Vineeto: The way out of this is to get back to feeling good and then enjoy and appreciate this unique and exciting adventure of a lifetime. “The more severe ‘I’ become with ‘myself’” is another way of saying you want to control the way it is going to happen … and that is not possible by the very nature of ‘self’-immolation –
Vineeto: It is not for nothing that the actualism method is about enjoyment and appreciation, all the way. In other words, you have the option to enjoy and appreciate your slowly coming to terms with your being redundant.
Vineeto: What you could do instead is channelling those “burning”, “screaming” passions into affective felicitous and innocuous passions
Kuba: This was such great advice! It did not occur to me that I could do this, instead I was trying to sort of “tough it out”, but where is the fun, adventure and thrill in that. No wonder it became some kind of a serious, almost moralistic thing. I was just waiting for it to end as opposed to enjoying and appreciating the thrilling ride.
Hi Kuba,
I find it amusing that after so many years of applying actualism and being close to your intended goal of reaching your destiny, as you have been telling us all for some time (so it must be so), I remind you of the 101 tool of the actualism method and you tell me that “it did not occur to me that I could do this”.
Just to put in an additional plug for the method Richard devised and used with success –
Richard: For the sake of clarity in communication I would stress that the actualism method sits firmly upon the minimisation of both the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ feelings and the optimisation of the felicitous/ innocuous feelings … and merely being in touch with felicity will not do the trick. (Richard, AF List, No. 50, 30 Sep 2003)
Richard also said that he experienced as an artist, how at time “the painting painted itself” and he wanted his life to live itself as well. The way it works with art is that one practices the skills and tools of the craft until they become second nature and one becomes a very good crafts-person. Then, and only then it is possible for ‘me’ to get out of the way and let the painting/ sculpture/ pottery/ etc. make itself – this is when craft becomes art.
The same happens with the actualism method – when applied with diligence and persistence until enjoyment and appreciation become second nature, come what may, when this becomes a habitual way of life, then the craft can become art when the controller steps out of the way, naiveté becomes the norm and life is allowed to live itself. That is when the actualism process takes over and one can sit back and enjoy and appreciate a ride of a life-time.
Richard: “Also, by virtue of proceeding in this manner the means to the end – an ongoing enjoyment and appreciation – are no different to the end itself.” (Richard, Articles, This Moment of Being Alive).
Kuba: So even those instinctual passionate reactions which come as a result of ‘my’ approaching demise can be turned into enjoyment and appreciation. Perhaps there was some kind of a feeling/ belief that altruistic self-immolation must be a serious affair, but something which you wrote Vineeto came to mind yesterday, to paraphrase you wrote that the last step can be taken with a “hop and a skip”. This is possible only when all of ‘me’ is on board, and how else for ‘me’ to get on board than to welcome ‘my’ destiny, it is the powerful affective energy of felicity and innocuity which can allow something so ‘big’ to disappear forever with a “hop and a skip”.
I searched through everything I have written and could find neither “hop” nor “skip”, perhaps you can find it. I found this –
Vineeto: Once you sorted out everything you can sensibly sorting out, you will by its very nature do something you have never done before – manumit your ‘self’.
This last step is something entirely new in your life and is necessarily a jump from the known into the unknown (which you had glimpses of). But you cannot reason it out in advance – you cannot rely on your trusted sensible pattern of action. [emphasis added] (Actualism, Actualvineeto, Kuba, 30 Sep 2024).
It is not surprising though that you so willingly believed that “self-immolation must be a serious affair” – the very survival passions induce this belief/ imagination that it is a big deal and that you must suffer for even wanting it. But upon closer inspection this too is a furphy.
Kuba: How amazing that with the seriousness fading the world around has now changed also! I see now that indeed ‘I’ cannot control the ways and means of self-immolation, that would be a contradiction in terms, ‘I’ only enjoy and appreciate the thrilling ride and remain out from control. (link)
I am so very pleased that you can see this now – it will make ‘your’ last days so much more fun.
Kuba: This is in the other direction to what ‘I’ was doing before, ‘I’ was holding onto and nourishing the seriousness, trying to self-immolate from the seriousness. Of course this can never work, I see this energy of seriousness for what it is now, it will never deliver the goods, it can be discarded now.
So there is no seriousness in actual freedom, how could seriousness ever assist with becoming actually free. In fact it does the precise opposite, it anchors ‘me’ as a ‘being’. (link)
Yes, the very seriousness is nourishing the passionate illusion that ‘I’ am very, very important (a matter of life and death in fact) and therefore cannot abdicate the throne.
Kuba: A lot of posts today. OK so I can see with this energy of seriousness, there was some kind of attachment that ‘I’ had to it, that ‘I’ felt it was needed. I have been looking at this, the question of why is any seriousness needed?
What I can see so far is this feeling/ belief that seriousness provides meaning, that it is ‘deep’, that to fully appreciate what it means to be a human being requires seriousness. I realise as I am typing this out, what utter garbage it is!
This is nothing short of saying that suffering is required for meaning.
But that is the thrust of this belief, that in order to demonstrate caring one has to become seriously involved.
Sometimes it is enough to see your belief in print in order to recognize how silly it is. And so everyone goes around, earnestly and seriously perpetuating the suffering that supposedly provides meaning to one’s life.
Kuba: But I see that this is not so, that life can be enjoyed and appreciated fully without a shred of seriousness. It is still something new though, like an open question – Is it possible to cast out any and all seriousness for good and to live life in full meaning.
I see that the universe has already ensured that seriousness plays no part, because of the facticity of death. ‘I’ can only kid ‘myself’ that something is serious, by believing that it is ultimately lasting. Only the universe exists eternally and it has no need for seriousness as it is absolute. ‘I’ want seriousness as it gives ‘me’ a shot at eternity, at immortality. ‘I’ want to build that which is ultimately lasting – that is the very thrust of ‘my’ seriousness, it is 180 degrees opposite to simply being here to play. So I see why ‘I’ was invested in the seriousness, it does anchor ‘me’ as a ‘being’, to cast out all seriousness is to say a resounding YES to being alive, and to death also. (link)
Indeed, and not only does it anchor you to an imagined immortality but to ‘humanity’ as well – how dare you having fun while everyone is suffering. Here are two links where Richard was attacked by several correspondents for not duly suffering when a seismic sea-wave event happened – (Richard, AF List, No. 56c, 12 Jan 2005) and (Richard, AF List, 53g, 9 Jan 2005).
And exactly because seriousness/ suffering anchors and empowers ‘you’ “to build that which is ultimately lasting”, it is in your best interest to not be serious but naïvely enjoy and appreciate and cherish and marvel being here on this amazing planet we all share. There is no better way to fulfil your destiny.
Cheers Vineeto
OK so I can see with this energy of seriousness, there was some kind of attachment that ‘I’ had to it, that ‘I’ felt it was needed. I have been looking at this, the question of why is any seriousness needed?