Observing events as they have unfolded over the past few years has been fascinating, in a sick ‘can't look away from the train wreck’ sort of way. This is especially true if one has kept their eye on the news as reported by Zero Hedge. How strange and yet apropos that we would find Cognitive Dissonance there of all places. If you think it has been interesting for you to watch, take a few minutes to step into my world and peer at things through my lens.
Five years ago I was a staunch Republican who belonged to not one, but two country clubs. We preferred the term neo-conservative as opposed to neo-con. This was similar to calling my vehicle a Mercedes. Only those who don't own one call it a Benz. I discovered Cognitive Dissonance in 2009 on the way to the premature autopsy for my investment portfolio. As I repeatedly told Cog later I was just looking for better charts.
It took a bit more than a full year for me to realize not only was I not the smartest one in the room, but that I knew absolutely nothing about anything. The Big Lie was unveiled in all its glory. Unplug me from the Matrix stat!
At some point I hijacked the email address Cognitive Dissonance had kindly given someone else in the Zero Hedge threads. "Excuse me, but WTF do you mean that I should look within?" I demanded. And my favorite Cogism, "To find the others I must look within? Really?" Bullshit! This guy seemed to have the answers and he was clearly toying with me. (Of course now I know he is a master at not answering the actual question, but I can anticipate his workarounds and usually get a reasonable response lol.)
Cog now says that for a while he was fairly certain I was an operative for the NSA or some other three letter agency. No innocent could have possibly arrived out of the blue and orchestrate such a successful distraction as I did when I crashed into his life. Just look at his lack of publishing in 2012 for proof. In hindsight the idea of two alpha personalities from distinctly different worlds and different generations, who each thought the other was messing with them, getting together and deciding to create a different reality is nothing short of a miracle.
The term “Two Ice Floes” was coined during our first year together. I refer to that period of time as my reversion to a three year old when I basically responded to everything he said with "Why? But why?" At some point he finally thought to explain to me that we live on two ice floes. One is what I always thought the real world was and the other my inner Self, my knowing, my enduring consciousness. We cannot escape the ‘control system’, unplug from the Matrix and move to Zion nor retire to the carefully hidden Galt's Gulch. We do not have passport and passage to a break-away society, a ‘New World’ to travel to, so like it or not Earth it is.
It appears we have come full circle. If we are stuck on this mud-ball and are looking within, so be it. Our discussion has evolved into a working conversation on how to navigate life on both ice floes while we grow and even thrive. If you think it is interesting watching Cog and me do this, you should try being in our chairs looking out at all of you.
If Cog and I had withdrawn to our mountain existence, put our noses to the grindstone and focused full time on our new lifestyle, we could have ‘questioned everything’ in a fish bowl. Isolated and brimming with theories and ideas, it was most tempting to become watchers and enjoy the illusion of security as our self imposed sequestration ‘made us’ feel less vulnerable to the changes at hand. We humans are all connected on some basic level and we are becoming well aware of the false illusion that we are not.
Speaking only for myself I think we human beings have never stopped being connected to each other on an energy/information/consciousness level, but perhaps most of us fail to understand how to tap into that connection. Just because we have faulty programming does not mean the underlying operating system has been corrupted. Chances are if you have found your way to the Two Ice Floes community, you have your own working theory on how we might go about rebooting and reestablishing a stronger signal.
If indeed our perception creates our reality and we can make choices about who and what ideas we perceive, then we are already effecting others and are playing a part in co-creating what is happening to each other. This is the empowerment we are able to recognize within ourselves and encourage in each another.
This also means that what I once perceived as the characteristic people valued the most, 'to matter’, actually does. It validates every kind word or smile we share during our day. Be careful here because if one is so inspired, we may find ourselves performing random acts of kindness ‘on accident’. Further, we might feel compelled to share personal information and thoughts from our glowy ice floe, not the one with numbers and data.
There are 7.2 billion different human realities playing out on planet Earth. We humans have been shuttled into thinking and acting from our group-think notions perpetuated and policed by the herd. That we are reluctant to share the unique perspectives of our own individual realities is not surprising. I would venture further that those who fancy themselves in ‘control’ of our behavior are depending on us to act accordingly. To withdraw from this we simply begin by sharing and co-creating a different reality.
