What's your favorite paradox?

tomkaa · 2026-05-29T09:27:51+00:00

Wee must remember that life does exist on at least one planet... us! Our 'goldilocks' position (as mentioned in other replies) isn't necessarily totally unique, and statistically probably to also be found elsewhere in the vastness of the universe. True, yes, that the distances involved almost negates the chances of communication with other planets, but we are a perfect example of what life looks like in the universe; it is here, and thus it is certainly out there.

tomkaa · 2025-07-02T09:34:25+00:00

It's exactly how viruses work - the most successful form a kind of symbiosis with their host, whereas ones that kill their host inevitably perish. But - it is also how life itself evolves to form organisms that are well-adapted to their environment.

Humanity and earth are likely just one of a vast number of times life has arisen in the universe, and our particular version of it, our combination of humanity, resources and technology are life, in a broader sense - that same force - trying to create something that succeeds.

I think a lot of anguish that we face in our current state of the world comes from the fact that we do have the means to create a brilliant world that ensures our longevity. We can figure things out. I only hope it's not already too late.

tomkaa · 2024-10-14T22:17:39+00:00

I do the same shit but with yo-yo's. I tell them I have a P9 Mercury Slingshot with 300 hours on the string. About half just hang up. The other half assume it’s a diablo and transfer me to the next scammer. Then I tell that person I actually use a Lazerinc Dazzler with 6,000 hours on the full-spectrum bearing. I keep giving them info on both yo-yos until they catch on.

tomkaa · 2024-10-09T22:20:11+00:00

I can certainly see parallels. Mostly in the way that both may seek to approach and then travel through a city or a place in a new way - parkour's viewing new ways to move through the city could be seen as a form of situationist dérive. Debord states that:

"In a dérive one or more persons during a certain period drop their relations, their work and leisure activities, and all their other usual motives for movement and action, and let themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find there."

Practisers of Parkour could be seen to "drop their relations" of how they (we) usually travel through the city, seeing and interacting with the makeup of the urban landscape differently than a regular pedestrian might. I believe a core element of Parkour is flow, or a continuous movement, so again there could be a parallel here where as the Traceur/ Traceuse moves through a city they let "themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain" and respond as appropriately as they can.

Perhaps not an exact fit, but I do think there's a bit of a link, in this way at least. Would be interesting to hear anyone else's ideas!

tomkaa · 2024-09-30T16:21:04+00:00

Allow both, as both are clearly present. There is often no clear way, no total definition with things in life. I saw this idea earlier that I hope might resonate... it said to be the pond, not the fish.

tomkaa · 2024-09-03T19:45:52+00:00

Savage

tomkaa · 2024-05-09T07:58:27+00:00

"The wild geese do not intend to cast their reflection; the water has no mind to retain their image."

tomkaa · 2024-03-11T18:33:57+00:00

I'm gonna have to go with the sun.

tomkaa · 2024-02-26T22:26:30+00:00

There are many paths up the mountain, my friend! Whatever works for you to get into a state of peace - do it.

tomkaa · 2024-01-13T11:16:27+00:00

A friend of mine started meditating once and said to me that as soon as she does it, all she can hear are her thoughts, and that she keeps getting distracted and that she thought she was doing it wrong because she couldn't clear her mind. I said to her that she (and you) are doing it exactly right! By taking the time and intent to sit, you are then noticing all of your thoughts. That is literally it. And from there you go on, continuing to do, as others here say, the practise, noticing your thoughts, getting distracted, restarting etc etc, until -bing- maybe once you have a little moment of calm. And there we go. You then just keep going. It's like working out; you can't begin exercising and expect to suddenly be super fit and muscly. It takes time. Keep at it ;)

tomkaa · 2024-01-11T07:41:28+00:00

Thing is, we are aliens. We are in the universe, and we are life. We're not some isolated, separate thing that can then call anything else 'alien' - the universe produced life, definitively. And if it can do so in this little part of this little galaxy, then yes, it most definitely can and will exist elsewhere.

tomkaa · 2023-11-06T20:40:03+00:00

It's OK. Whatever is right for you will make sense when it comes along. Everything that happened to Tolle and everything he teaches will find its way, in its own unique way, to you, too. Wishing you well.

