liminal_luke

I grew up on a 5 acre hobby farm in a relatively rural part of northern California. As a life experiment, we struggled through a few months of quasi self-sufficiency, producing almost all of our food for ourselves. We had fruit trees and a huge vegetable garden. Meat in the freezer from our own hogs and cattle. Bread came from whole wheat kernels we bought but mom did the wheat grinding and the sour dough bread baking. Each family member got to pick one item that we´d be allowed to buy from the store and I still remember my brother´s pick: Nestles Quik powder to make chocolate milk. (Come to think of it, the milk must have come from the store too.) My dad was chiefly responsible for coming up with the idea and my mom was chiefly responsible for all the work it entailed. When mom developed some health difficulties the experiment came to an end.

That´s true. Seems being scorned is an equal opportunity experience. (Splashes Steve and ilumairen. Any more cold Sprite in the cooler?)

Why I am an Anti-Vaccer In my dream, I stand on the edge of the pool, a scared five year old boy, and my dad tells me to jump into the water, that he will catch me. You know how the story ends. Except, I should say, that this didn´t really happen. It´s just a metaphor, true fiction but useful as a placeholder for other things that I cannot and will not say. Fifty years pass and still I struggle to trust in relationships, in love. I´ve been self-employed because I don´t want to surrender to the system of rules and control that come with regular employment. When I hold my partner at night I´m always the big spoon... because it feels safer to give than to receive. Anti-vaccers are the subject of public scorn. That´s not a good feeling but it´s a feeling I know and can survive. And distrust is a deep river. Please don´t use my story to heap more scorn on my fellow anti-vaccers. This is my story, not necessarily theirs.

That´s the case around me too. My mom reports that everyone in her senior exercise class is very excited about the vaccine and it´s a huge topic of conversation. Many people have told me that getting vaccinated has been a huge relief. I´m jealous.

Sure, it´s a fair question. And yes, I suppose it´s possible to ask and answer the vaccination question without getting pulled into polarity. (I´ll admit, however, that my own vaccination discussions have been plenty polarized of late. Maybe that´s just me?) It´s just that to me there are more interesting questions. My mom reports feeling closer to her partner this year because they´ve been thrown together more and have gotten in the habit of taking long rambling walks together. Others have found unrelenting familial togetherness to be a less joyful experience. I can relate to the very human feelings in both these situations. Anyway, these are the kind of stories that interest me. YMMV

I´m not a fan of the question this thread poses. Did you get the vaccine? can be such a polarizing question. It´s a question that nudges us towards dividing up into groups rather than coming together. Here are some other questions I like better... What has been most difficult for you about the pandemic? What have you learned about yourself during the pandemic? How have you maintained connections with other people during the pandemic? How have you taken care of yourself during the pandemic?

I don´t doubt it. I´m a big alternative health guy and avoid taking pharmaceutical drugs whenever possible. At the same time, it´s very likely I wouldn´t be alive without allopathic medication. Ditto for my mom and my partner. So I try to keep my naysaying to a minimum.

Thanks Bhathen! If you´d be interested in the musings of a kindred thinker, check out @Taomeow´s latest post on page 5 of her Ling visitations thread in her PPD. She says much the same.

Not vaccinated yet. It´s been difficult telling my family and friends that I´m concerned about the safety of the vaccines. Nobody agrees with me and I´ve been feeling kind of alone with my hesitations and fears. When I told my friend Greg that I wanted to at least wait before getting vaccinated he said "I believe in science," implying, I think, that anybody who isn´t immediately standing in the vaccination line is unscientific and irrational. His partner Gary speculated that I´d been unduly influenced by Trumpists here on the Bums. My buddy Bill warned me not to believe everything I read on the internet. They love me, of course, and mean well. They don´t want me to die from Covid. But I felt myself not feeling connected to them. I didn´t want to talk with them for fear of becoming the subject of a vaccination "intervention." They say they "get" me, understand the kind of person I am. So why don´t I feel gotten? Things are looking up now but it´s been a hard few weeks. It´s depressing when the people you count on to understand you don´t.

