoying that process. Everyone above me has answered eloquently, I have no need to add to it, except to also wish you speedy blue funk recovery.

[axver]

I can't say I've been terribly blown away by much that I've seen in Australia, honestly. I admittedly haven't seen as much as I would like; I've been up the east coast from Melbourne through NSW to southeastern Queensland, and up to Town of 1770 north of Bundaberg as well as St George in Outback Queensland. I suppose the prolonged drought doesn't exactly help the beauty of the coastal forests. Some parts of Springbrook behind the Gold Coast are nice, though too much of it is marred by those unwelcome paved walkways that just make it seem like a suburban footpath through a park between streets rather than a walk in the mountains. I keep wanting to go out and do some scenic photography, but since I can't just go driving aimlessly in the country, I'm stuck with what's around me ... and Brunswick is a terribly ugly suburb. Royal Park is depressing, and the stormwater drain posing as Moonee Ponds Creek even moreso.

And thank you. :)