No post today, and possibly for the foreseeable future. I don't want to speculate about if or why I'm stopping, because I'd rather wait and find out for myself. It's not really my decision to make, anyway. I didn't ask to be a blogger, nor did I ask to stop. In both cases, I'm just going with the flow, or lack thereof.
I'll probably go back to the beginning and repost things that strike me as postworthy, which will undoubtedly be boring for long-time readers (however, this will give me a chance to edit them for the first time). As such, feel free to just use them as open threads to keep in touch with one another. I'll also continue to put my current reading in the sidebar, in case anyone's interested.
One thing I'd like to do is finally sort through the Gnowa's Arkive -- which now amounts to well over 800 posts -- and reduce it to some kind of order. If I don't do it soon, it will just get too unwieldy to ever do it. Plus, I have a limited amount of free time, and I'd like to use it to work on another project that is bubbling under or over the surface. Let's just call it Project GODISNOWHERE.
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43 comments:
good luck.
Thank you Bob for your efforts on this blog and good luck on the new project.
Bob, you have probably been asked this numerous times, and I apologize if I've overlooked something obvious on the site, but did you also archive your entire reading list somewhere? Going back a couple of years, I mean.
Thanks, Bob, for all that you've done. If you need assistance, you know where to find us.
What you write is worth re reading and is never boring for this long time reader. Thanks for being the great teacher you are.
I'm going to miss you. I'm thinking this means it's time for me to coontemplate the knosis on my ownsis for awhile. It's going to be weird. Good luck and hope to see you back soon.
From dilys.
A deep draught of immrama all round, it appears.
Good sailing, and potable froth.
I thought I felt this coming.
Well, I've got to say, OC has been the central "educating distraction" in my life for the last eight to nine months or so; and I gladly add, I'm much better off (in recovery) today than I was when I first started reading. Shakti seems to rebuild at a sluggish pace, but the reparation of the container is almost certain given enough time.
There was a time when I felt bound in a weird way to this place, but things have been changing in the last month or so. Funny how things work out. Why, I'll even admit to almost forgetting about the OC today whilst absorbed Frithjof Schuons biography (did you know that etymologically, "Frithjof" means "the one who disturbs the peace." Reminds me of "I came not to bring peace, but a sword." Shroud of Turin and Schuon, I get what you mean.). Maybe in a couple more years, after this "intrapsychic divorce" drama comes to an end, I'll be able to marry my own true to wife unconscious, beget some baby thoughts, and whose knows, maybe have a family!
Thanks BG.
Dusty S.
Athens, Ga
P.S. I look forward to OCUG sequel if it ever materializes out of the Overmind. :) I'll be on the lookout.
Ya done good, Bob. Good luck.
"Oh, ev'ry thought that's strung a knot in my mind,
I might go insane if it couldn't be sprung.
But it's not to stand naked under unknowin' eyes,
It's for myself and my friends my stories are sung.
But the time ain't tall,
Yet on time you depend and no word is possessed
By no special friend.
And though the line is cut,
It ain't quite the end,
I'll just bid farewell till we meet again." -- Dylan
The Genesis of Revelation
the earth was formless
and god said let there be light
the endless story
There are good buys (OCUG) but no goodbyes (OCUC). I for one am looking forward to spiraling back to the beginning.
Meanwhile, the best of luck with the new project, Bob, Petey, and crew...and thanks for all the fish.
Ok commenters, you're getting me depressed with your end-of-an-era thanks-for-everything goodbye tone here.
As tho Bob must continue the same-old or be dead. Loosen your grip, guys.
Bob said:
"I'll probably go back to the beginning and repost things that strike me as postworthy...(however, this will give me a chance to edit them for the first time)"
"which will undoubtedly be boring for long-time readers" NOT!
"One thing I'd like to do is finally sort through the Gnowa's Arkive -- which now amounts to well over 800 posts -- and reduce it to some kind of order."
