bloomer
A place for optimism, relentless positivity, anti-doomerism, and snuggle sessions.
We're all in this together, and a better world is possible!
This is now also a space for organizing tips for our collective survival as we confront climate change and everything else. Still no doom-posting. We're here to work together, support each other, and boldly face the future.
Rules:
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Familiarize yourself with the site-wide Code of Conduct
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No doom, no gloom, only bloom. There's plenty of room for doomerism elsewhere. This community is solely for having a positive outlook on the future and spreading good vibes.
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Be kind to your fellow users. This also means no arguing in the comm. Arguments and negativity are not conducive to blooming. Constructive discussion is good. No interest-policing. Support your comrades in their joy!
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Always share good news. We can't exactly enforce this one, but if you have good news, please share it with us! Keeping happiness and positivity to yourself is the twelfth type of liberalism.
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Please share more on this Daoist line. I could use more bloomer training. It's too easy to spiral into misanthropy from seeing other humans.
Despair is a presupposition about the future colliding with an incomplete remembrance of the past. Both are immaterial since we cannot affect them Now and Here. All that came before is immutable, and all that comes after is chaos. Action follows from stillness, and stillness can only be achieved Now and Here.
Practice stillness, spontaneity, naturalness. Practice observation without prejudice, without self. The purpose of a system is what it does, the nature of a thing is what it is. Gravity has no will, it simply is. The You who is you traces a path in spacetime no more privileged than any other.
Cultivate humility and flexibility in the face of changing circumstances. Avoid consuming desire. Be skilled, helpful, nurturing. Learn when to yield, learn when to be still. Avoid striving. Do not attempt to force an outcome, practice cultivating circumstances so things unfold harmoniously. Be irreverent; titles, status, and ambition (and the respect for those) are antagonistic to simplicity.
Celebrate the good of others, treat others with dignity and kindness, do not succumb to vengefulness when harm is done to you.
Ursula LeGuin's translation of Laozi is quite approachable and has some light commentary. It's a pretty quick read.
There are similarities between Buddhist and Daoist philosophy, I have studied buddhist meditation and philosophy for years and it has helped that sort of thing for me immensely. In particular what is called 'metta' meditation, or loving-kindness. You practice cultivating the feeling of love/compassion, it took time to see the results but it has been rewarding. Mostly the reframing of 'self' and what it means to be a self, has sort of changed my mind over the years, in addition to some psychedelic experiences. I feel real love for all people, even the chuds and people who would kill me if given the chance, because we are all conditioned by our circumstances and can only do what we have been trained to. Like I'm not mad at a dog for being aggressive, I don't get mad at people for it. We can fight against the reactionary capitalist forces without feeling the pain of hatred. I still have plenty of negative emotions and anxiety but it's become much easier to deal with it.
I feel positive for the future because I know that there are millions of other people who share this love and kindness for all people, it's just a matter of linking up and discovering the strategies to fight back together. I have never in my life seen so many open calls for revolution and growing class consciousness as I have the last couple months.