We began this month’s exploration of Planet Me by defining some terms and gathering some individual recollections we’ll use for the rest of the month.
Our discussion went well, and made me think I’ll probably re-factor the remaining topics this month. Stay tuned.
What is Planet Me?
Dislocation in Space, Time, and Relation to others.
A coping strategy that is hard to unlearn.
A model for escape.
I'm fighting against the baggage of others' valiant attempts to convey this problem, and my inability to make any use of the suggested fixes, which always sound unfuriatingly glib and dismissive.
Be here now. Live in the present.
Is it the toxic context of cruel optimism that continues to poison these suggestions? Or am I just so oppositional that I demand my very own phrasing.
Or have many of these slogans simply left out the useful bits about how to work this into my momentary life?
In May we're going to try out a series of activities meant to provide an experiential basis for navigating between our actual life and Planet Me. After offering the tantalizing prospect of escape, we'll try and face the reality: we're here for a reason, and permanent escape is less important than sounding out the trapdoors between each state.
Definitions
Dislocation in Space
Not Being Here
You can find your mind’s eye groping backward, like you’re driving and trying to reach something in the back of the car…
Dislocation in Time
Hint: Thrives in Language
Listen for clues in your speech - do you answer a question about Right Now with a reference to a Past or Future time?
Dislocation in Relation to Others
Planet Me is a great place to stay connected with the dead.
None of your energy is available to connect with others. It’s also a great place to theorize about The Big Picture while remaining completely inert and sedentary.
Oh Yeah?
God, are we moping now? I say No to moping. Instead, I’m proposing a really simple tactic to make a temporary escape from this predicament: Making Something With A Friend. Today we started journaling about this. You can do your own and then join us in the next live or recorded session to learn how to build your own home base from which to begin this activity.
Journal Prompts
Page 1: Write about a time when life sucked.
Page 2: Write about a moment when your perspective changed.
Page 3: Write a page about making something with a friend.
A meal
A game
A class
A building
Next Week
Let’s spend a few moments writing about your own brand of checking out, spacing out, but then we’ll get into constructing a home base from which to venture out into Building Something With A Friend.
NOTE: No friends? No sweat! Find a thing you want to make, and you can locate collaborators in the real world. Some of these may become friends.
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