A Bouncy Sally writes...
Mar. 30th, 2006 11:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annwfynWow.
It seems that my miserable melt down of Tuesday has proven strangely cathartic. I've been oddly bouncy since then. I'm not sure if it was the act of having a good cry, the eyeliner on my nose, the attention I got from an assortment of nice people, or just the quantity of chocolate I gorged myself on, but I'm definitely feeling better.
I've also been out and about a little bit more. As an explanation, at the moment I am unemployed, and have been (with the exception of a little bit of temping) since I handed my thesis in a month ago. I've theoretically got a job starting at the start of May, but until then I'm living on very little money, and rather a lot of time, which normally results in my spending a vast quantity of time avoiding unnecessary expenditure by staying in my house and prowling the internet.
This, I have decided, is not actually making me a terribly chirpy Sally, and so I've decided to try and actually get out and about a bit more, whether it be droppingpierot off at work and then heading off into the countryside for a long walk, or braving the dangers of outer suburbs of London to see those friends of mine who, somehow, scratch out a living in Cannibal Sector One Zone 6. And it appears to be working. Last night I made the trek to Hatfield to see castorlion, and an assortment of other people. There was Chinese food. There were discussions of many things, and I successfully kept my wallet, despite MattMatt and Darren trying to pick my pocket repeatedly, and with increasingly lower levels of subtlety.
I crashed on the sofa last night and crawled home this morning in a very bouncy mood. Now, I have A Date (tm) withpierot this evening, and then leahdarbyshire's birthday tomorrow. Then it's a ZG weekend.
Then I'll realise how broke I am and will spend next week back in my house, relying on MSN to keep me sane, but at least I'll have this brief memory of glorious sociability.
In other news, I have also spent the last two days pondering theology.bringeroflight (I think) loaned me a book called 'The Gifts of the Jews' by Thomas Cahill. The basic premise of the book appeared to be that prior to judaism, the general zeitgeist was that man was trapped in an endless cycle. Life and death were inevitable and immutable and one could only submit to that. The Jews, Thomas Cahill argues, were the first group to see life as being a form of progress, moving towards an ultimate conclusion.
This was, allegedly, the central premise of the book, with some later assertions, such as the claim that judaism was the first religion to really believe in the concept of a 'soul', or something within that G-d might want, even if his chosen people had been reduced to slavery and poverty in Babylon. I think Thomas Cahill also claims that judaism was the first religion to include the concept of social justice. There was also a long spiel on how the Ten Commandments were simply an expression of what all humans instinctively believe on some level to be right.
It was an interesting read, but one which has left me chewing on ideas like a rat on bit of discarded Big Mac. First of all, I don't think I agree at all with the notion that the Ten Commandments are the rules which we all instinctively ascribe to as morality. For a start, it seems to provide the basis of monogamy*, which while it may suit me is blatantly not something that humankind instinctively move towards. I also see little evidence that humanity really believes that it is wrong to kill. They believe that it is right to protect one's own 'tribe' or group, which makes a level of sense, but there is virtually no grouping of humanity in the world who does not have some concept similar to 'righteous vengeance'.
I'm also pondering the idea that there is no faith over than Judaism and it's offshoots (Islam and Christianity) which have any concept of 'progression'. I don't think I know enough about comparative religion to argue this however. Is there anyone out there who knows more than me and can educate me?
And finally, I found a rather odd LJ community today for psychic vampires amongst the Otherkin. Now, I don't want to be too sceptical about this. At the end of the day, I am aware that I am the girl known for having the psychic sensitivity of a brick, but how come having special powers and insight into the supernatural seems to suck your spelling and grammar away?
_____________________________________________________
* 'thou shalt not commit adultery'
It seems that my miserable melt down of Tuesday has proven strangely cathartic. I've been oddly bouncy since then. I'm not sure if it was the act of having a good cry, the eyeliner on my nose, the attention I got from an assortment of nice people, or just the quantity of chocolate I gorged myself on, but I'm definitely feeling better.
I've also been out and about a little bit more. As an explanation, at the moment I am unemployed, and have been (with the exception of a little bit of temping) since I handed my thesis in a month ago. I've theoretically got a job starting at the start of May, but until then I'm living on very little money, and rather a lot of time, which normally results in my spending a vast quantity of time avoiding unnecessary expenditure by staying in my house and prowling the internet.
This, I have decided, is not actually making me a terribly chirpy Sally, and so I've decided to try and actually get out and about a bit more, whether it be dropping
pierot off at work and then heading off into the countryside for a long walk, or braving the dangers of outer suburbs of London to see those friends of mine who, somehow, scratch out a living in castorlion, and an assortment of other people. There was Chinese food. There were discussions of many things, and I successfully kept my wallet, despite MattMatt and Darren trying to pick my pocket repeatedly, and with increasingly lower levels of subtlety. I crashed on the sofa last night and crawled home this morning in a very bouncy mood. Now, I have A Date (tm) with
pierot this evening, and then leahdarbyshire's birthday tomorrow. Then it's a ZG weekend. Then I'll realise how broke I am and will spend next week back in my house, relying on MSN to keep me sane, but at least I'll have this brief memory of glorious sociability.
In other news, I have also spent the last two days pondering theology.
bringeroflight (I think) loaned me a book called 'The Gifts of the Jews' by Thomas Cahill. The basic premise of the book appeared to be that prior to judaism, the general zeitgeist was that man was trapped in an endless cycle. Life and death were inevitable and immutable and one could only submit to that. The Jews, Thomas Cahill argues, were the first group to see life as being a form of progress, moving towards an ultimate conclusion.This was, allegedly, the central premise of the book, with some later assertions, such as the claim that judaism was the first religion to really believe in the concept of a 'soul', or something within that G-d might want, even if his chosen people had been reduced to slavery and poverty in Babylon. I think Thomas Cahill also claims that judaism was the first religion to include the concept of social justice. There was also a long spiel on how the Ten Commandments were simply an expression of what all humans instinctively believe on some level to be right.
It was an interesting read, but one which has left me chewing on ideas like a rat on bit of discarded Big Mac. First of all, I don't think I agree at all with the notion that the Ten Commandments are the rules which we all instinctively ascribe to as morality. For a start, it seems to provide the basis of monogamy*, which while it may suit me is blatantly not something that humankind instinctively move towards. I also see little evidence that humanity really believes that it is wrong to kill. They believe that it is right to protect one's own 'tribe' or group, which makes a level of sense, but there is virtually no grouping of humanity in the world who does not have some concept similar to 'righteous vengeance'.
I'm also pondering the idea that there is no faith over than Judaism and it's offshoots (Islam and Christianity) which have any concept of 'progression'. I don't think I know enough about comparative religion to argue this however. Is there anyone out there who knows more than me and can educate me?
And finally, I found a rather odd LJ community today for psychic vampires amongst the Otherkin. Now, I don't want to be too sceptical about this. At the end of the day, I am aware that I am the girl known for having the psychic sensitivity of a brick, but how come having special powers and insight into the supernatural seems to suck your spelling and grammar away?
* 'thou shalt not commit adultery'