I am realizing it doesn't matter so much if you and I don't perceive the same way, only that we learn from each other's perceptions. What is most important for you to express is in part fulfilled the moment you show me and I see you whether I agree or not. It is the open acceptance of us having this platform that I think repairs our faulty connections. We can actually help one another to grow.
While the Two Ice Floes website may not be the solution itself, it is a place we can conduct what Cog calls ‘practice’. What better way to drill ourselves on creating reality, exercising empathy and acting with compassion than in a venue where others largely seek to do the same?
I say this to Cog frequently and I will say the same to you, the reader, now. We will never know how many lives we affect by the choices we make each day. A ripple in the water can cause waves on a far shore and our thinking self may never perceive the ripple. But our inner Self knows.
Some random thought you contribute to a forum or thread, or perhaps a "Your Turn" essay on Two Ice Floes, will enable you to direct your energy in a positive manner. The herd, or popular group-think, has us fearful to share based upon obvious programming that our every expressed thought will be judged, liked or junked by others. It is, after all, a Facebook world…right? Please note the absence of up/like and down/dislike choices on Two Ice Floes.
What I will share is that a month after launching our website there are many thousands of nonmembers from all over the world who repeatedly visit and read the articles and member conversations in the forums. I have to imagine that these readers are from all cultures and walks of life, and yet they return to read what we are discussing because it somehow makes a difference to them. We are impacting the perceived realities of people we will never talk to like those ripples in the water.
By putting aside our many differences and experiences and simply talking to each other, we are fashioning something so much better than before we created this conversation. Regardless of the view of your life's two ice floes, you can indeed find inspiration where ever you look if you are so inclined to do so.
03-23-2014
Mrs. Cog
Thank You!
I have been following various sites such as Zero Hedge for 5 years.I have never posted anything as I have a problem putting my thoughts on paper.What you guys think/write clearly articulates what is rattling around in my head.I don’t seem to feel as alone as I some times do when I’m with or taking to “normal people”.I probably will not be posting again as writing is a painfully thing for me.Its taken me 15 minutes just to write what I just did LOL.The only reason I paid to subscribe to Two Ice Floes is because what and how you guys write is worth supporting.Got to go.Have to get back to collecting beans bullets and band aids.Silver back to under 20 might need to get more of that also.
Thanks Bill B 1212
@Bill B – A heartfelt thank you from both Cog and I for your support and kind words. None of us here are really alone now, we have just changed our reality. :-) Whether you are able to share comments and replies or not, you being here in spirit is much appreciated.
Can I relate! I have written more on this site in a few days than I have all my life ever! Will not think how much time it has taken! still nothing comes out like I think…my words and thoughts are based on hundreds of volumes context…and without that background, no one will get the true point I’m making. Have decided to say a few things anyway…everybody is free to do what they will with them…I’m getting older and my skin is thicker and since I’m not going to get to go Face-to-Face with you guys…this will have to do. Sometimes I hope silver will stay down a while longer, can only add a little at a time myself.
NWT mint is slow as hell delivering but has some pretty cool “silver Bullets” “https://store.nwtmint.com/Silver_Bullet_Bullion_/”> If you do post again, please understand that I understand.:-)
That was an interesting read, bravely written. Thank you for sharing, I know it is not always easy to do.
I’m noodling over a nonfiction essay on reality. It draws from the themes in my novel wherein I also explore the topic, though in subtle ways. Reality is a tricky business deserving of honest attention. For example: I’ve started enumerating the real things in my daily life, deliberating calling them out when I see them. So far, nothing. Not a single reality intrudes. I’m reasonably certain I am not alone in this respect, though I am probably nearly alone in noticing.
If the essay happens I’ll send it your way, see then if it resonates at all. Until then let me know if anything real taps you on the shoulder, I am at risk of giving up on the ellusive thing.
Thank you cougar_w, I appreciate the encouragement.
Yes, do let me know if you come upon reality (or put it to pen.) I look around me and all I see is Cognitive Dissonance lol.
@cougar_w
Not sure what you mean, “Not a single reality intrudes” intrudes into what? Your Life? Your Reality?
The only reality I know is my own…I know what chocolate taste like to me…but have no clue what you taste.
I really liked the “there are 7.2 billion different human realities”
Where our reality “overlaps?” with somebody else’s reality, we have……what occurring? A new reality that only exists in the common ground that those two share?