See: distillation
# noun: the process of purifying a liquid by boiling it and condensing its vapors
# noun: a purified liquid produced by condensation from a vapor during distilling; the product of distilling
Looking forward to the re-working of OC themes.
And Project GODISNOWHERE to boot!
Go for it Bob!
I, for one, will be here.
Beaky said: me too.
Ximeze,
I'm w/ya...
But (gently spoken, and not assuming anything via my foolish blurt) where's the archive? I am taming a panic, or mistaking a cloud cover for a shooting star. Maybe it's just whiplash and if I calm myself I'll see it's not going anywhere. Hope not. :)
Elephant:
The Arkive has dissappeard in the past when Bob & others have worked on/with it, then reappeared.
When it comes back, ya can copy a bunch to have for perusal at leasure. Doing that made me feel safer & stop feaking-out when it was gone for a time.
Thank you for all the words and pointings in the right (vertical) direction.
Just about everything you've written deserves more than one reading, so going into reruns is beneficial.
We never really know what impact we've had on others and the world; I suspect you've already had a significant impact, and I also suspect that we ain't seen nothin yet.
Bob voyage, hippy trails, oaf wedersehen and the like....
Finding this blog and the book it are based on are probably the only things that could get me out of 30 years of "unbelievingingly unsoberness" and into sober believing.
Don't think you will get me of this blog now by publishing old posts! :)
Good luck with all that is or has to come!
/Johan
Would that be GOD IS NOWHERE or GOD IS NOW HERE?
Anyway - this is a good and proper time for some reflection and collation. It's really in the air, has been for some time now. Something new and sparkling gathering in the near distance and approaching, but not yet fully born, that's for sure.
A liminal time, a 3:00 AM time when too many words or too much action seems almost profane. Let whatever comes come out of the silence. Sort of a PROJECT WHISPER.
Meanwhile, thanks for the effortless efforts.
Well, all change involves grief. And I for one will miss a lot the opportunity to tune in, whenever I had the time, to find out where Bob was going to take me. It's been an adventure unlike any other, even though it's kicked into gear other, even grander things. What happens in my own mind is burdened by a sameness, and the highs leak by their very nature. But OC never failed to lift me up beyond where I was to start out. I was afraid this would happen.
The upside is that now I have some time to read Walt, Van, River and others who travel the same roads but much more deftly than I do.
For close to twenty years I had a creative burn going. I always had a project on the boards. Art was my outlet when the stress of teaching was gnawing at me like a psychic termite, and when I cracked, and lost the career the burn was my lifeline. I drew, and I carved, entered shows, and galleries, collected ribbons, and even sold a piece here and there. Then in 2003 it stopped. Cold. I remember taking a step back from the carving table, looking at a piece about 2/3 completed, and the voice just said, "It's over." But there was still enough in me to initiate, and complete the toyshelf epic, learn the requisite computer skills, and put the story on line. It was during that time that I came over here from LGF, in response to a growing hunger for matters of the spirit.
When I came here, I believed in God, I belived in an afterlife, and I believed that we were accountable in that afterlife for the things that we do while we are here. That was the skeleton of faith that has been fleshed out post by post, question by question- proceding in small steps until I am where I am today.
The jwm of twenty years ago would have scoffed, and spit at the jwm who believes in the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. The jwm of ten years ago would never have entertained the idea that Jesus really was the Christ.
The heart attack changed me in a lot of ways. Among the things it took from me was the magic of the smoke. Weed never made me lazy. Just the opposite, in fact- all my best artwork, all my best writing, and all my best posts on-line (including here) were done with a glow going. It just worked for me. Somehow, after the heart attack, that changed. It's why my participation fell off so dramatically here, and at LGF, and at my toy-geek site over the last year. In the past I could always take a break from smoking for a month or so if I started to burn too much, but in the last year it just turned into a garden variety addiction. So, like with the artwork, I reached a point where the voice just said, "You know what? It's over." Now, my head's coming out of the fog, and I can feel something- I don't know what just yet- something stirring in me again. There is work I have yet to do.
