Meeting on happiness
Went to some silly meeting on happiness in Toronto with my brother (Peter). Some people were just gathering to talk about happiness. My bro pete happened to give a talk and so did my friend Gardner (gbot). There were 5 speakers. 2 were what you’d expect. pete and gbots were lecture like. And the first person who went up to speak told a very heartfelt story about the tragedies her family is dealing with and how the other night she went on stage (at Project Project) and said nothing for 5 minutes ’cause she was so unhappy. So this story of her family was basically her venting, but it was clear to me she is better at telling a story than most people, so she essentially killed the audience and made some cry. In the end she won all our hearts and that I’m sure made her happy in some way.
Two other people went up and said just basic silly things that made them happy and one of them I almost had to leave the room because of all the hate I felt towards them.
Pete and Gbots were interesting but drawn out, so here is the condensed version in case you wanted to be happy:
Peter
-Sigmund Freud says take away god and other father figures (or other greatness we think humanity possesses) and we’re all simple animals. This leads to psycho analysis through talking and you lie on the couch stuff, and we project all of our deep hidden childhood experiences on other people. And that’s why we say the same old shit and need to have it pointed out to us to stop.
-Peter says he wants you to experience the full range of human emotions and that:
- you are never understood (a good thing. otherwise why talk),
- you are always insecure,
- we all have baggage,
- master yourself by talking to improve.
Here’s the secret -> all insecure people need to listen and share their insecurities. example:
Bob says: “oh, and you know what else is your fault the TV is always on when I… (stops self and thinks)”
Bob reconsiders and says: “I’m just saying this because I’m insecure about you going out with other friends and having fun without me”
Alice replys: “I’m just mad because I’m insecure about having a relationship with a man in Toronto and whether I can commit to living with him, when I’m not sure I’m sure of my true direction”
Bob: “I feel some of that too.”
(warm hug as they master their insecurities)
Gbot was like all philosophy crazy (just imagine him having a greek dialogue with Simplicio). His points were based on the idea that you are fooling yourself and that everyone has a world view. We predominately think in the “modern western ethic” world view. (Note: world views support themselves and thus lack flaws, probably through circular logic).
Here are the point form notes/paraphrase of where he went:
- Life is Choice – happiness versus”the right thing”
- Modern_western_ethic += Glaring irrationality – forgive yourself for everything
- Modern_western_ethic += Ecological trouble cannot deal with the “we” as a cause.
- He blahs with Forgive… Ecological… Then says: starving children in africa syndrome should lead to – “I don’t feel bad about it but I’m still going to fix it.”
- A problem with the Modern_western_ ethic is motivation comes from dissatisfaction.
Essentially Gbot’s arguments surround the idea of “what is the right thing to do”, and why one may feel dissatisfied and have a poor way of dealing with things because they are not rational.
Somehow he is caught up in greek argument stylings. This causes his arguments to be ignored by me. And if he writes a book called “On ____” (fill in blank with western society… etc) I will murderize him.
However the greeks labored over their thoughts, this much I can appreciate. Since that night there were 2 “no real thought” acts. And yet most conversations with him turn out in this way and so this presentation was no special feat.
Afterward they performed some improv for some odd reason and so I stop here. (which is where the night should’ve ended)
Oh, and because this seems so banal and pointless, to top it off, a european dude with a scarf was there who was lounging on a couch said something along the lines of “I’m sure white people should meet to discuss happiness” to which I should’ve replied, “why are you wearing that fashionable scarf?”. Essentially the whole thing was a fun meeting for friends and somehow he was invited even though he wanted to stay home and fuck or do something else european.