When I look at the mountains…I only “see” what my brain tells me I see…Are the mountains I see with my eyes closed any less “Real” in my “Reality” Do I have an “Eyes-opened-Reality” as well as an “Eyes-closed-Reality”
How many realities can coexist…one?…infinite?…42?LOL
you figure this s**t out and I will pay you good money to tell me!
But in my reality answers only conceal truth… God I’m confused! LOL!
@dynosaur
You said….
Thus the reason we have snake oil salesmen and women. I don’t need to figure s**t. I just need to convince you I have, then convince you to pay me good money.
I’ll take it in Silver please. :-)
Cognitive Dissonance
@cog
Very valid point…zoomed right in on that!…you would not happen to have a background in say…sales or maybe finance? Possible personal experience in “being ripped-off”?
I did briefly regress to asking for an answer, But I recovered…Read the last line. “But in my reality answers only conceal truth”
I participated back in the 80’s in “Werner Erhard”‘s Forum & 6 day courses {sorry, have not figured out how to do links & quotes yet, I am the “dynosaur” after all} but you can check them out with a little work. A real Renaissance-kind-of-guy in his day.
Anyway, the first thing he taught me was, “Answers Conceal”. Answer: The earth is flat! Conceals: That it is NOT! When a group of people that are in charge…say in academia circles…have answers…it shuts down anybody that happens to function in the-out-of-the-box realm of that particular subject. Really jams up progress and shuts down “possibility” (also great aid to herding sheepeople)
Ssoooo….I’m not in the market for answers…BUT!…I am in the market for an ongoing process…that could lead me to an insight…that produces an epiphany…that leads me to be able to “slip into” another “State of Being”!!
The second thing I learned…forgot…remembered…forgot…remembered is: THERE ARE NO PROBLEMS, ONLY POSSIBILITIES! (read that over to yourself several times with eyes closed)
I think that it is possible that this is the place!
I am very grateful that you “let-me-in” for some “digital fiat”! but if I acquire said “Epiphany” while being in your Asylum, I will gladly share some of my silver! {I don’t think I’ll be needing as much} :-)
@dynosaur
What a great comment… that squeak, squeak, squeak you hear? Those are the squirrels running on the wheels in my brain, kicked into overdrive. I started to reply to you and realized it is an article in length. I will try to get it up in the next few days, in between the sunshine and garden work. Thanks for the inspiration!
@Mrs Cog
You are not alone in your “squeaking” :-)
I woke this am, 2 hours before the alarm thinking about “reality”! A couple more thoughts to share while you “make Vitamin D & get your hands dirty”.
is it 7.2 billion realities co-creating a “Composite Reality”?
or
is it 7.2 billion “perceptions” of a “Single Reality”?
Is each dimension limited to a single reality?
or
Each reality limited to a single dimension?
Since nothing is “Static” in our Known Universe, how do the “Feedback Loops” operate?
Do we create or are we created? or Joint Venture?
Does Cog know goats eat Kudzu? {it was starting to get pretty “heavy” there for a moment!} :-)
@dynosaur
Too funny. Um, ixnay on the oatgays. My best friend raises goats and has been gently trying to encourage us, ok… maybe threatening to ship us or bring us some goats. Cog has put down his foot and instituted a temporary goat moratorium. Since he has declared that, we see and hear about goats everywhere we go. It really is quite funny. You’d think the pro-goat agenda was cahooting…
Note to self: Research “Freudian Goat Denial”
I too have never written anything more than a two sentence comment of support to the likes of CD on Zero Hedge and a few other excellent sites. My submission to Introductions and my submission today to Members Forums are a first. I have no intention to explain myself to anyone or convince them of anything and am even less interested in having someone try to convince me of anything, hence, very much a loner. What I found here is a place where wonderful thoughts are shared, where you can learn, if you want to. Thank you Cog’s.
Welcome Bill B 1212;
After the first 10 or 12 embarrassments of comments, it gets easier, because of the generosity of spirit of the more established commentators who have also felt the same way you do now. The fear of rejection is a basic fear of everyone, with the possible exception of seasoned TIF members, so take full advantage of this perhaps unique opportunity in today’s world, and congratulations on your decision to simultaneously support the cogs and yourself, both equally deserving – and enriching us all along the way. I look forward to your participation.
Glynn