I really wish I could sit in a room with you all, brew some coffee, pass around the chocolate, and just BS until the sun comes up. Maybe someday it'll come to pass. Stranger things have happened. I don't have thanks enough for you, Bob. You started this thing going, and it has meant the world to me. No less to Ben, Van, Dilys, Will, and the rest of the Raccoon nation. You folks rock.
wv:jewlsz
Indeed.
JWM
JWM,
I liked the glow as well, but it became a serious addiction. The blog has given me the tools to say sober. I will be forever grateful for all the good things I learned here, and will continue to learn here.
“possibly for the foreseeable future”
“don't want to speculate”
“wait and find out for myself”
“not really my decision to make”
“just going with the flow”
I just wanted to hear the words again - hey, hope springs eternal.
But seriously, thanks for the fishing lessons so far.
Looking forward to what’s next.
8’)
Bob,
The air has been thick with transition the past few days.
Especially Saturday.
Pregnancy. But with what?
The Adventurers Club is formed.
The circle is tightening.
Welcome.
Hey, Bob!
800 Posts: a pretty good run!
For sure, I'll miss the daily R & R (rants and revelations) at OC!
Good luck with whatever you do! I've heard that it's pretty hard to keep a good nous down, so I'm sure you'll be fine.
Thanks again for all your attention and energy ...
As a new chapter (or book) ushers unfolds in Bob's life, I leave y'all with this promising note from Bob's life before the legendary OC.
The OC, btw, that I still plan on visiting and loitering in every chance I get.
"I never go on vacation. Once a year, I get away from it all by simply increasing my denial, splitting and projection. It's great, except that I develop this irrational fear of white European males that tends to dampen things a bit."
Posted by: Robert Godwin | August 19, 2005 at 07:50 PM
Shrinkwrapped's Blog
This blog is the bright and shining star of the blogosphere.
From seeker to cosmonaught to Bobblehead to Raccoon...the suspense is palpable.
Anticipation...
Those edited posts are goin' to be newtritious! :^)
Thanks John!
There is much work n' slack yet for you to do. :^)
"Anyway - this is a good and proper time for some reflection and collation. It's really in the air, has been for some time now. Something new and sparkling gathering in the near distance and approaching, but not yet fully born, that's for sure."
What Will said. Better than the annual clam bake, I bet!
Bob
Go back and create your book from these blogs...it's fresh and it's new and the Larger Audience is waiting for it. And I'll still check in every day because I found the vertical here and why would I just crash down to horizontal. I mean, ever again?
Thanks seem inadequate for someone that has focused my mind in ways I never even considered. I had a connection with the Holy Ghost a few years ago and since have been looking for a direction that I felt was real. I was raised in a mostly non-religious home though I did get baptized in the Baptist Church at nine. I have been rather lost since because the pre-digested pap that passes for religion in the modern world just made me feel very depressed when I went to a service. I thought there was something wrong with me and didn’t work on it much. After I had the Road to Damascus experience I started searching again, after a few years I found OC and have been so very grateful to Bob and Petey. Good bye Bob and Thanks for all the fish. Though I do hope you post every so often as the spirit moves you. I shall be reading the old posts and looking for the occasional new one.
Thanks for the great writings, Bob. What a run it has been.
Bob,
Thanks for a superb blog. Literally every post you've ever written made me stop and think, and wish that I had your skill to put complex and subtle ideas into such readable text.
Best wishes and prayers for your next project!
The Eagle
Jim,
"Thanks seem inadequate for someone that has focused my mind in ways I never even considered."
Yeah.
