Question of the Day

[ayoub]

What experience or epiphany has had the most profound effect on your life?

Comments

[evergladesqueen.livejournal.com]

when i miscarried and saw my lil boy
although he had been alive w/in me for
15wks, he was a lil person! changed me
forever, but will not go in depth here!
*hugs*

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Thank you for sharing...

[evergladesqueen.livejournal.com]

no problem!
it is therapeutical -i suppose-
to speak of it!
*hugs*

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

That it is :)

[fox-bard.livejournal.com]

Like yesterday's question, I can't answer that in a public forum. But I figure you are one of the few that can guess on both counts.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Aye... :)

[garyg.livejournal.com]

the experience that had the most profound effect on my life was holding one of our pet rats when it died. that was the closest i've been to the actual moment that a life stopped.

the epiphany that has had the most profound effect is that in all conflicts someone must choose to be the peace maker.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

A very powerful epiphany, my friend....

And a powerful experience too...

How do you feel they changed you?

[mighty-rontor.livejournal.com]

Learning about religious hypocrisy at the same time discovering non-western/non-traditional forms of mysticism and philosophy between 1984 and 1988. Up until then I was a good, unquestioning Catholic. The year 1984 changed how I saw life. The nail in Catholicism for me was the doctrine "Extra ecclesiam nulla salus" --outside the Church there is no salvation. I refused to believe that good people wouldn't go to heaven just because they weren't Catholic. I call bullshit. Furthermore, there wasn't just one lie, so for me, it unraveled itself. At first, I was angry to have been lied to. Now, I'm happy to be divorced from the faith as it has allowed me to enrich my self in ways that no priest would ever approve of. The result is that I've made good, diverse friends and learned more than I dreamed I would.

I just realized that the time between '84 and '88 put me on a path that Siddhartha suggested. "Embrace nothing: If you meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha. If you meet your father, kill your father. Only live your life as it is, Not bound to anything." Funny ol' world.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

There is a similar thing in Islam... and that entire idea makes me want to hit someone... Usually the Mullah spewing it out...

[kabandra.livejournal.com]

I have had many if not small epiphanies. Normally they are pretty small ones having to do with guys, where I actually realize myself, internally believe (versus simply knowing) that I'm "better than that" or "deserve better"... I've had one or two of those lately concerning G.

The latest one was the "smile" one from a conversation with my friend. I can feel myself smiling more inside and out :)

Good question!

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:D

[stardances.livejournal.com]

A very traumatic event which ended in me ending my marriage, testifying against my x husband and seeing a psychologist. From the ashes rises the phoenix ...everything does pass eventually.

[garyg.livejournal.com]

well, this probably isn't anything new to you but there's knowing something (like you've read it or been told it) and then there's actually integrating that same knowledge into how your htought process works. an epiphany means that not only is knowledge gained but it has context.

i've never been present when any of the people whom i know have died - but seeing and feeling a life (however small) cease made me realize just how valuable and how costly life is. it didn't teach me anything i didn't know already, it just gave it context. in a word, made it "profound".

as for peacemaking, i believe that there is hope, that bad situations can be fixed and that setting a goal like attaining peace in conflict means that all other things are open to compromise. but someone must be willing to compromise first and be the peacemaker.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Yes, everything does...

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:D

Dysfunctional at it's finest

[cmerun12.livejournal.com]

My brother (who is 11 years younger than me) had a biking accident and it really chewed up his face. (It happened somewhere in the early 1990s) My dad, being the smartass - and had a few too many beers - that he is, told me that he'd done it (the face mangling) to my brother because he wouldn't listen to him.

At this time, I'd moved out of the house and was living in my own apartment, etc etc...

Enraged, I confronted my dad. Toe to toe, and deadly calm I explained that if he EVER touched my brother again, I'd see him rotting in hell. I wouldn't waste time with calling the cops and Mom should just call the coroner.

By then, my mother and my brother were trying to separate us. I wasn't moving. And I sure as hell wasn't going to flinch or back down. You don't fuck with me and mine.

I could vaguely hear my mom and my brother trying to tell me it was an accident and how it all happened. But I was too focused on my father. The room got really quiet all of the sudden. Then I saw a flicker of something in my dad's eyes. I'm not sure if it was fear, respect, or what... all I know is something changed in the dynamics of our relationship.

He took the first step back. He seemed a little surprised and asked if I'd really believe he'd do something like that to my brother. Without pausing to think about it, I'd replied, "Yes, I do. Given what kind of parent you are, I know you're capable of it." I watched my dad take a couple more steps back, his shoulders slumping a little.

I can still see the look on his face when he turned away from me and sat down.

It's been over 10 years since this happend, and he's only mentioned it to me one time. He'd asked me, again, if I thought he would do something like that to one of his kids... My answer still hasn't changed.

[mighty-rontor.livejournal.com]

What, that bit about "our worshipers are going to heaven and everyone else is fucked"?

Re: Dysfunctional at it's finest

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Yep... that bit...

Re: Dysfunctional at it's finest

[cmerun12.livejournal.com]

You asked...

Re: Dysfunctional at it's finest

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

True...

Ask and ye shall recieve, and ye will get exactly what you asked for...

Re: Dysfunctional at it's finest

[cmerun12.livejournal.com]

*nods*

Pretty much.

[mighty-rontor.livejournal.com]

You know, I used to get mad at that sort of mentallity from these spiritual leaders, but now, it makes me laugh more often than not! What boobs! It makes me feel like I'm pissing off the whole memetic sequence! LMAO!

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Heheh... the thing that gets me is the smug look on their face... like, "I'm going to heaven and you're not"

Pfft...

This could develop into a full scale rant, but, at the end of the day, I don't give a fuck :D