This is why we can't have nice things...
I had a few chances to sober up before I actually did. It is a fact that I chose not to take them, but was I actually capable of making a sane choice at the time? I remember very clearly the kind people who tried to help me, but I seemed to be in a delusional state, a state of denial, even a psychotic state, where I could not see what they were talking about.
I knew I had some problems, I hoped to find a solution, but I could not see what everyone else could see, that booze was at the bottom of it. I had completely lost touch with reality.
In that mental state, unable to see all the pros and cons, rational choice was not possible, though apparent choice was.
I had lost the power of choice in drink as the book says. And nowhere in the book does it say I will get it back. And I never have. Instead I have been placed in a position of neutrality, where that choice just never comes up.
Defining choice in this context is not that straight forward. I think of choice as being able to chose "a" one day and "b" the next,without adverse consequence, I could chose to change my mind. Free choice may be a better fit. But a choice between two options where one outcome is likely to be death or insanity, is not what I would call a free choice.
Cake or death? Which is the sane choice?
I knew I had some problems, I hoped to find a solution, but I could not see what everyone else could see, that booze was at the bottom of it. I had completely lost touch with reality.
In that mental state, unable to see all the pros and cons, rational choice was not possible, though apparent choice was.
I had lost the power of choice in drink as the book says. And nowhere in the book does it say I will get it back. And I never have. Instead I have been placed in a position of neutrality, where that choice just never comes up.
Defining choice in this context is not that straight forward. I think of choice as being able to chose "a" one day and "b" the next,without adverse consequence, I could chose to change my mind. Free choice may be a better fit. But a choice between two options where one outcome is likely to be death or insanity, is not what I would call a free choice.
Cake or death? Which is the sane choice?
EndGame
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 4,677
I can't tell if you're frustrated or simply curious.
The title of my OP only occurred to me when I wrote it. It only has meaning to the extent that it has meaning for you, if at all.
Only in retrospect, I suppose that one of the things that inspired it is the never-ending debate around what treatment for addictions consists of, or should consist of. My own tendency is that the whole person needs to be addressed in all his or her being, and not be "treated."
Existentialism, for me, is not simply a philosophy or a fundamental element of how I practice psychotherapy -- the search for meaning -- but an orientation that informs what I do and how I live my life, and which also reveals what I am becoming. Beyond treatable medical conditions or diseases, living life is not a disease and therefore does not require "treatment." Recovering from addictions for me is nothing if not building a better life with all the challenges and obstacles, the heartbreak pain and suffering, the success and failure that come and go as a result of existence itself.
If Utopia includes eradicating suffering, then sacrificing our humanity is too heavy a price to pay. ("Utopia" referring to the two original Greek words for 'Utopia', one of which means "the good place," the other, "the place that cannot be.")
Just sayin'.
The title of my OP only occurred to me when I wrote it. It only has meaning to the extent that it has meaning for you, if at all.
EndGame, with all due respect, it's meaningless without a stated interpretation. If someone finds meaning "in" it, and it's not what you intended, then I would suggest that it's just a projection. Isn't the point of using words to share meaning?
I have noticed a recent tendency, (not with you particularly, but with several other SR members) to use lots of obscure language in posts. It seems like these individuals believe it somehow makes them look good. I've stopped trying to unravel the obscurity. My time is better spent. I'm far more impressed with quality of an idea, and then the more so when it's well expressed.
Frankly, the title of this thread seemed a little out of character for you. No big deal.
EndGame, with all due respect, it's meaningless without a stated interpretation. If someone finds meaning "in" it, and it's not what you intended, then I would suggest that it's just a projection. Isn't the point of using words to share meaning?
I have noticed a recent tendency, (not with you particularly, but with several other SR members) to use lots of obscure language in posts. It seems like these individuals believe it somehow makes them look good. I've stopped trying to unravel the obscurity. My time is better spent. I'm far more impressed with quality of an idea, and then the more so when it's well expressed.
Frankly, the title of this thread seemed a little out of character for you. No big deal.
Verte, Fluffer,
i'm not getting a Zen certificate either.
it's okay.
i have a couple of nice things.
you can have a few, too.
not too many.
i simply couldn't understand how the title relates to the rest of the post. still can't get it. i mostly just assume i'm too dense and that there are allusions, tie-ins, references that i'm not cluing in to.
and no, i'm not being facetious. but just to repeat: you can have nice things. buy yourself a $4 bunch of tulips and appreciate them. just sayin....
i'm not getting a Zen certificate either.
it's okay.
i have a couple of nice things.
you can have a few, too.
not too many.
i simply couldn't understand how the title relates to the rest of the post. still can't get it. i mostly just assume i'm too dense and that there are allusions, tie-ins, references that i'm not cluing in to.
and no, i'm not being facetious. but just to repeat: you can have nice things. buy yourself a $4 bunch of tulips and appreciate them. just sayin....
EndGame
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 4,677
Perhaps this would be a good time for me to register my dislike for certain titles? Like, "I drank last night..." Followed in the body of the post with something like "...and it was the best green tea I've ever had!" I find such bait-and-switch titles to be manipulative and sometimes disheartening, even though they're likely meant to convey humor. My third grade teacher pretended to faint, and then to be dead, on April Fools Day. Few of us thought that was funny.
Anyway, the use of metaphor also conveys meaning, often in a much more powerful way than simple descriptive or explanatory sentences do. I'm not always certain of my meaning when I write. Unless I am.
The poet says much more than he intends to say. The philosopher says exactly what he wants to say and no more.
Different strokes?
the switch-and-bait scenarios...yeah, they work on me. i feel manipulated. it's not a big deal, but a little cruel-feeling. i read the title, my heart opens, goes out there a bit and then...yeah, feels foolishly lured out there. and then wants to be a little more careful next time.
i don't want a
i don't want a
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