I opened up a magazine today and saw an add for the Blackberry mobile device. This is what the text was:"When ASAP Isn't ASAP Enough"
Yesterday I bitched and moaned about my station in life, saying I wanted Pam Anderson's pussy and showed honest pictures of what the woman named "Madonna" really looks like and Eva whatever...as you can see, the road to Buddha-like enlightenment is a tough one.
The people who make Blackberry aren't helping the matter.
What Blackberry is saying with this ad is it's okay to be impatient and pissy when you don't get what you want. They support this by saying (with this ad) "When you just can't wait ONE MORE SECOND for someone to respond, buying out product will help little old impatient you get what you want RIGHT AWAY."
ASAP means, obviously, As Soon As Possible. But did you know this little ditty originated from during WWII as a way for soldiers to shorten communication? The military.
A friend of mine who used to work for a big, big corporate company told me that whenever anyone would ask a question (meaning, they needed clarification on something), people would always answer with one very firm, clipped and resounding word: "CORRECT."
Very loud. Very direct. Very firm.
CORRECT.
That's fucked up. It's like a military state.
But the funny part is if you were to tell those people who work in that company how fucked up it is to communicate like they're on a battlefield, they'd treat you like a moron, because in their warped, high-speed viewpoint, you are. You don't 'get it'.
Modern life is now akin to working in a battlefield. I need it NOW. I need it NOW. I need it NOW.
Fuck.
It's like the Crackberry ad - ASAP means As Soon As Humanly Possible. But that's not fast enough for some people. If as soon as possible is as soon as possible, how much fucking faster is someone expected to answer someone if they are doing it as soon as possible?
To illustrate my point, I am going to enter the mind of my neighbor. No, this isn't like that boring moving Inception (Jesus, I thought that ego-filled movie would never end)...
I'm going to enter the mind of my neighbor, a sweet gal across the street with two kids, a husband and a very busy career life...I'm going to enter her mind and show you want she thinks the second she wakes up.
Ready?
Here we go...
ALARM GOES OFF
"Oh my God. I don't want to get out of bed. I'm so tired. Did I drink caffeine last night? No, I drank wine. That sleeping pill makes me tired. Christ, my back hurts. Fucking Pilates. I thought exercise was suppose to make me feel better. Just makes me feel like shit. George and his goddamn snoring kept me awake again. When is he going to use the apnea snoring machine the doctor gave him? If he just went with me to the gym he'd lose his weight. He'll never lose weight. I married a fat man. This is great. I love him but he's fat. Why won't he lose weight? What am I doing with my life? He can't sleep, he snores, he says his body hurts but he won't do anything about it. I don't want to get out of bed. Are the girls up? I hear something downstairs. I've got that fucking meeting with Melinda today. Fucking Melinda. She is so mean. Why is she so mean? I don't want to get out of bed. What's the point? What am I doing with my life. Oh, I hear the girls on the stairs. They're coming up now. I have to get up. I have to make them breakfast, open up the new coffee, make sure the gardener doesn't steal my petty cash in the closet, take out the trash, get the candles at the mall for Mom and make sure we have the money sent to the hunting lodge for weekend. What else, what else, what else?"
And this in the first 30 seconds of her Wednesday.
It's no wonder so many of us are trying to reach a bar we can never reach...it's because we are so GODDAMN BUSY and THINKING ALL THE TIME we never allow ourselves to...
I was reading this magazine the other day. It's called "Shambhala Sun". Fuck if I know what it means but the issue was about meditation.
Most people I know laugh at the idea. They find it silly and stupid and easy to make fun of. Well, they're dumb.
We are all running around, making sure we eat the right food, do the right exercise, read the right books and see the right movies and art...but we don't go WITHIN. The answers truly are within. I know, this truth is a pain in the fucking ass, but it's the truth.
Problem is our society does NOT support this thinking and does NOT support a life of slowing down...seeing reality for what it is...taking stock of the reality of our lives...and then changing our lives if we don't like what we see.
From the magazine:
"[During the act of daily meditation] let us being by asking ourselves, 'What do I really want out of life? Am I content to just keep improvising from day to day? Am I going to ignore the vague sense of discontent that I always feel deep down when, at the same time, I am longing for well-being and fulfillment?'"
Did you really read that? I swear, this is what most people think but never say:
"Am I going to ignore the vague sense of discontent that I always feel..."
Fuck.
See, our shortcomings are not inevitable. We don't have to put up with the setbacks that have brought us to where we are in life. We don't.
Now, the magazine went on with this, but I have to be honest, I still have not found this 'realization' yet...I'm still struggling like a fucker:
"From a Buddhist point of view, the traditional texts say every being has the potential for enlightenment...despite this, we wander about in confusion like a beggar who is simultaneously rich and poor because he doesn't know he has a treasure buried under the floor of his hut."
Okay, as I was typing this I got a phone call. There was this young girl I met at the local Starbucks near where I work. She had a kind and sweet face. But there was something lurking under the surface I couldn't put my finger on.
I told her to call me if she wanted to talk. She just called to tell me she needs a job to pay for her outstanding balance for her nursing degree. Seems she had a mom who was beating up on her and she had to move out to escape the abuse. She's got herself a nice apartment share with two other girls and came to me asking if I could show her resume around.
Oh, and she's 18.
18 years old and she's got one year of nursing under her belt AND dealing with the fact she was abused for years and is trying to make something of herself.
See, now, there you go. If I hadn't taken the time to stop and talk to her and get to know her she never would have called and I never would have had the chance to help her out.
If I was busy on my fucking Blackberry writing to people about this deal or that deal or about how to make money from this person or or or...
