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I appreciate very much where you're landing with this one, Jaime. Feels grounded and humble while also soft enough to allow for the various ways we make sense of the world we live in and the various cul-de-sacs we all wander into.

To carry on with more quotes from the Fab Four, "Whatever gets you through the night, it's all right" --- just don't break your (or my) balls with your method.

On my end, I'm quite cozy about asking for some guidance from things unseen and doing my best to have the ears to hear their response. Over the past year or so, one of the most common responses is, "Take responsibility, man; it's what you make of it that matters."

So maybe these "angels" are WYSIWYG Stoic Taoists, too.

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The only thing as infinite as the unknown is our ignorance.

Humility in the face of the unknown affords curiosity, wonder, and awe.

Beauty is the revelation of Truth and Goodness.

Enjoy the ride and especially the company on the way.

When it gets ugly and bad the relativity enhances the beauty and good.

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Thanks for these rich insights, Jamie. I read it as a modest pursuit of personal mastery in the face of the great mysteries. My only quibble is your landing on "radical self-reliance." That phrasing is entangled with the prosperity gospel you interrogate. If feels to me that you've arrived at something closer to a radical embrace of reality; standing at the intersection of what Japanese Buddhists call 'Self-power' (jiriki) and 'Other-Power' (tariki). Jiriki honors the potential of our steadfast effort to lead us through the (stoic) muck and make us receptive to those moments of (taoist) grace. Tariki reminds us of our powerlessness in the face of the greater forces that shape the universe (wysiwyg), which reminds us (or me, at least) not to take it all quite so seriously

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C'mon man! That is way too much responsibility. I'm supposed to make my own meaning of the world? I'd rather buy it, flaunt it like a new accessory, and discard it when a shinier bauble rolls by because I'm an individual. : \

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Great article.

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Would you please get out of my head? 😂😂😂

I'm rather chuffed every time I follow your thinking as I thunk down the same path. Heck! Use the same refs. There's only 3 humans in my direct circle who dont run screaming when my gums get flapping. Thank you.

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