September Songs was a month-long music blog. I wrote about the songs and performers who meant the most to me. Some may find it a little tweedy (heck, some people find
me a little tweedy!), but there were lots and lots of cool videos and maybe some interesting little things to read.
50 Words, 210 People was a nifty writing experiment, now completed, in which I wrote exactly fifty words a day about 210 different people who had touched my life in some way.
If so, please join
Facebook's BlogNetworks, and tell everyone you read
Notes from the Dreamtime! Just click on the little "Join BlogNetworks" link and you'll be added as a
Dreamtime "fan," then please give us as many stars as you think we deserve.
It's The Inclusive Bible: The First Egalitarian Translation, my single-volume non-sexist translation of the Bible with a new scholarly commentary, has been published by Sheed & Ward and is now available from Amazon.com.
It is a completely new translation of the Bible from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and koiné Greek into richly poetic, non-sexist, and non-classist modern English.
Or click here to download a sample.
Folks, I'm pleased to announce that
Notes from the Dreamtime has been accepted as one of the blogs on
Shaman Portal! They have a lot of nice features, including international news about shamans and shamanism,
articles,
videos, and a
Talking Stick Forum. Please check them out!
I have to believe in myself first? I am sunk.
Precisely my reaction.
I would say rather that when we believe in ourselves, these things cease to seem risky.
Risk is a function of uncertainty. If you are sure of the outcome, there is no perception of risk. There’s also no adrenaline rush when you finally get up the courage to go for it, so weigh the potential consequences of self-confidence carefully.
Oh, good. So now I can actually justify not believing in myself. It’s dangerous and makes things that would be fun and adventurous less fun and commonplace.
That sure was helpful.
Thanks.
I think it’s like Simone Weil’s distinction between good and evil, if we substitute “self-belief” for “good”: “Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring. Imaginary good is boring; real good is always new, marvelous, intoxicating.”
Funny you should put it that way. I was thinking about this today. I had not the proper words to describe the difference though I knew what the difference was.
I think evil is gloomy and monotonous because it does not exist except as an absence. Good exists and the absence of it is selfishness. Extreme selfishness is evil. Evil exists no more than darkness. We do not make a room dark by turning on more darkness, but by decreasing the light.
Lack of belief is not tangible. Believing in oneself is. I know when I do. I feel the void when I do not. It is the same when I believe in others.
If not believing in oneself (or others) is experienced as a void, wouldn’t that argue for self-belief being one’s natural state? We feel normal when we have it; we feel empty when we don’t.
Why, I wonder, do we not believe in ourselves? What makes that happen? Do we start listening to the dis-couraging words of others? Whence did this internal script of naysaying originate? When did we start saying “I can’t” or “I’m not good enough”?
When? When others told us that. Some never have the chance to believe in themselves, being programmed that they’re not good enough from before they can speak. Others of us work through that, and figure out being “worthy” or “good enough” doesn’t mean being perfect, far from it. (Thankfully!) I love that quote.