Gaia: Kosmic Blogging 101 - Kosmic Blogging 101 - KB101: Existential Memoirs

Re: KB101: Existential Memoirs

http://coolmel.gaia.com — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 06:28:38 GMT

Speaking of Existential Memoir, here's a great example from none other than kick ass personal development bodhisattva Steve Pavlina.

Walking in My Shoes

"This is a long personal story, but I think you’ll find it interesting. If you take the time to read it, I want you to notice how my beliefs (my context) shifted over time and how dramatically they changed my results.

"For half of my life, I’ve been searching for the context that would give me the best possible life. Of course, this is a strange pursuit because it requires searching for a context while at the same time always being stuck inside of one. In other words, the definition of “best possible life” is also part of any context, so I have to find a context that both defines that term AND provides a means to fulfill it.

"This pursuit began almost accidentally for me, but eventually I began pursuing it consciously."

Read more...

You think you can sit down and write your own Existential Memoir as authentically as you can? Good. Just do it.

Post a link to your existential memoir entries on this thread.
For example, here's a link to mine:
http://coolmel.zaadz.com/blog/tags/Xistential+Memoir

Re: KB101: Existential Memoirs

http://memejain.gaia.com — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 23:18:58 GMT

I read your EXM on Death and Dissolution and was very moved. My father is 77 years old and memory loss is becoming apparent. I am struggling with staying in the moment and enjoying my visits with him and then worrying over what it is going to be like when whatever is taking over his mind takes it all. My father seems for the most part content. He has had a full life with a wonderful wife, 7 kids, 17 grandkids and 2 great grandkids. He is just slowing down and too soon for me will come to a full stop. He told me recently, "That's the way the cookie crumbles."

Like you I accept that death is the result of having lived. I have always had an ugly fear of this eventuality and my dad will be the first intimate of mine that will pass on. I find it is not the loss of him that upsets me most but the forgetting of me while he is still here. This upset takes me further and I realize the most horrible thought I have of this most natural process is the loss of me. I don't want to not be aware of me anymore. I don't want to forget I was here. I too was raised Catholic and this foundation has never brought me comfort. I have never been able to fully buy into the White bearded guy on a throne in the clouds with angels all around. I cannot wrap my brain around the concept that the Creator created anything with flaws and doles out punishments for calling my sister a butthead. I am searching, I am questioning and in the process I am finding deeper meaning in the now. I hope that is enough to carry to the next plane.
Thank you for provoking my thoughts.
:)
memejain

Re: KB101: Existential Memoirs

http://coolmel.gaia.com — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 15:42:05 GMT

sweet! glad you like it. T.V. is a really neat guy. i learned a lot from his class. it was a also a time of self-discovery for me.

~C (for Carrying on)

Re: KB101: Existential Memoirs

http://peacemonger.gaia.com — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 07:20:31 GMT

Very cool!

I'm new to this pod and new to blogging. (I will be an active k-blogger... very active... I swear... besides, this is a great place to learn, so please let me stay in the pod! ;-))

I really like the idea of writing ExM's and Tom's site is great. I will be reading (and writing) more soon. Oh, and T.V.'s book list iskickass. :-)

He writes on the fear of death:
"...So cultivating an awareness of our fear of death is not morbid or depressing; it's
liberating... The truth is ... once you learn how to die,
you learn how to live."

Yep. Amen.

One of the Psychology classes I'm currently taking is, Thanatolgy: Death and Dying. Our text is Death, Society and Human Experience... good stuff.

~mu

Re: KB101: Existential Memoirs

http://coolmel.gaia.com — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 19:43:57 GMT

ExM of Moving?! Great idea. I wanna read it. I did that too... I just called it Boulderdashing :)

Re: KB101: Existential Memoirs

http://Shelvis.gaia.com — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 19:30:26 GMT

This is awesome...... a ton of great references and advice. Thanks so much for sharing it with us!

I guess I should offer up the ExM of Moving?- All the ways Shelly is going nuts from packing a house, 2-1/8th horses, a dog, 3 cats, 6 rabbits and herself into a truck?

I would if there was a moment left to write!

Thanks Cool! You Rock!

Re: KB101: Existential Memoirs

http://integralawakening.gaia.com — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 19:23:46 GMT

this is wonderful. Thanks for the link. I'm going to give this a try.

KB101: Existential Memoirs

http://coolmel.gaia.com — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 19:01:19 GMT

My creation; “Write”
Originally uploaded by mscaprikell.

"The Existential Memoir is a type of focused autobiography that promotes self-awareness by confronting the four existential facts of life.

"By attending to our feelings -- by recognizing what made us feel sad, angry, humiliated, ashamed, proud or afraid -- we can identify the most significant moments in our life. By shaping those moments into stories that highlight conflict, and move toward resolution, we can drill deeper into our own motivation and discover what drives our behavior."

-- Tom Valeo, The Existential Memoir

Fellow podwans, here's another injunction. I highly recommend that we all write our own Existential Memoirs (ExM). It's a good practice that will make us more conscious with our kosmic blogging.

It was good for me and I'm confident that it would be good for you as well. So find a contemplative setting: your favorite coffee shop, the library, your church, your meditation room, your bathroom. Then just go with the flow.

If you think what you've written is too personal then just blog an edited version and keep the original for you to brood upon.

Here's mine...

Before I got bitten by the blogging-bug, I attended a creative writing class called The Existential Memoir – a type of focused autobiography that promotes self-awareness by confronting the four existential facts of life: death, isolation, freedom, meaning.

Below are the essays I wrote during that course:

Existential Memoir: On Death and Dissolution

Existential Memoir: On Aloneness

Existential Memoir: My Idiot Freedom

Existential Memoir: On Meaning–Thoughts Beyond Existentialism

... and I still continue to blog 'em.

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IMPORTANT NOTE: The Existential Memoir course is a brainchild of Tom Valeo. Full credit should go to him. The original course takes advantage of group therapy within a group dynamic setting in meatspace. So the best way to benefit from ExM is to attend Tom's course. But as bloggers, we can still benefit from ExM by blogging it and discussing our insights among our peers via comment section or discussion boards.

I just have one request: If you write your ExM and find it a useful transformative practice, please send Tom Valeo your thanks. Point him to this thread. I think it will put a smile on his Original Face.

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Now it's your turn... If you think you've done it already then tag them and add the hyperlinks on this thread. Godspeed.