S_Parc wrote:Well, that part of my life is over and today, like Danielle, I have little to contribute, aside from my non sequitor political a/o arts & entertainment commentaries. Thus, I'm happy and can't fathom, what keeps Marcos and Public coming here, to constantly tell others, what's the true "source of happiness" in men, as if they're Jehovah's Witnesses or something. I can't even sustain much interest in even arguing with anyone more because I just lack the vitriol in me, since life is good and content. I believe that if someone wants to be miserable, that's their prerogative. On the other hand, I think misery is counterproductive and harmful in the end, so a practical daily, step-by-step process of alleviating that, called it XYZ, would be a better option.
LOL why do you keep pulling me into these topics in the most surreal ways? I have already made it clear in another post, not so long ago, that I have never had any intention to posit my world view and opinions as if they were the Ultimate Gospel. They are a reflection of who I am, who I wanted to be and who I would like to continue being, for the better or worse. Just like yours are a reflection of your past trouble and your (quite admirable) efforts to grow out of it.
This is a public forum and a large part of it (if I don't go wrong) is to share experiences, possibly non fictional ones, knowing full well some (few) parts might tally with other members' life experiences, and many more might not. When I have time, usually at the weekend, and the topic stimulates me, I do share bits of them, but could you please point me to statements - in any of my posts for the past few years - that sound like I'm a cult leader trying to shove his flavour of Truth down other people's throats...
Look, if you consider me and Zeitola as cheesy, hopeless optimists, perhaps you could extrapolate your way to the opposite end of the scale. You would find people who gauge the world through the thick lens of their own negative experiences (family, friends and colleagues, foreign women, women in general etc.) and cannot even begin to imagine that it's those experiences that shaped their perceptions and their opinions.
You would find those opinions are no more no less valuable and applicable than mine, Marcos' and anyone else's for that matter. What actually makes a difference is when these opinions are used as a cloaking for apathy, intellectual laziness, or outright fear. That's why I tend to criticise Cornfed's, Ghost's or Tsar's opinions much more than yours.
I didn't grow up in a dysfunctional family. I had plenty of female role models back in my Italian childhood who were positive, maternal, sweet, wise, even sensual (for what might constitute "sensual" in a child's imagery). I never was brought up to see antagonism or belligerence in my relationships with women, and neither the hundreds of men I know from my social neighbourhoods. If I had travelled and lived in South America for as many years as you did, I would have probably found the stickiness and nosiness of my potential inlaws a few notches above that I was familiar with back home, but probably not that unbearable.
As a matter of fact I do have a Latino extended family back in Medellin, and for the little I know them, they are a huge mixed bag of good and bad stuff. Some of my wife's family members are the warmest, most empathic and genuinely caring people I could ever meet in my life, while some others did come across as envious, hypocrite and unnecessarily nosy. Gosh, even the wealth distribution is a six-sigma kind of thing. One of my wife's cousin is the only Olympic gold winner for Colombia (women's BMX) and from a pretty rich family, while my wife herself had to endure daily struggles just to be able to afford going to a decent (private) school.
To conclude, I'll say it once again (hopefully the last time): I am not starting a happy go lucky matriarchal spaghetti cult any time soon. I appreciate that what I am (and I believe in) is simply a product of what I went through in life, and I am aware that experiences shape people. I am also aware that the converse should also hold true: people should learn to shape their experience around what suits them the most, makes them the happiest and what even make those they care for happy.
You and Mel seem to have found a heavenly platform. So did my wife and I, or Outwest/Davewe/Marcos and their respective ladies. We both seem to recognise that, at least in this corner of a forum, we might represent a minority group in a larger, or at least more vocal, sample of frustrated, confused or outright deranged minds.
What are we really talking about then?
