--- In [email protected], turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote: > ... > Curtis' writings are like gifts. He just throws them out > and allows people to enjoy them, ignore them, or (best) > take them and run with them and have fun with them. > > Your writings (along with several others' writing on this > forum) are like invoices. You throw them out and then > demand payment, in the form of attention.
The more I think about this "gift vs. invoices" metaphor, the more multipurpose it becomes. Doesn't it, for example, describe the approach that Maharishi and the TM movement took and continue to take about what they presented to the world. While *calling* them "gifts," and pretending benevolence, there was always a price tag attached. It started low -- only $35 US -- but soon escalated into the thousands of dollars, much more if you wanted the "good stuff." Even now, when almost literally no one is signing up to learn *anything* the TMO has to offer unless 1) somebody else (like the DLF) pays for it for them, or 2) they're such TBs that they continue pressing the "Ca-ching" buttons on their bank accounts the way that rats keep pressing the food lever when you add sugar to it. Buck's *entire spiel* is about invoicing. He doesn't demand payment for his claims that butt-bouncers are saving the world...he just demands that the world give them the *credit* for saving it. Gifts are different. You still see that in some meditation traditions. They still teach for free, and once you have learned their basic meditation, they don't keep wheedling you to join a cult or buy more add-on accessories. Coming back to Curtis (my inspiration for this "gifts vs. invoicing" metaphor), it's easy to see where his generous 'tude came from -- busking. When you share your talents on the streets, you pretty much *have* to do it as gifts. Some people are going to respond and put some money in your guitar case, others aren't. You can't really let whether they do or not drive your performance, or it becomes mercenary and uninteresting. So instead you put your energy into making it the best performance you can give, regardless of whether the crowds appreciate it or not. What you focus on, you become. If you focus on giving, people return that in kind. If you focus on *taking*, and clearly *expect* applause or praise...not so much. I'm rapping about this because I honestly think that this "invoicing" metaphor characterizes much of what is said here on this forum. Judy and Robin and Ann and Emily and Ravi and Jimbo and Emily post something and essentially *demand* a reply. And if one is not forthcoming, and in the form that they wanted, they lash out and start calling people names. It seems to me that they could learn a little something from busking -- or even from "writing for a living." Those who do this learn very quickly that NO ONE 'OWES' THEM A DAMN THING. You get a favorable response -- or any response at all -- by putting enough merit into what you say to deserve a response. For most people in the world, being presented with a tirade and then being told that they not only have to read it, they have to PAY for it in the form of a response is a bit of a turn-off.
