WolfVanZandt wrote:

That is exactly what therianthropy is like. Therians bear a "family resemblance" to each other. If you think about how vague family resemblances are - yet they're so obvious - you'll have the idea.

I have Howl photos that I display in my office and, usually, when people see them, they assume they're family group photos (taken at a reunion). Fact being, none of use are related by blood - not closely, anyway.

The important things in therianthropy is not what you are but how you relate. I'm disturbed at how focused a lot of people on Therian sites are on themselves with little (apparent) concern for the Therian community as a whole. I feel like I might have some bear tendencies but I rarely ever talk about that because it's sorta trivial to me.

I honestly like Lenowill's answer to the issue. You learn about yourself as you move through life and pay attention to what you do and how you do it. Soul searching, as much as it's touted on the boards, is pretty much worthless. Pay attention to all the soul searching that goes on. Notice how many people that talk so much about it end up deciding that the answers they came up with were wrong and they start "soul searching" again.

I will bet you that a lot of the people that learned all about themselves by meditation will one day, "Grow out of they're phase," and as they sit around in the old folks home, they'll joke about "those days when they thought they were a Werewolf."

In the meantime, all the young Therians that don't know any better and take they're advise about soul searching and meditation will continue to be confused and take that much longer to figure things out. In brief, trying any and everything to get answers is not a good strategy - if you use bad techniques, you get bad results, and then you really do have to start back on square one.

I find this very informative. I do have a few things to input about it. I agree with you completely about it isn't about who we are but how you relate. I find that fascinating the whole SCR. How we relate is what defines self, though, I don't think there can be one without the other, so if you were to focus on one, you are still dealing with the other weather you express that in communication or not. Also in general people do tend to be self centric but that is to be expected within any group of people where the culture is pushed towards individualism, like in western nations. I would also like to say that I have learned a lot from meditation, but in comparison to what I have learned by just living it probably only makes up one percent of what I have learned about myself, the world, and how I connect into it.  I think that if anyone were to define themselves just based on meditation would follow through with your predictions.

How we relate is what defines self, though, I don't think there can be one without the other, so if you were to focus on one, you are still dealing with the other weather you express that in communication or not.

That's true but if you do either one exclusively, you're not going to do either justice.

Also in general people do tend to be self centric but that is to be expected within any group of people where the culture is pushed towards individualism, like in western nations.

Frankly, I believe that's an aberration. Human beings are social animals by nature. They are not designed to be individualistic to the degree that people are being "pushed toward". The antisocial behavior you're talking about is more a characteristic of domesticated beings. Wild beings have to relate to survive. Humans only think they can afford to be individuals without regard to the people around them.

You made sense the first time. I understand what you're talking about. I simply consider it an aberration.

There is a phase of development that psychologists have been aware of for a long time called "individuation". It's a period of intense self exploration and it's when people tend to diverge in their development. But people are supposed to grow out of that. It's getting more and more that people don't grow out of that, though. I chalk it up to neoteny.

Interesting.......

That is usually how it works, things come knocking when your not looking, but the moment you try and find it, it flees from sight. Like my car keys......where did I put them.

Yeah, I know many who are like that, and a quote I find appropriate  "The Very Young Do Not Always Do As They Are Told."  After all is it not the younger individuals who change the world.

OH RIGHT! I forgot to tell you! XP

I'm an Italian Wolf. I was hoping to be an Arctic Wolf, but... it felt like I was forcing it... When I saw the Italian Wolves, it just clicked!

Yeah, that's why people train in meditation so long. It doesn't happen overnight.

You know......you could probably stand to read a good book on yoga. That would explain just about everything. There may also be something on the Internet, but, of course I really don't advise the use of meditation for the purposes that most of the online community uses it for. all I ever hear them doing is talking about meditation to find themselves and they never seem to find themselves or, if they do, they figure out a few months later that what they found really wasn't them but that they still have a lot of "soul-searching' (whatever that means) to do to "really" find themselves, and, I mean like, OMG, are they sooooooo confused (and I could see why with all the angst in the air - angst is honestly very much antithetical to meditation).

Actually, I never had to meditate to shut my mind down. I don't really talk to myself much (in my head - verbally, out loud, well that's another matter). That seems to be a fairly common trait among Therians, so if you do have a problem with that internal chatter, the solution may be to simply..........shift.

Barring that....Buddhist asceticism.......months and months of Buddhist asceticism......(nods)

WolfVanZandt wrote:

Actually, I never had to meditate to shut my mind down. I don't really talk to myself much (in my head - verbally, out loud, well that's another matter). That seems to be a fairly common trait among Therians, so if you do have a problem with that internal chatter, the solution may be to simply..........shift

Hmm. That's interesting. I get down on myself sometimes cause I think I should have more going on in my head most off the time than I really do. When my boyfriend asks me what I'm thinking about, the majority of the time I'm really not thinking about anything, I'm just... watchful. It's like my 'mind' is a lake, just reflecting whatever's around it.

The reverse happens when I meditate though. My brain just starts throwing stuff around.

WolfVanZandt wrote:

That's because you're trying.

My suspicion of meditation as a self-exploration technique is that, when it slides over into self-hypnosis, it can very easily become a self-deception technique.

What, like you find what you want to find not whats really there?

Last edited by shadowfox (2009-07-07 17:58:13)

I just go by the feelings i get. Like when i'm standing outside and the wind is blowing through my hair, i just have to stand there and close my eyes as the feeling of nature rolls over me. As fruity as that sounds. lol

Last edited by shadowfox (2009-07-15 06:12:57)