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  • What traits of your parents are you inheriting? See all answers
    • Inheriting Stoicism

    • Here's a trait I have been fighting against (which means that, sooner or later, the lurking enemy is bound to get the best of me): stoicism. Like my mother, I am an emotional person; but, like my father, I think everything out thoroughly. If that seems like a paradox when you read it, it feels much more confusing when you live it. Here's a fortune cookie fortune that my (what do I call her?) liked to keep: "Life is a tragedy for those who feel, a comedy for those who think." I do both to excess, which is probably why I smile when I'm least happy, and which is why I smile a lot.

      If I were an optimist, I would write here about how I want my mom's compassion and kindness or my dad's responsibility and dedication. But, no, I just want to avoid stoicism. I think this explains my tendency to embrace change, to write profusely and publish far more than I should to friends (and strangers).

       
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  • Comments

    GWMJedi said:
    This is freaky-cool-weird: your description of your mother matches almost perfectly my description of my father. And your description of your father? Yep, that's my mother. I was looking over some of your other responses and I was like "woah -- dude" quite a few times... how odd. Oh, and my "oldest place" is also Stonhenge. Ok, not so surprising b/c it's *really* old. But still, reading over your various responses, it was trippy how much I grok your writing. Call me a fan. Or something.
    -Philip Tanner
    posted over 2 years ago
    dedalus said:
    I really wish I knew what 'grok' meant. It is contextually a compliment, or at least something positive...but it sure hits the ear negative.
    Yes, if you've been to Stonehenge, enough said. Well, how old are the pyramids of Giza? The Sphinx? Those might be able to top it.
    posted over 2 years ago
    redpanel said:
    Ironically, I wrote about a little over two pages about Stoicism this morning. Or Stonehengism. I can't wait to edit it so that you may be able to relate.
    I smile a lot too. For reasons you may think I am treasonous. ;)
    posted over 2 years ago
    GWMJedi said:
    GROK -- from "Stranger In A Strange Land" by Heinlein, hello. The word has become so widely used in sci-fi circles in the 40+ years since the book was first published that it now appears in the Oxford English Dictionary... as I recall, in Heinlein's Martian language the word had several meanings, like "to eat" and "to love" and "to understand." By extension, I guess it would be somewhat akin to the liturgical Greek "koinonia."
    To the here-and-now re: your writing, it was *absolutely* a compliment. You write beautifully. Seriously, you have talent. Keep using it.
    Re: the Sphinx at Giza, the biggest & most famous sphinx, it's known to have been built approx 4500 years ago roughly at the same time as the Great Pyramid itself. There is still major disagreement re: the actual timeframe of the erection of Stonehenge -- some folks say it must've been just 4200 years ago and some folks say that it must've been over 5000 years ago. And yes, I had to look all of this up. I'm not *that* smart. :)
    -Philip
    posted over 2 years ago

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