Re: Love is... the personal is political, or is it?

[Guest guest]

Firstly, I dropped Facebook, and all the other "social networks" because for me they weren't anything of the sort. They're great venues for self-publicity, if that's something you need for personal and/or professional purposes, but for ordinary Joes like me, they're just a huge CRM operation, and I hold CRM with the same disdain as I do HR.That said, I'd find it difficult to feel content in my rocking chair in a state such as Mississippi, where the state government intrudes so far into one's personal life. It's nice to be able to blot all that out, I suppose.Regards,Detlef> > > > > > Â > > > >Many things to many people, I suppose.> > > >> > > >I think is right with his aphorism -- Love is the only thing.> > > >> > > >I'd even go out on a limb and suggest that most if not all the woes humans encounter can be tracked back to love, or the lack of it, whether it be the love of one for another or, poignantly, the love one may honestly have for oneself. In my own examination of the 'human condition' of various folk I've known, or known about, in my sixty odd years on the planet, the lack of a decent amount of unbridled and unconditional affection looms large in their histories as it does in my own. Most of us have known it: 'I love you, but...'> > > >> > > >Facing that 'but' and fighting it is perhaps the toughest battle any of us will ever meet, I think. I don't plan to be a casualty, and I fervently hope you won't be, either. Fighting the good fight may include something> > > as 'silly' as giving ourselves a hug and meaning it. Go ahead. Do it now. You deserve it and always have. That meaningful others couldn't see it is not your fault.> > > >> > > >Best wishes to you all,> > > >> > > >Detlef> > > >> > > >> > >> > > > > > > > > >>

[Guest guest]

Different strokes for different folks ... Facebook has greatly expanded my social life, if mostly in a cyber way. I reconnected with old friends I hadn't heard from in decades, people from high school, people I used to work with, and also made some new friends from other countries. I don't have a huge list of friends (well under 100), but those I do have are important to me, and our dialogue on FB is meaningful in my life. I also learn a lot from others. A gentleman from India chatted with me (via IM) on Christmas Eve for quite a while because I was lonely and reached out to him, although I had never met him. It meant the world to me. Like everything in life, I think what you get out of it depends on what you put into it, or what your expectations are. Also, how willing are you to share yourself, sometimes with perfect strangers you know only as "friends of friends?" I was willing to put myself out there somewhat, and it paid off for me.As for Mississippi, I used to live there and found it to be quite beautiful, if a bit too humid at times (well, make that a LOT too humid!). When I lived there (in the 70's), racism was rampant, and I can only hope that has changed. I was horrified at some of the prejudice I encountered from the natives there, having come from Pennsylvania where racism was not as obvious but perhaps just as sinister.Just another point of view, Detlef : )HelenaTo: "ACT for the Public" <ACT_for_the_Public >Sent: Tuesday, July 3, 2012 1:59:05 PMSubject: Re: Love is... the personal is political, or is it?

Firstly, I dropped Facebook, and all the other "social networks" because for me they weren't anything of the sort. They're great venues for self-publicity, if that's something you need for personal and/or professional purposes, but for ordinary Joes like me, they're just a huge CRM operation, and I hold CRM with the same disdain as I do HR.That said, I'd find it difficult to feel content in my rocking chair in a state such as Mississippi, where the state government intrudes so far into one's personal life. It's nice to be able to blot all that out, I suppose.Regards,Detlef> > > > > > Â > > > >Many things to many people, I suppose.> > > >> > > >I think is right with his aphorism -- Love is the only thing.> > > >> > > >I'd even go out on a limb and suggest that most if not all the woes humans encounter can be tracked back to love, or the lack of it, whether it be the love of one for another or, poignantly, the love one may honestly have for oneself. In my own examination of the 'human condition' of various folk I've known, or known about, in my sixty odd years on the planet, the lack of a decent amount of unbridled and unconditional affection looms large in their histories as it does in my own. Most of us have known it: 'I love you, but...'> > > >> > > >Facing that 'but' and fighting it is perhaps the toughest battle any of us will ever meet, I think. I don't plan to be a casualty, and I fervently hope you won't be, either. Fighting the good fight may include something> > > as 'silly' as giving ourselves a hug and meaning it. Go ahead. Do it now. You deserve it and always have. That meaningful others couldn't see it is not your fault.> > > >> > > >Best wishes to you all,> > > >> > > >Detlef> > > >> > > >> > >> > > > > > > > > >>