What might be making you a tad apprehensive, but might not, as it's too soon to tell

[Glinda]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Since she's kin you know, but neither really friend nor foe, she can't play any role in the story your head produces. The timing could be entirely coincidental, you didn't catch what Mom was about, and Dad looking for something in your room that was probably on his computer at work doesn't make much sense.

What I want to know is why you deny having a big teddy bear?
That's nothing to be ashamed of.
Maybe you don't, maybe you just desire a big bear. Rowr.

Well, I've thought a lot about that.

One of the few things my mom was absolutely serious about in her declining years was that she wanted to be buried with an old teddy bear she bought in an antique store decades earlier. She said it reminded her of one she had when she was a little girl. I was happy to honor that wish, even though the bear was almost too big for the coffin. (If only she'd cared that much about her damned four karat diamond ring . . . we never did find that. )

The bear in my dream didn't look anything like the bear I buried her with, but . . .

*cue Twilight Zone theme*

[Undertoad]

When you remove one person's personal pattern from the web of connectedness, everything about them that was reflected in their connections with others remains completely intact, and it never goes away.

This is where God really is, then; not some "sky daddy" version of a human who commands respect and punishes bad behavior, as with a stick, but... is God, maybe, partly, our incomplete sense of understanding of interconnected humanity and what consciousness has wrought and will bring about in the future?

~ something like that ~

[Flint]

* yeah, nice *

And maybe this God is comprised of the patterns that we let influence us the most. Whereas nature-worship or ancestor-worship would have one made more sense, what would today's God be?

As we accelerate towards Kurzweil's singularity, technology, and it's oversized impact on our lives, is changing on such an ever-shortening scale, that we've hardly had time to determine what the main influences in society are, before they've changed altogether.

And if we live in a world of false symbols, such as 1981's Simulacra and Simulation suggests, maybe this is why "simulation theory" is starting to take on a religious-like quality.

[Glinda]

Flint, you and UT are giving me way too much to think about, and I thank you both.

As it turns out, I've always believed there was some sort of fundamental interconnectedness of all things (and here I thought my weird little "religion" was too out there for polite company. Shoulda known better with this bunch!).

I need to think on this some more. Thanks for giving me some leads to pursue.

[Flint]

Sorry for veering off into the weird technology stuff.

We're a social, cooperative species--this is how we survive (not claws, teeth, or muscles). We're made to be interconnected. It's who we are.

[Griff]

Y'all sound like a bunch of dirty hippie Buddhists, but I think you've got the neurological basis of it.

[xoxoxoBruce]

The Dali Lama says...

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by Glinda

I get your point, but the truth is, throughout my life my niece and I never spent any time together (except during the 1.5 years when I traveled to SoCal a few days per month to take care of my folks, and even then it was only a few minutes here or there). We've never called or emailed or texted. She's an international flight attendant and my brother and his wife take care of her son when she's on the job - I've spent FAR more time with her son than with her; she and I were never "close," literally or figuratively.

Oh, we get along just fine, but there's no deep bond that might be considered "a psychic connection."

Sure, but like, what if the stress and pain your brother and his wife were feeling (starting the minute they found out) put, for want of a better phrase, bad vibes out that you picked up on? I guess what I'm saying is that the "message," if it were one, didn't accomplish anything by getting to you a day or two sooner than it would have if you'd had to wait for the news without calling to ask about it. It's not like the dream allowed you to intervene and prevent anything. As a passive receptor, however, I'd believe it's possible for us to be tuned in to the combined emotional state of the people we love (or hate, for that matter.)

[Flint]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

Their impact on your life continues, and so they are affecting reality in the present time, even though they are not physically there.

One of the 20th Century's greatest poets, Neil Peart-- "the drummer" of progressive trio Rush, calls it "Afterimage" ...

Suddenly —
You were gone
From all the lives
You left your mark upon

I remember —
How we talked and drank
Into the misty dawn
— I hear the voices

We ran by the water
On the wet summer lawn
— I see the foot prints
I remember —

— I feel the way you would
— I feel the way you would

Tried to believe
But you know it’s no good
This is something
That just can’t be understood

I remember —
The shouts of joy
Skiing fast through the woods
— I hear the echoes

I learned your love for life
I feel the way that you would
— I feel your presence
I remember —

I feel the way you would
This just can’t be understood…

[Flint]

"I feel the way you would"

[Glinda]

So, I'm scheduled to leave Portland OR for (JFK, and then) the Dominican Republic, leaving late tomorrow night. I just got an email message from Expedia (through which I booked my flight), saying that ALL my flights - going and returning - had been cancelled. Crap weather is currently forecasted for NY and cancellations over the next few days wouldn't be surprising, but . . . .

I called Jet Blue and they said everything is still on schedule, no cancellations either direction as yet, and no impossible weather issues are anticipated.

Fuckin' Expedia. I should've known better. It won't kill me to leave a day later if that's necessary, but goddammit, I have a LONNGGG overdue vacation to start and I don't need this bullshit!!!

[xoxoxoBruce]

Bummer, just tell me when I have to be at JFK.

[Glinda]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Bummer, just tell me when I have to be at JFK.

Flight has repair issues and due to delay they need to find a new pilot. No idea if they'll find one. WTF. Waiting for a ride back home. Next flight out on Wed. Shit. Shit. Shit.

[Griff]

Crap. Sorry

[xoxoxoBruce]

I think it's evil entities colluding to keep us apart.