Slow down. Breath. See what is in front of you.
Today, I found one coin in my stash of gold. And yea, it was right under my feet.
Buddha's Bitch over and out...
The people who make Blackberry aren't helping the matter.
What Blackberry is saying with this ad is it's okay to be impatient and pissy when you don't get what you want. They support this by saying (with this ad) "When you just can't wait ONE MORE SECOND for someone to respond, buying out product will help little old impatient you get what you want RIGHT AWAY."
ASAP means, obviously, As Soon As Possible. But did you know this little ditty originated from during WWII as a way for soldiers to shorten communication? The military.
A friend of mine who used to work for a big, big corporate company told me that whenever anyone would ask a question (meaning, they needed clarification on something), people would always answer with one very firm, clipped and resounding word: "CORRECT."
Very loud. Very direct. Very firm.
CORRECT.
That's fucked up. It's like a military state.
But the funny part is if you were to tell those people who work in that company how fucked up it is to communicate like they're on a battlefield, they'd treat you like a moron, because in their warped, high-speed viewpoint, you are. You don't 'get it'.
Modern life is now akin to working in a battlefield. I need it NOW. I need it NOW. I need it NOW.
Fuck.
It's like the Crackberry ad - ASAP means As Soon As Humanly Possible. But that's not fast enough for some people. If as soon as possible is as soon as possible, how much fucking faster is someone expected to answer someone if they are doing it as soon as possible?
To illustrate my point, I am going to enter the mind of my neighbor. No, this isn't like that boring moving Inception (Jesus, I thought that ego-filled movie would never end)...
I'm going to enter the mind of my neighbor, a sweet gal across the street with two kids, a husband and a very busy career life...I'm going to enter her mind and show you want she thinks the second she wakes up.
Ready?
Here we go...
ALARM GOES OFF
"Oh my God. I don't want to get out of bed. I'm so tired. Did I drink caffeine last night? No, I drank wine. That sleeping pill makes me tired. Christ, my back hurts. Fucking Pilates. I thought exercise was suppose to make me feel better. Just makes me feel like shit. George and his goddamn snoring kept me awake again. When is he going to use the apnea snoring machine the doctor gave him? If he just went with me to the gym he'd lose his weight. He'll never lose weight. I married a fat man. This is great. I love him but he's fat. Why won't he lose weight? What am I doing with my life? He can't sleep, he snores, he says his body hurts but he won't do anything about it. I don't want to get out of bed. Are the girls up? I hear something downstairs. I've got that fucking meeting with Melinda today. Fucking Melinda. She is so mean. Why is she so mean? I don't want to get out of bed. What's the point? What am I doing with my life. Oh, I hear the girls on the stairs. They're coming up now. I have to get up. I have to make them breakfast, open up the new coffee, make sure the gardener doesn't steal my petty cash in the closet, take out the trash, get the candles at the mall for Mom and make sure we have the money sent to the hunting lodge for weekend. What else, what else, what else?"
And this in the first 30 seconds of her Wednesday.It's no wonder so many of us are trying to reach a bar we can never reach...it's because we are so GODDAMN BUSY and THINKING ALL THE TIME we never allow ourselves to...
I was reading this magazine the other day. It's called "Shambhala Sun". Fuck if I know what it means but the issue was about meditation.Most people I know laugh at the idea. They find it silly and stupid and easy to make fun of. Well, they're dumb.
We are all running around, making sure we eat the right food, do the right exercise, read the right books and see the right movies and art...but we don't go WITHIN. The answers truly are within. I know, this truth is a pain in the fucking ass, but it's the truth.
Problem is our society does NOT support this thinking and does NOT support a life of slowing down...seeing reality for what it is...taking stock of the reality of our lives...and then changing our lives if we don't like what we see.
From the magazine:
"[During the act of daily meditation] let us being by asking ourselves, 'What do I really want out of life? Am I content to just keep improvising from day to day? Am I going to ignore the vague sense of discontent that I always feel deep down when, at the same time, I am longing for well-being and fulfillment?'"
Did you really read that? I swear, this is what most people think but never say:
"Am I going to ignore the vague sense of discontent that I always feel..."
Fuck.
See, our shortcomings are not inevitable. We don't have to put up with the setbacks that have brought us to where we are in life. We don't.
Now, the magazine went on with this, but I have to be honest, I still have not found this 'realization' yet...I'm still struggling like a fucker:
"From a Buddhist point of view, the traditional texts say every being has the potential for enlightenment...despite this, we wander about in confusion like a beggar who is simultaneously rich and poor because he doesn't know he has a treasure buried under the floor of his hut."
Okay, as I was typing this I got a phone call. There was this young girl I met at the local Starbucks near where I work. She had a kind and sweet face. But there was something lurking under the surface I couldn't put my finger on.
I told her to call me if she wanted to talk. She just called to tell me she needs a job to pay for her outstanding balance for her nursing degree. Seems she had a mom who was beating up on her and she had to move out to escape the abuse. She's got herself a nice apartment share with two other girls and came to me asking if I could show her resume around.
Oh, and she's 18.
18 years old and she's got one year of nursing under her belt AND dealing with the fact she was abused for years and is trying to make something of herself.
See, now, there you go. If I hadn't taken the time to stop and talk to her and get to know her she never would have called and I never would have had the chance to help her out.
If I was busy on my fucking Blackberry writing to people about this deal or that deal or about how to make money from this person or or or...
Slow down. Breath. See what is in front of you.
Today, I found one coin in my stash of gold. And yea, it was right under my feet.
Buddha's Bitch over and out...
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