Okay, everyone! Here is another effort to revitalize the conference...

Currently, as some of you may know, I am working through a very 
difficult period in my life. I am finding it to be the most difficult I 
have ever experienced. While trying to get through this period, I wrote 
a humble, short, and unfinished piece of prose. I am posting it here, 
hoping that someone will post an ending to my piece, as I find that I 
cannot.

Without further delay, here is the whole of my piece thus far:

"Often, in our travels through this 3-Ring Circus we like to call life, 
we find ourselves trapped in the middle of a flipping hourglass. As we 
look upon the sand roaring quickly past us, our eyes widen, not unlike a 
deer caught in a car's headlights. We find it difficult to believe that 
things have changed so completely, so fast. It is an utter enigma to our 
souls how that dinner last night so suddenly became a year ago, how 
those pants you loaned your best friend only moments ago find themselves 
residing in a box overwhelmed by dust.

It seems that even the most trivial points in our lives are looked back 
upon with such fondness and wonder it causes me to pause and reflect. 
What is it about those days I spent wearing rose-colored glasses and 
warm, flannel shirts? What could I possibly want to remember about those 
(insert your number here, mine is four) years spent in the company of my 
(again, insert your own number here, and again, mine is four) closest 
friends? What did I have to wake up to each morning? What did I have in 
my life then that made me so much happier than I am now?"

14 responses total.

        Reminds me of a piece on an athiesm discussion area called "The Good
'Ol Days", which pointed out that every era of human history had it's ups
and downs (more downs the further back you went), no matter how warmly
we remembered them.

iam new to this conferencing . are there any specific rules to be followed?iam
a bit confused. help me 

<thinks>  The only real 'rule' I can think of is that you should at
least attempt to be polite... Anyone else have any ideas?

        Read what people are saying and respond to it with your best
thoughts.

Sounds good.  I would say keeping on track with the discussion, but like
any of us do that anyways! ;)

        I have a red baseball, didja know that?

Interesting morgaine...why are you so unhappy?  Anne is back with you
and you have this nice new apartment right and your job?  You have
everything..you have more than most.  Why unhappy?

Happiness is relative.  There is more to life then work and more
to make one happy.  What makes one person happy, or what one person
would think would make someone happy, doesn't always.  I'm not answering
for Morgaine, just making a comment.

Even more, I'd say happiness is a state of mind, though strongly under 
influence of external circumstances, but yet, it comes from within.
I feel for you, Morgaine.

        I always thought happiness was an answer on a multiple-choice test.

Sometimes you think you should be happy yet you're still not.  And you don't
know how to fix it.

        I've noticed that a lot of people aren't really in touch with what 
they do, and how it affects them ... they don't notice something's wrong until
they've gone so far with it, and then there's only a general sense of unease.
I'd hate to think that way;  I rely upon knowing what it is that's making me
feel down.

One thing I've learned over the years is to trust my instinct.  Even when it
seems completely unrational it is usually right.

I find it hard to distinguish between temporary unhappiness and the beginning
of long term unhappinees.  Such as if I'm frustrated "at school" this moment,
is it because I can't figure out how to do my homework or I'm in the wrong
field and should do something else with my life?  Of course after awhile I
can tell which is which but I wish there was a way to tell from the beginning
to waste less time.

        That's very interesting ... I've learned to listen to my instincts,
but not to trust them, per se.  It's like listening to the land, or watching
the patterns of birds fly overhead ... there's a reason for it, and it
signifies something that I'd be foolish to ignore, but I can't just leap off
after the birds or change colour like the leaves.

        Perhaps that isn't the best metaphor. :)

        It is very important to me to listen to my instincts, though, and
to try and understand what it is they're telling me, because my instinctual
needs are every bit as valid as my rational needs, and only easier to
overlook.

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