I am feeling quite sad today as this blog has been the center of my intellectual and spiritual life for the last year, but hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Maybe your muse is telling you to slow down so you don't hurt yourself. I for one am amazed that you could maintain that level of creativity day after day, throwing out one insight after another about politics, religion science,etc. It was a bravura performance. Very few writers can stuff so much meaning into a paragraph. Mark Steyn and Camille Paglia come to mind. Very few others. I have worked my way through most of your old posts. There is a another book or two in there and I really hope you write one. If I may be so bold, I would love to see more on the inner esoteric aspect of Christianity. I especially love it when you give a symbolic reading of the ten commandments or the nativity or the creation myth. I was raised in a mainstream Protestant church. Everything was very literal and simple-minded and boring. If they had talked about the Bible as you do I am sure I never would have left. I know there are a few such books out there but you have a real talent of communicating with baby boomer types such as myself in a language we can understand. I think such writing is desperately needed right now. But I know you will follow you muse where it leads and I wish you and your wife and son the best of blessings and thank you so much for what you have given me.
Bob,
As I sit and drink some beer coontimplating the future without your daily insights into and out
of the oneness. I am eternally grateful for the effort, or rather the slackthereof, that you put into your posts. I don't quite know how you do it, but I am truly thankful for the gnoisight.
All the best,
Jay
You guys are really bumming me out! I don't have any special inside scoop, but there are times to be productive and times to be receptive.
I agree with Bob that waiting any longer to review previous posts would make it a Herculean task (minus the horse poop.)
I'm looking forward to finding out what's next,
Love,
Mrs. G
Sorry, make that cow dung.
Mrs. G
Thanks for the reassurance, Leslie! I think we all need to perk up a little. It's just that I think some of us might be afraid we're losing a friend and we're over-coping. I had the thought today that the trend along here has been a little "drama kings and queens." :)
Deep breath, relax, enjoy the ride. Okeee.... I feel better now...
Yeah, what Elephant said.
Best wishes on your new spiritual adventure, Bob!
Aye, indeed. A lot more than you may know turned on the axis of a daily posting from nowhere to nobody, Bob.
Take that as my way of cryptically thanking you without stroking your ego.
In this era, we spend so much time reading our own stuff to see if it is good, trying to compete, even subconsciously, for attention.
But you had a little common work of your own here; it caused this man, for one, to stick his head out of his hole for a moment long enough to see past his own nose.
If I were to say a lot happened to you over these two and a half years (or is it three?) it would gloss over the fact that it seems that a lot happened to all of us. Myself, I decided to put my foot on the ladder.
To say it has been easy would be a lie, but it hasn't been difficult, either. In retrospect, it has been like it always has, but I had never been willing to admit it before. I had always looked forward to the time in my life when all of my problems and troubles would be gone, and I could bask in my success.
But, I learned here to look a little closer and also a little farther at the same time and realize what we're really in, here.
Only vague language suffices, I guess, to describe what I mean. Needless to say, Bob has been like a welcome slap in the face - recalibrated my compass and pointed me in the right direction.
Also, as a secondary note, this guy finally found a spiritual home in the Orthodox church. It was the only place big enough to hold him; now if he can only bow low enough to get in...
Okay, my feelings of denial have subsided some and I wanted to also thank Bob for access to his fertile connection to O. It has been very helpful to ride on your coattails for a while. I also had an idea just now that maybe once a week someone can do a guest post with Bob's approval. Ya know, just to help with withdrawal symptoms and all...;)
Looking forward to the new arcs in the spiral!
Gee, I guess I'll have to start reading your book. (It came in last week.)
Oh great, go away for a few days and look what happens!
Bob — you have done more to open the vertical plane for me than anyone else I've read, including C.S. Lewis. I'll keep checking back to read the old posts I missed. If you pub a new book, I'll buy that one, too. Please keep the site going as we all will want to know what your new projects are.
Still, I'm glad you know when to quit — takes a lot of spiritual maturity to do that — and I trust you'll know when to start.
With love,
Djadja
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