Susie, it’s a wonder to have lived this long and we still talk about our weight. I have never found a doctor who hasn’t reminded me of some weight reduction.
I have decided in my 81st year, it’s not a problem. Drinking a glass or two of wine will not put me underground. Not having ice cream maybe. Enjoyed your thoughts.
Like my mother, I used to be very small. As a child, people were always trying to get me to eat. I never quite got accustomed to denying myself. It feels important to distinguish between the health piece and the vanity piece. But now with this doctor saying I'm better off not losing weight, I can concentrate on not caring about how I look.
This: 'Thinking and feeling and connecting with one another are the most profound forms of resistance to mind control. We are under assault by the depredations of the algorithm, the narrowing of the arena of free speech, the inclination to return to discredited systems of social control in the family and at the ballot box. All of this tightening of the reins presupposes and further promotes a loss of agency in the individual heart and a dangerous determinism that makes no room for changing your mind, forgetting your wallet.' Always appreciate your reflections! Sending love.
Interesting. It didn't feel soothing to me when I was writing it. Most people don't find unpredictability soothing...but I'm with you. I'll take my chances.
Hi, Susie -- when you write about how many of us cling to narrow certainties as a balm for the craziness and fragmentation we're living in; and how the more technically adept we become, the more loosened from our grounding in shared humanity --for me it addressed so beautifully the zeitgeist of our moment. Resonant.
The tech piece is really turning a corner for me. I was at a Ritual Committee meeting at my synagogue where there was real disagreement about bringing a phone up to the bimah to read a d'var. It seems like such a loss to me.
It wasn’t really resolved….but I was aware that not everyone agreed that it would support rest on shabbes to separate from the phone and breathe into the human/divine reality.
I have always battled (interesting word) my weight....I am 72 and am still at it. I have tried to move simply to making better (in the moment) choices.....sometimes it works.
Everything means nothing but the meaning we give it. Choose your story, whatever story makes you happy- the kind of happy that makes you genuinely laugh.
My story: always Eat the ice cream ☺️ and add a debit card to your phone so you can just click and pay even when you forget your wallet 🙌
A great example of a hook, and of a turn, part way through, from simple narrative to philosophical musing. It rankles not a little that AI will now absorb your writing style to improve its own.
Well, I wouldn't know. I have published a few things on the web. I only know that AI is trained to scour the web for information, constantly improving its knowledge base, without asking permission. I am a bit resentful of the foisting on AI on the world's population. Before reading your post, I had been reading several articles discussing the new technology, so I made the connection.
A while back I was getting lengthy unsolicited communications (there were five or six of them) from people who wanted to represent my book. They were all very well written in a style that resembled mine. I was suspicious from the get go and decided they were all AIs under different names. Didn't bite.
It turns out all the subject matter is right at the end of one's nose. I really enjoy the process of starting up close and seeing how far afield it takes me.
Susie, it’s a wonder to have lived this long and we still talk about our weight. I have never found a doctor who hasn’t reminded me of some weight reduction.
I have decided in my 81st year, it’s not a problem. Drinking a glass or two of wine will not put me underground. Not having ice cream maybe. Enjoyed your thoughts.
Like my mother, I used to be very small. As a child, people were always trying to get me to eat. I never quite got accustomed to denying myself. It feels important to distinguish between the health piece and the vanity piece. But now with this doctor saying I'm better off not losing weight, I can concentrate on not caring about how I look.
It's for moments like this that I had my daughter add a credit card to my phone. Emergency ice cream.
Excellent advice
Mines in my watch. Always available. Not sure that’s a good thing sometimes.
This: 'Thinking and feeling and connecting with one another are the most profound forms of resistance to mind control. We are under assault by the depredations of the algorithm, the narrowing of the arena of free speech, the inclination to return to discredited systems of social control in the family and at the ballot box. All of this tightening of the reins presupposes and further promotes a loss of agency in the individual heart and a dangerous determinism that makes no room for changing your mind, forgetting your wallet.' Always appreciate your reflections! Sending love.
I am blessed in my web of relations and people who read along with me. You are an important part of that process.
another brilliant, soothing essay, Susie. Heading to freezer for ice cream!
Interesting. It didn't feel soothing to me when I was writing it. Most people don't find unpredictability soothing...but I'm with you. I'll take my chances.
You don't acknowledge how much randomness has a big role in the quantum world.
Well...I'm a fan of randomness, but not an expert on quantum physics. Tell me what you mean, please.
Susie, I think this is one of your most beautiful and profound pieces ever. Lots to mull over. Thank you so much for it.
Rachel
Rachel...I'm very pleased by your response but also a bit surprised. Can you say what it is about this essay that particularly engaged you?
Hi, Susie -- when you write about how many of us cling to narrow certainties as a balm for the craziness and fragmentation we're living in; and how the more technically adept we become, the more loosened from our grounding in shared humanity --for me it addressed so beautifully the zeitgeist of our moment. Resonant.
The tech piece is really turning a corner for me. I was at a Ritual Committee meeting at my synagogue where there was real disagreement about bringing a phone up to the bimah to read a d'var. It seems like such a loss to me.
--and what was the decision? or did the disagreement itself feel like a loss?
It wasn’t really resolved….but I was aware that not everyone agreed that it would support rest on shabbes to separate from the phone and breathe into the human/divine reality.
--I would have voted for decathecting from the phone!!
I have always battled (interesting word) my weight....I am 72 and am still at it. I have tried to move simply to making better (in the moment) choices.....sometimes it works.
I like the word "simply." I think that's a good way to go.
Everything means nothing but the meaning we give it. Choose your story, whatever story makes you happy- the kind of happy that makes you genuinely laugh.
My story: always Eat the ice cream ☺️ and add a debit card to your phone so you can just click and pay even when you forget your wallet 🙌
What's your favorite flavor?
Thanks for the reminder that openness is itself a form of freedom. And I also feel better now about the few pounds I have gained.
Thanks, Alice. My work is done...until it's not.
A great example of a hook, and of a turn, part way through, from simple narrative to philosophical musing. It rankles not a little that AI will now absorb your writing style to improve its own.
Have you experienced that? I'm on the naive side.
Well, I wouldn't know. I have published a few things on the web. I only know that AI is trained to scour the web for information, constantly improving its knowledge base, without asking permission. I am a bit resentful of the foisting on AI on the world's population. Before reading your post, I had been reading several articles discussing the new technology, so I made the connection.
A while back I was getting lengthy unsolicited communications (there were five or six of them) from people who wanted to represent my book. They were all very well written in a style that resembled mine. I was suspicious from the get go and decided they were all AIs under different names. Didn't bite.
Continuing to get such solace from your ability to express what I know in my senses but haven’t dressed in words yet.
I'm so glad you feel that way. Please don't hesitate to let me know if there are other subjects hanging out there that you'd like me to engage.
Oh Susie, thank you once again!
So glad it resonated, dear Signe.
Courageous and insightful as always!
It turns out all the subject matter is right at the end of one's nose. I really enjoy the process of starting up close and seeing how far afield it takes me.