Not at all, Bindi. I was referring to Vaccine Pride in a general way. Here´s an article over at EATER that talks about a new hot fashion item -- buttons announcing vaccination status. https://www.eater.com/22526104/covid-vaccine-pin-accessory-flair-restaurants For some, announcing vaccination is a form of virtue signaling. While you and I are coming to some different conclusions about the pandemic, I can tell you´re thinking about the issues carefully and diligently. The way I figure, we´re all just doing our best.

I can understand someone making a considered decision to get vaccinated. Many people consider themselves to be at high risk (Luke raises his hand) and the vaccines appear to do a good job of keeping people out of the hospital. What´s less understandable is Vaccine Pride, as if vaccination was some badge of honor (and by inference being unvaccinated dishonorable). Seems to me we´ve got enough things to take sides about already, no need to add vaccination status to the list. If I could wave my pandemic wand, I´d make the world less judgey. Most people are making what they consider the best decisions for themselves with limited information. We can choose to wear a mask or not wear a mask, leave our houses or stay inside, get a jab or not. Either way, let´s not separate ourselves into the pandemically virtuous and the pandemically negligent. Nobody gets a gold star.

For the longest time, I wanted somebody to tell me what the pandemic was really about. I believed that something nefarious was going on beneath the surface, that things were both different and worse than they appeared to be, but I couldn´t for the life of me figure out what that something might be. The people who I thought might have an inkling were keeping curiously mum. Recently, this situation has changed. I´ve now crossed over and think of myself as one of the people at least somewhat in the know. Alas, this newly gained knowledge falls squarely in the be-careful-what-you-ask-for category.

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Here´s some good info on how to select a good fish oil and why you might want to be careful with this common supplement. https://drcate.com/should-i-take-fish-oil-supplements-benefits-and-harms/

Good to see you again!

I´m intrigued by slowness in qigong practice, especially extreme slowness. What does slowness do? Is the effect of the slowness in this qigong specific to these particular movements or could something similar be achieved by doing some other qigong forms with exquisite slowness? My guess is there´s something valuable to be gained by slowing down, at least in certain circumstances. I´d welcome any insights.

Ya gotta find yourself to lose yourself. Or lose yourself to find yourself. Either way.

Like I always say, why express insecurity beating people up when I can do so much more comfortably seated on a faux-leather couch, latte in hand, writing quippy posts on Daobums?

Thanks for those insightful, rather piercing observations Yueya. I just finished watching an episode of RuPaul´s Drag Race, a surprising source of life wisdom. One of the contestants stood before the judges panel visibly distraught after having received low marks. A guest judge offered this excellent advice: you´ve gotta separate your worth as a person from your craft. How often do we believe we are what we do? Overidentification with a given art -- or career or sport or social position -- is a pitfall for many. I am not the tropies I win or lose. I am not the physical beauty (or lack thereof) of my body. I am not the people who like or dislike me on Daobums. Especially not that.

If I understand you Anand, you make a good and warm-hearted point. Most of the time there is no need to choose between people. Rather, we can include both recognizing the unique good they bring to the mix. Although Steve Grey was banned for what I consider good reasons, I believe he´s a dedicated and knowledgable practitioner of his art. While he was here he made some good contributions to the discussion and inspired some Bums to practice a system they say they´ve found valuable. That´s all to the good.

When choosing between Steves, I always pick the less murderous option.

Thanks! I´ve never seen goat available here but you´re probably right. Goat is a Mexican specialty in Monterrey. I visited that northern metropolis once and have vivid memories of pickup trucks loaded with baby goats bleating away, presumably headed for slaughter. It was almost enough to lead a guy to vegetarianism. Almost.

That sounds delicious. Wish I had a good local source for goat!

Made garlic confit following this recipe: https://paleomg.com/garlic-confit/. Delicious! You get two products really, the softened garlic (reminescent of roasted) and the infused garlic and rosemary olive oil. Next time I´ll add more heads of garlic for the 2 cups of oil. Saw one recipe with 6 heads per 2 cups. Can also experiment with adding different herbs, maybe thyme next time. Mash up a few of the cloves with a spoonful or two of the oil and you´ve got a good base for a salad dressing.

Some people are attracted to sexual retention practices because they are interested in celibacy -- ie not having sex. Others are attracted to sexual retention practices because they want to have more and better sex. Both motivations are valid, in my view, but they are different and lead to different outcomes.