Comments on: Why You’re Weird for Reading Mindful Construct

By: Melissa Karnaze

Melissa Karnaze — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 19:12:35 +0000

It’s great to see you again Kirsten! I believe your comment was intended for the article, “The Dark Side of Mindfulness Meditation.” If so, sorry for the glitch, it happened with the last comment for that article and I’m trying to fix it!

“I also encourage them to think of acting as a service profession. As actors we take on the responsibility of feeling what audiences are often afraid to feel for themselves – and as actors we have to develop the capacity to take that on.”

What a beautiful way to envision one of the many services of acting!

Feel free to share articles with your students, or whomever might find them useful. I appreciate that the source link stays with the content. :)

Maybe you find the topic of mindfulness meditation relevant to your students because it stresses the importance of staying engaged and connected to your feelings, no matter how difficult that gets? And actors who are mindful of that service you mentioned need to be especially keen on this?

There are many practices, habits, and mindsets, in addition to meditation, that encourage people to disengage (from the uncomfortable feelings) in a variety of subtle but definite ways. It’s pretty much anywhere you look!

By: Kirsten Olson Malinee

Kirsten Olson Malinee — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 16:37:13 +0000

Melissa,
I’m very glad I read this. I’m just beginning to practice ‘Insight Meditation’ and know very little about the process. I am grateful to hear your perspective, the perspective of your grandfather and know more about this history. (Understanding that history and current situations cannot be separated from one another.)
I am an acting teacher and talk to my classes about expanding their emotional comfort zone and their capacity for human being-ness. (Which has a lot to do with not working to produce emotion, but letting emotion happen because your are fully engaged by the characters’ desires and actions.) I also encourage them to think of acting as a service profession. As actors we take on the responsibility of feeling what audiences are often afraid to feel for themselves – and as actors we have to develop the capacity to take that on. I can’t articulate, right now, why – but I want to share this article with my students. Somehow this article relates directly to what I work to teach. I am going to think about this more so I can uncover exactly how and why this article sparks this response for me.
Thank you,
Kirsten

By: Melissa Karnaze

Melissa Karnaze — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 07:38:22 +0000

A year from the “now” of this article would be October 28, 2010. But that’s optimistic. It won’t be as weird in the future because eventually more and more subcultures will catch on to how emotions are useful tools. :)

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 02:47:24 +0000

Whats this year you are talking about?

“A year from now, it won’t be weird to say that emotions are intelligent. Right now, it still is. But I’ll risk sounding like a broken record until that day comes. Because it’s a message this world needs right now.”

And why after this year will it not be weird to say that emotions are intelligent?

By: Melissa Karnaze

Melissa Karnaze — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:01:34 +0000

Hi Laurie,

Yes, suffering is a signal. And yet, so many religions, cultures, and movements try to get rid of suffering, rather than listen to its message!

Yes, the Ego is so special. It’s the personification of our suffering, which means it has so many complex messages to share about how we can get our balance back…

Thanks for your comment!

By: Laurie Corzett

Laurie Corzett — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 22:46:31 +0000

We have desires to tell us in which direction to move

Suffering is there to tell us that something is wrong

The ego is our saviour, martyred to our cause

The ego is an organizing principal and figurehead. It doesn’t drive anything. Desires are emotional attachments. Emotions (e – motion) want to move us in the direction that makes them more comfortable. Suffering is a signal. It tells us we are out of balance. The point of suffering is not punishment but warning that you need to get your balance back.

By: Melissa Karnaze

Melissa Karnaze — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:10:57 +0000

Krishna, unabashedly is the way to go! I love the way you break it down.

The weirdness has worn off for me, now it’s just fun, especially when reading comments like yours that talk about the bigger picture. :) Thanks so much for sharing your perspective Krishna!

By: Krishna

Krishna — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:41:33 +0000

Since I started meditating and understanding just a bit better, how we are wired mentally, I have been unabashedly in touch with my emotions.

We have been taught various mechanisms (games, if you will) to NOT get in touch with our emotions. Some techniques – (1) Labelling emotions – to sadness/grief is “sissy”, pride is “bad” etc, (2) elevating logic above emotions – be “professional”, lets approach this “logically”…

It doesn’t work. Ignoring emotions – the signals our mind and body are giving us, just makes us ineffective.

Well, I am sure you feel a bit weird now talking about this in your blog. Expect many more people to join in with you in the days ahead :-).

Cheers,
Krishna

By: Melissa Karnaze

Melissa Karnaze — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:39:58 +0000

Hey Monkey Magic, that’s great to hear. Good point about living in a world full of people! We do need to get our emotional acts together so we can get along better. :)

By: Monkey Magic

Monkey Magic — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:49:09 +0000

Great points there. True that when you learn to deal with your emotions, it’s quite scary. Sometimes I feel like just turning it all off and run away from whatever causing it. But when I finally decided to face it, I do feel that I went out stronger than before. And yes, it’s worth every single effort since we are living in a world full of people (and yes, everyone has their own emotional bits and pieces whether they acknowledge it or not). Anyways, thanks for writing =D