Having an idea, from a problem

[wolven7]

I don't like groups. I don't like working in scenarios that tend to devolve into "I'm better than you, no really, I can prove it, for the love of god, I hope I believe myself." And this is the probelm Itend to encounter, when I look through or participate in magically-oriented communities, online, and in physical vector space.

I don't care whose metaphysical dick is bigger. I just want to talk about practical work, applications, helping people new to whatever it is they're doing with the path they choose, without influencing their choices, or trying to make myslef look big, which has the converse effect, of course, of making the new practitioner feel small. Even if that isn't the intent, it's a fair bet that that's how they'll feel. We're all small as hell, and freaking huge. So what?

I digress. I want to talk about the work: things we're doing, things we want to do, studies we've absorbed, and academic (read "non-judgmental") placement of the topics under investigation. I want to do this in the phyiscal, as well as on the interweb. I require, for this, a kind of syncretic pluralism, an acknowledgement that the paths of those around you work for them, even if they are not the kind of thing you would do. Unlike other attempts at a pluralistic conversation, I'm not saying that everyone has to come to the table, but I am saying that if you want to come to the table, you should be willing to talk and listen, rather than bitch.

Reasonable, yes? Yes.

What do we think? Yea or nea?

Comments

[renatus.livejournal.com]

I require, for this, a kind of syncretic pluralism, an acknowledgement that the paths of those around you work for them, even if they are not the kind of thing you would do.

I acknowledge and listen, and have suspected that's how things work for quite some time now.

I've been listening, but since last fall I haven't had much energy to say anything until now. My mind wakes up with the sun.

[wolven.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear it, and I hope to be reading more from you, soon...

[unknownbinaries.livejournal.com]

I think the problem here is really that the majority of groups force the issue. Kind of like a relationship, it most likely works better if you're all friends that Happen to start feeling comfortable and working together.

The issue actually has been coming up over on Irr. in that some people are being pissy that the rest of us fuck around too much and don't Do Anything. My, and others' response is that the place is supposed to be fun and interesting, not a dick-measuring contest to see who's the most Productive Badass EVAR.

The difference is maturity and security. The lack of a need to show off.

[wolven.livejournal.com]

It's difficult for me to deal with the drops in productivity, because whe I want to Get Something Done, it's hard to get a lot of people together, at once. What I want is a brain-trust, some kind of think tank where I can have access to a large number of people with certain resources, and adaptability, with a minimum of bullshit.

That's hard to find, harder to make.

[unknownbinaries.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I guess, but in any group there shouldn't be that pressure to Always Be Working. It doesn't LET anyone get comfortable enough for anything to get done, really.

And you're talking about a group With a purpose, rather than a collective that May have an overarching purpose.

[wolven.livejournal.com]

Yeah, i want a group with a purpose. Collectives haven't worked, for me, for numbers of reasons. As you've noticed, even when I surround myself with like-minded people, I have a hard time dragging responses out of them, but there are others around who offer help and conversation.

The key to the whole thing is getting the right people in the right mindset in the right place at the right et cetera.