I’m glad you added The Matrix to your Netflix queue! Maybe after you watch the first film, you’ll be able to pick out more from the quotes in the article.

And yes, blogging is about accountability! It keeps you track. :)

This is a very interesting conversation – fitting the thoughtful post that inspired comment. I am going to fess up. I have never watched a Matrix film. Now, I’m so curious I just can’t stand it anymore and I will move these to the top of my Netflix list.

I wrote a post today called Body Image, Eating and Creativity. It is a confession really about how I have let a food obsession addiction has control my thinking and my creative energy. I don’t think it was a coincidence that the light went on in my head about writing it shortly after I read this. Thanks, Melissa!

Also I agree with what you say about using words to sort through the thoughts. I have enjoyed blogging because it gives me a chance to process through the patterned thinking and keep myself accountable to the changes I want to create.

Best,
Kirsten

Mero is one of my favorite characters, so I eagerly await your MFN revelations. And props to you for staying on topic. :p

Your comments remind me of one of my tweets from yesterday, something that was quoted in a speech given by J.K. Rowling: “What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.” ~Plutarch

“[O]nce one realizes that they can control their own emotional state and mind, they have a choice, whether they realize it or not, to take responsibility… for their thoughts.”

Completely. That choice can be a scary one, but the rewards far outweigh any life in bondage.

“[A]t the end of the day, all the intellectual babble becomes but so much noise. The closer one getswith words, the further one gets from reality.”

Hmm, I would agree that many words out there are intellectual babble noise. That’s because they are stuff of the head, not grounded in the heart, more so guided by fear and selective blindness. For instance, I’m stumbling to comprehend Simulacra & Simulation at the moment — regular reading for any Matrix fan ;) — and it’s intellectual babble if I’ve ever laid eyes on it. But — it’s not noise. It has substance, and meaning, commentary on human culture, it is stuff of the heart.

So words, I agree can draw us further from reality. But only if they are not founded in reason and emotion (i.e. mindful experience). Before I created this website, I had such an abstract notion of what I understood and wanted to convey about emotions and health. Now, with words and webpages (and linking), I have a control over my thoughts in a way that wouldn’t be possible *without* the words. The words for me have created greater intimacy inward, and have helped me clarify my thoughts in ways that weren’t possible when they remained abstract and immaterial.

We agree that everyOne has the choice of response ability. And that’s a message very worth sharing. :)

I’d say, “what a coincidence” that I stumbled upon your blog at 2 am, but…. lol… I think we both know by now there is no such thing.

That said, I was channel flipping and came across The Matrix Reloaded on BET tonight (27April09) and decided that rather than watch the edited and cropped broadcast, I would pop in the DVD and watch the original unedited wide-screen version. Near the end, something caught my attention, something I hadn’t keyed on before (as always happens, even after thirty plus viewings) (a testament to the film, not my inferior powers of observation … I am sure… lol), the King Neb quote spoken by Morpheus as the Neb explodes: “I had a dream and now that dream is gone from me” which, when Googled, led me to a forum (MFN) where I found you or rather your comments in a five year old thread regarding the Merovingian.

Unfortunately, the thread devolved off-topic rather quickly, and I couldn’t comment (on a five year old thread…lol) as I must wait for my application to be approved. So, as I found your comments interesting, I clicked on your nic and found your website.

OK… this is a comment field for a particular post, so, though I am dying to set the record straight on Merv… grit grit grit my teeth… I will wait and stick to the subject at hand…

So, this is what I have to say… or echo… once one realizes that they can control their own emotional state and mind, they have a choice, whether they realize it or not, to take responsibility… for their thoughts. Not merely for the purpose of remaining calm or happy or well-balanced, though those are all fine goals, (right thought or action, being well, leads to well-being or nirvana, not vice versa) the bottom line is that thoughts, like words, are powerful. I am reluctant to say too much more, however, in the same way that a single spoken word may create ripples, like a pebble tossed in a pond, or a butterfly’s wings may create a hurricane… our very thoughts… matter. Far beyond our own sphere.

This may be but a fun idea to some (or perhaps a scary thought as the attendant responsiblity can be overwhelming). However, if one has the courage, ie. dont believe it, know it, at the end of the day, all the intellectual babble becomes but so much noise. The closer one getswith words, the further one gets from reality. The real world is at hand. Or, as another One once said, “the kingdom of heaven is at hand, it is here now”. Be here now. You are not powerless (even to affect the planet at large). Or to be more precise, the very fabric of reality. Believe it. Know it. This is the overarching message… for me. Followed of course by intention and sacrifice. (loss of ego) The hero’s journey etc. The more aligned one’s intention, the more… well…

“The least of you can do these things.”

There is no spoon.

Be well, Melissa. Really glad I found you blog.

Bill

“[L]imited pre-programmed thought patterns can bug the heck out of me. They can drive a person’s life. Making us feel unhappy and dissatisfied with who we are and what we have. Keeping us plugged into the need to consume more and more of what is being sold.”

Exactly Kirsten, that’s one of the points I talked about in the WantToKnow article, it is so crucial. When our limited pre-programmed thought patterns (and their respective unresolved emotions) hijack our lives, guess what?

We are then the perfect candidate for compulsive buying — based on the advertising through TV or web feeds. We are then so afraid, insecure, and in need of constant validation that we will buy whatever we *think* might fix us.

When we realize that we can change those thought patterns, though, all of sudden those feeds are not what they used to be; we can actually ignore them without blinking.

Btw thanks for grokking me and the site. :p

I love the verb “grok” created by Robert A. Heinlein to indicate understanding and sharing similar thoughts with another entity. I am grokking this post (which I found through your response to Is Your Tribe Holdong You Down on CopyBlogger). I also noticed you have a link to the Jill Bolte Taylor video. So I am double-grokking on your site too.

I know that my limited pre-programmed thought patterns can bug the heck out of me. They can drive a person’s life. Making us feel unhappy and dissatisfied with who we are and what we have. Keeping us plugged into the need to consume more and more of what is being sold.

In my “tribe” many of these thoughts are blamed on the “inner critic” who can be a nasty and tenacious little beast when she wants to be. :)

I very much appreciate your encouraging and throughtful writing. Thank you for the gentle and informative reminder that freedom is a choice.

All the best to you,
Kirsten