I "blogged around" (Mr. Allen, you might want to consider a new name) and read blogs by Cormac, Shea, Charlie, Lizzie, and Anya, and I responded to Shea's and Anya's
In Shea's blog about how people are inevitably self-centered, I responded with thoughts on why tthis may not be such a bad thing, but also why we, as people, have much more to offer when we're not being self-centered:
This was really interesting to read. I think it's a refreshingly optimistic look at just how self-centered we are. I'm also guilty of obsessing over the minute details or slip-ups that in my head are monumental reflections of how terrible of a person I am, so it's refreshing to see this self-centered attitude painted in a more comforting light. The idea that when I screw up due to self-centeredness, most of the time people won't notice because of their own self-centeredness. I do kind of have a problem with the thought "oh it's okay, everybody's self-centered", while it may be inevitable it doesn't have to be celebrated. Taking a closer look at the last sentence makes the whole entry seem pretty dismal, "everyone else is pre-occupied with their world as well". It kind of makes it seem like we are selfish beings, like we should not and cannot interact with each other because we're too focused on ourselves and "survival of the fittest". I'm a believer in the idea that everything happens for a reason, and I think a possible explanation as to why we've become civilized and our world as humans is no longer survival of the fittest is because we're meant to interact and collaborate with each other, which often produces the most beautiful results. That may have just been a tangent, but I don't think it's the best idea to write people off as just self-centered and not looking at them on a deeper level (not that I'm accusing you of doing so), but I think people have more to them than just being self-centered. While we may have tendencies to obsess over ourselves, I think it's more because we want to better ourselves. I do really like your look at the more optimistic effects of people being self-centered, knowing that you're not always under people's magnifying lens, because they're looking at themselves can really put you at ease in some situations. Good thoughts, I like the blog!
In Anya's blog about the pros and cons of how we anticipate things, I talked about how a "middle of the road" approach, not anticipating too much and not being only present in the moment is what probably works best for people:
You bring up a lot of interesting ideas here. I've never really thought about the debate between always living in the moment, or planning ahead and anticipating a better one. As I'm finding with almost every aspect of life, it seems like the best approach to this is to just be somewhere in the middle; if you anticipate too much and try to over plan, you're bound to miss something amazing that's happening right in front of you. At the same time, though, if you're only focused on the here and now, blindly flying through life without a plan won't work forever. I'm not so sure about this "all going on in our subconscious", I feel like we can change how we mentally prepare (or don't prepare) ourselves for things, and we control this more than it controls us. I don't think it's very hard to change your ways if you can identify that the way your mind (over or under) uses anticipation is a good thing or a bad thing, then the rest of your body and mind will probably fall into place for the greater good. I think there are pros and cons to whatever way you utilize anticipation, and the best thing you can do for yourself is to just be aware of how you anticipate things, and if this has good or bad effects. So, good post for raising awareness! It was really interesting to read too!
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