My fellow humans,
Well... between a very touching private letter from John Beasley, his post -
which is a generally accurate assessment of how I have characterized this
month's topic to my own life, and an absolutely hilarious post from Diana -
I'm feeling quite welcome.
I'd like to mention a few things here for clarification.
1. I had no intent on imposing myself, through my original post, as the
centerpiece of our dialogue. So, unless the group finds it useful to use me
as a case study, please do not feel obligated to respond directly to my
personal concerns.
2. Having said that, if the group does choose to utilize my life circumstance
as a medium for discussion, I presume that you'll need more info. Some of the
details of my life in general have been sent to Diana for the 'biography'
section of the MOQ website. I won't go in to those details here, but I do
think that if the group chooses to use me as a case study for this topic,
everyone should be allowed to explore my history. I will do my level best to
honestly outline any subject matter the group deems important to the
discussion. I'll also do my best to avoid the temptation to make the whole
dialogue entirely self serving.
3. I am reminded of a philosophy professor at the University of Kansas who,
sitting glibly on the corner of his desk one day, pronounced that he'd once
been like many of us - pondering the mysteries of existence - but that now he
enjoyed mowing the lawn and drinking iced tea. He said those questions turned
into quagmires and that he'd decided to move back into the real world. Having
done that, he said he was infinitely happier and better adjusted to boot.
I resented him deeply at the time for making the suggestion that reflecting
on the Great Mystery was a waste of time - or worse - led to dementia. But,
if as John suggests, MOQ really has nothing to offer a person like me who is
struggling for a meaningful balance in life, then maybe that old fart was
more correct that I've ever wanted to admit. I continue to believe that a
philosophy about quality must address the quality of life. In light of the
changes taking place in the world at the turn of the millennia, it seems all
the more important.
4. Diana's input made me laugh - that was a genuine Dynamic Quality event.
Thanks for that, Diana. Nonetheless, I must point out that my original post
asked how one can simultaneously maintain a life of responsible citizenship
and a remain engaged in the enterprise of really living? We should probably
further define what all that means, giving up on all my 'shoulds' is
obviously not an adequate solution.
Ultimately, the question I have raised is very much about not
intellectualizing on some hypothetical ideal state of existence, but
grounding the MOQ into normal everyday life. And not just my life but yours
as well. After all, I presume we all have commitments that are, on some
level, at odds with our own personal vision for what we'd like our life to
be. Yet it's those commitments that ultimately create the fabric of society
itself. I doubt anyone would seriously suggest that family or society could
exist in the absence of those commitments.
Now, I'm ready to listen...
Rocky
MOQ.org - http://www.moq.org
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Thu Jan 17 2002 - 13:08:48 GMT