Pronoia is the sneaking feeling that the world is out to help you.
John Perry Barlow (writer and lyricist for the Grateful Dead) gave one of the first definitions of the word, defining it as, “the suspicion the Universe is a conspiracy on your behalf.” The Zippy movement adopted the idea of pronoia, defining it as the opposite of paranoia: the sneaking suspicion others are conspiring to help you, and used the Zippy Pronoia Tour to promote the pronoia outlook to the United States.
My initial awareness of pronoia began when I discovered the book Pronoia is the Antidote to Paranoia: How the Whole World is Conspiring to Help You, by Rob Brezsny. Part of my attraction to this curious meme is the friendly and light way that Rob Brezsny has approached it. It’s also exciting because there hasn’t really been any extensive exploration into what pronoia truly means, so I’m intrigued to see where my personal connection with the term will lead me. The pronoia section of this journal will offer my unique relationship with pronoia as I journey through the pages Rob Brezsny has awarded us.
So far, my own attempt at a definition for pronoia includes (but is not yet limited to): Accepting the universe without fear and taking on the world with passion, uncertainty, and curiosity. As I explore the book and as my own perceptions of this exciting concept evolve, I invite you to play along and find meaning in your own way.
To set our adventure in motion, I’ll leave you with the following mediation from Rob Brezsny. If you’d like to investigate more on your own you can also check out his website http://www.beautyandtruth.com/.
Try this mediation:
Imagine that you are both the wood and the fire that consumes the wood. When you focus your awareness on the part of you that is the wood, you hurt; it’s painful to feel your sense of solidarity disintegrating. But as you shift your attention to the part of you that is the fire, you exult in the wild joy of liberation and power.
It may be tempting to visualize yourself more as the fire than the wood. But if you’d like understand pronoia in its fullness, you’ve got to be both wood and fire simultaneously.
enjoy it*
Monday, March 1, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Passion, Pronoia, and the Pursuit of Etcetera
I’ve always admired people who appeared to magically identify their exact objective in life. People who knew from the time they were in grade school that they wanted to be doctors, teachers, businessmen, or artists and basically seemed to design their lives accordingly. I’ve always yearned to have that kind of self-awareness, to have that ambition, drive, and focus to accomplish my own dreams and aspirations.
My dilemma is that while I’m certainly not lacking the passion and determination, I am most definitely struggling when it comes to focus. I don’t mean that I’m incapable of concentrating on these passions, but that I find myself passionate about so many things, that it seems I’m unable to give any of them the adequate attention they need to develop and unfold.
Even though I admire those who are able to pinpoint their specific goals and cultivate them, I’ve also similarly admired and actually related closer to people like Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson has been a personal role model (hence my play off his words “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”) because I was always in awe of his ability to juggle so many different ambitions. I mean this man was not only one of the founding fathers of our nation and its third President, but he also was a philosopher, inventor, architect, and considered the father of archeology. He was also deeply interested in horticulture, bird watching, fishing, and was a wine enthusiast. Did I mention that he spoke French, Italian, and Latin (and “dabbled” in others, including German and Arabic)?
Like Thomas Jefferson, I have my share of passions. I studied history and philosophy as an undergrad, moved to Florida to pursue a masters in cultural anthropology, only to switch to political science a semester later. Afterwards, I would love to pursue a career in secondary education teaching social studies, but eventually becoming duel certified in English, since literature and poetry are huge passions of mine. I would also love to teach a humanities elective about music, art, philosophy and religion, because I really believe that having at least a modest background in these topics greatly enhances a student’s education. I’m also about to marry a really amazing man and eventually start a family, so I’d like to be more organized at home (a huge hurdle for me!) and work on sharing the cooking responsibilities with Josh, while making delicious and healthy choices. Conversely, I’ve always had a lust for travel and other cultures, so I’m drawn to any trips or volunteer opportunities abroad, especially those regarding literacy and AIDs education, which have always been causes of mine.
I also would like to be a better artist. I used to play piano and sing, so I’m sufficient when it comes to reading music. I’ve dabbled in so many different instruments, but would love to get to the place where I could play at least a few songs so I’d feel like I accomplished something. I want to start journaling again (this is a start!), writing poetry again, and finish the book I started, as well as getting thoughts together for new ones. I used to make jewelry as a little kid and I want to start playing around with that again and making cute gifts for my friends.
This is only a sample of the various passions I feel like I’m driven to pursue, but with all of these loves, how do you develop any of them? And more importantly, how do you keep your head from spinning and avoid giving the impression (to yourself and others) of being a complete flake?
This journal is my attempt to not only celebrate my individual passions, but to document my journey nurturing my inner Thomas Jefferson. I hope that by writing this all down, it will help me stay focused on my endeavors, record any progress I make, and most importantly, help keep me accountable. I’m excited that I’ll eventually be able to look back and witness my own progress in my personal challenge to sustain my collection of interests, and basically my own pursuit of etcetera.
enjoy it*
My dilemma is that while I’m certainly not lacking the passion and determination, I am most definitely struggling when it comes to focus. I don’t mean that I’m incapable of concentrating on these passions, but that I find myself passionate about so many things, that it seems I’m unable to give any of them the adequate attention they need to develop and unfold.
Even though I admire those who are able to pinpoint their specific goals and cultivate them, I’ve also similarly admired and actually related closer to people like Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson has been a personal role model (hence my play off his words “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”) because I was always in awe of his ability to juggle so many different ambitions. I mean this man was not only one of the founding fathers of our nation and its third President, but he also was a philosopher, inventor, architect, and considered the father of archeology. He was also deeply interested in horticulture, bird watching, fishing, and was a wine enthusiast. Did I mention that he spoke French, Italian, and Latin (and “dabbled” in others, including German and Arabic)?
Like Thomas Jefferson, I have my share of passions. I studied history and philosophy as an undergrad, moved to Florida to pursue a masters in cultural anthropology, only to switch to political science a semester later. Afterwards, I would love to pursue a career in secondary education teaching social studies, but eventually becoming duel certified in English, since literature and poetry are huge passions of mine. I would also love to teach a humanities elective about music, art, philosophy and religion, because I really believe that having at least a modest background in these topics greatly enhances a student’s education. I’m also about to marry a really amazing man and eventually start a family, so I’d like to be more organized at home (a huge hurdle for me!) and work on sharing the cooking responsibilities with Josh, while making delicious and healthy choices. Conversely, I’ve always had a lust for travel and other cultures, so I’m drawn to any trips or volunteer opportunities abroad, especially those regarding literacy and AIDs education, which have always been causes of mine.
I also would like to be a better artist. I used to play piano and sing, so I’m sufficient when it comes to reading music. I’ve dabbled in so many different instruments, but would love to get to the place where I could play at least a few songs so I’d feel like I accomplished something. I want to start journaling again (this is a start!), writing poetry again, and finish the book I started, as well as getting thoughts together for new ones. I used to make jewelry as a little kid and I want to start playing around with that again and making cute gifts for my friends.
This is only a sample of the various passions I feel like I’m driven to pursue, but with all of these loves, how do you develop any of them? And more importantly, how do you keep your head from spinning and avoid giving the impression (to yourself and others) of being a complete flake?
This journal is my attempt to not only celebrate my individual passions, but to document my journey nurturing my inner Thomas Jefferson. I hope that by writing this all down, it will help me stay focused on my endeavors, record any progress I make, and most importantly, help keep me accountable. I’m excited that I’ll eventually be able to look back and witness my own progress in my personal challenge to sustain my collection of interests, and basically my own pursuit of etcetera.
enjoy it*
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