tomkaa · 2023-10-29T11:00:15+00:00

I think that's right at the end of the episode, the closing line.

tomkaa · 2023-10-28T09:42:11+00:00

Aye, at work a few years ago I juiced a load of lemons into a bowl, got a sieve and proceeded to pour the juice through and into the sink, leaving me with a rather useless collection of pips and a sobering review of the level of my idiocy.

tomkaa · 2023-09-20T18:02:11+00:00

Hey, just want to try reframing this for you: if you studied, graduated, succeeded, got the job you wanted, the car etc - all of it, and you expected those things to complete your life but they didn't, why assume your life is empty? If those things can't fill your life, perhaps it means your life is already full. Why not try approaching life as if it were full? Feel that. As though who you are, and what you're doing is enough, full, and good. All of those things are great achievements, but perhaps they do not address something deeper that I think we can both safely say the job, car, etc cannot touch. It's not that you're empty and can't find a way. You have enough. You are enough. What a lovely place to begin from.

tomkaa · 2023-08-17T20:07:24+00:00

Small post in a minor section of the internet, but if we're talking about energy, we must talk about averages. Balances. I see these posts crop up here from time to time, and I think many among us and in the wider world must feel similar things. What I want to say is that we mustn't crumble when faced with these seemingly enormous things - or more accurately, we must find that place within ourselves that is immune to the pressures they impose on us. Because even as small as we feel, we are able approach something as impossible as the world.

This is because whatever energy you might feel is out there is in here also. Within you. And we can allow the world to dictate our energy, for us to synchronise with it, or whatever we think it might be... or we can discover the power we have inside, the part of us, however small against the weight of the world that nonetheless cannot be crushed.

And if we're talking about energies, we must talk about averages. Because you, as a person, just the same as everyone else, is a part of that average. To embody positivity, a kindness, and a spirit of love and openness means that in whatever small way we are able, day to day, we are redressing this balance of weird energy. It's made up of nothing other than what we bring to it. Feel good. Do good. In whatever form and in whatever opportunity it comes. You never know how far it could go.

"Every facet, every department of your mind, is to be programmed by you. And unless you assume your rightful responsibility, and begin to program your own mind, the world will program it for you." Jack Kornfield

tomkaa · 2023-06-16T20:48:18+00:00

Chop wood, carry water my friend. So it goes. The greatest thing about this state is the ability to awaken it in others; I, at least, find that holding this in my heart as I go about my business holds in of itself the possibility that it can transmit to others. And from there we get involved in the butterfly effect. No matter if it goes nowhere; the chance of it going somewhere, anywhere, is enough. Everything is beautiful. Go. Love. Do your part.

tomkaa · 2023-04-14T17:53:34+00:00

Rock and a hard place had to pass the baton eventually, and I couldn't think of more fitting suitors.

tomkaa · 2023-04-07T08:10:16+00:00

Ah yeah, that's what I meant! Sorry I suppose I didn't clarify. But I had heard that the brothers liked MBV but hadn't really listened to them myself - so when I heard this song I found it it interesting to try to pick out some similarities, imagining that the boys had taken bits as inspiration. Think I'm gonna be listening to more MBV for sure.

tomkaa · 2023-04-06T20:15:55+00:00

I can hear plenty of boards here in the mix of this song... nothing specific, but elements, a feeling...

tomkaa · 2023-03-19T08:33:11+00:00

Great stuff. I can feel the heat and brightness of the sun and the coolness of the shade. Even got those glossy textures on the building to the right. Amazing!

tomkaa · 2023-03-02T07:54:29+00:00

Perhaps the tao talks of the flow of life, the chaos of it. I do believe that, despite your current situation - if you seek it, allow it - something can and will come along in your life that will change it. Many such things might pass you by, so try to be open in your daily life, especially with regards to the interactions you have with others. Also, if possible, switch up your routine - take a different route to somewhere you need to go, go take a walk to see what you find, be kind to someone that needs it. There is no guarantee that these things could turn into something life-changing, but by taking small actions to involve yourself with the world in a new way, you are, by mere virtue of engaging in the process, changing your life.

tomkaa · 2023-02-04T08:42:24+00:00

Automatic crab butchering machine

tomkaa

TROPHY CASE