Encephalon Posted January 25, 2010 (edited) del. Edited January 26, 2010 by Mal topics merged :) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Encephalon Posted January 25, 2010 USELESSNESS Â An ancient gnarled tree : Too fibrous for a logger's saw, Too twisted to fit a carpenter's square, Outlasts the whole forest. Â Â Loggers delight in straight-grained, strong, fragrant wood. If the timber is too difficult to cut, too twisted to be made straight, too foul-odored for cabinets, and too spongy for firewood, it is left alone. Useful trees are cut down. Useless ones survive. Â The same is true of people. The strong are conscripted. The beautiful are exploited. Those who are too plain to be noticed are the ones who survive. They are left alone and safe. Â But what if we ourselves are among such plain persons? Though others may neglect us, we should not think of ourselves as being without value. We must not accept the judgment of others as the measure of our own self-worth. Instead, we should live our lives in simplicity. Surely, we will have flaws, but we must take stock in them according to our own judgment and then use them as a measure of self-improvement. Since we need not expend energy in putting on airs or maintaining a position, we are actually free to cultivate the best parts of our personalities. Thus, to be considered useless is not a reason for despair, but an opportunity. It is the chance to live without interference and to express one's own individuality. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted January 25, 2010 Nice subject, uselessness. Â A few years ago I was having a hard time dealing with the concept of dualities. I was trying to get away from the polarities of good/bad, beautiful/ugly, etc. Â After some really good discussions I was lead to the concept of useful/useless. Instead of my putting 'my value' judgement on things, actions, etc. I formed an understanding that if I looked at things as being either useful 'to me' or useless 'to me' I could more clearly look at things, actions, people, etc. in life and consider only what that item had regarding me. Â Therefore, I can identify something useless 'to me' and still be with the understanding that it may be useful to someone else. In the end I was able to hold (in the most part) to the understanding that if something was useful to me then I would place my own value on it but if a thing were useless to me it would just not become a part of my life. Â And yes, if we are useless to other people they will, in the most part, leave us alone to live our life the way 'we' want to live it. Â Peace & Love! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
