I really enjoy Louis C.K.'s perspective, not just from a comedy standpoint, but I also think he has a great eye for universal truths that can be difficult to address but easy to relate to.
I travel by train twice a week, which means a 40 minute ride devoid of internet. Most of the time I have an episode of Radiolab to listen to, but often I'll just stare out of the window, listening to music and reflecting on my life in general. For me, it's katharsis in it's original meaning: the cleansing of emotions. In old Greece, people didn't watch the tragedies as we do now. The crowd was wild, rooting for the good guy in a fight, crying in a sad scene. It was a virtue to keep your emotions to yourself in the society, but those emotions have to go somewhere, so your emotional mind was cleansed during the tragedies. I criticize myself in those moments in the train. If I don't have those moments of reflection, I usually end up reflecting on my life when I'm in bed trying to sleep. Sadly, I don't think I'm the person for something like meditation, because it's impossible for me to clear my mind completely. But this is the closest I've got and it seems sufficient.
I love long journeys by car (as a passenger) or by train for the same reason. Just staring into the countryside listening to my favourite music is one of life's greatest pleasures. However, meditation isn't foremost about 'clearing your mind' as such, though it is often a side benefit. I think 'stilling the mind' would be a better way to put it. Through analysis and contemplation you increase your awareness of your thoughts and feelings and cultivate positive emotional reactions. Instead of just 'clearing the mind' per se, you increase your ability to discern and discriminate your thoughts. You decide which are worthy of your conscious attention and, in turn, how you would like to react to certain stimuli.
It's extremely difficult trying to explain this to people. Especially recently, when it seems that this is something I've wanted to do on a more regular basis. Whenever I try to explain, it results in weird looks and people thinking that I'm depressed or something's extremely wrong, even if they won't say it. Maybe they're right, maybe I am and maybe I should look into therapy, but maybe they're wrong, and maybe they just don't understand this kind of thinking. I think there's a lot of people out there that flat out have never thought of doing such a thing. On a side note, I completely agree with insomniasexx. Louis is truly one of a kind.
I usually avoid trying to avoid explaining things like this to people. It's hard to get people to understand where you're coming from in a situation like this. It wouldn't be so hard if they were just listening but it's hard for a person to just listen. They take what they're hearing and translate it and try to put it into their own words. People aren't supposed to admit that they're sad and if they do it has to be for a damn good reason.
1:11: A nod here to _refugee_ who, it seems to me, is speaking to this in this recent post. Louis C.K. talks about a Bruce Springsteen song that made him cry and cry. Yes. Brilliant. Take the moments for weeping that music, fiction, poetry, and real life present us with so often -- but understand that the weeping comes from that emptiness. Then move on with deeper resolve. I agree with Louis C. K. that facing the sad, lonely emptiness also embraces (or as he says, brings on) the celebration and amazingness that is there when we pause to take it in.underneath everything in your life, there's that thing: that empty, forever empty. Just that knowledge that it's all for nothing and you're alone.
This is the heart of it, the heart and the guts. Until I realized this when I was 38, after being in horrendously bad relationships, I realized that all my relationships were simply attempts to fill up the big emptiness. We didn't have avatars back then and had to experience all the shit directly.
Nice one. I'm with him all the way. Little story about me: I've been living on the west coast for 8 years now after growing up in the midwest. Mom absolutely hated the winters where we lived and the second my brother and I flew the coop, she bolted down to Atlanta. Now whenever I go back for holiday, I typically visit her and then up to Ohio to see Pop. I'll usually borrow a car for the drive. Rarely though, do I go as the crow flies. I'll drive around and visit any famous building I can find west of the Sierras. Sometimes it'll be around 4000 miles before I'm back. Being alone, in a new place and on the road is a real treat. I just love it. I saw a coworker of mine a while back post to instragram and then sit there and refresh, refresh refresh. I realized that was me too. It's been a few months now since I obliterated all my online accounts (sans Hubski) and I'm even going "zen" on here now too. Weird that it sounds like a virtue these days, but I am happier because of it. EDIT: Btw, mk, I'll have to think on a more appropriate post/comment icon for the zen folk besides a full hubwheel. I'd actually prefer nothing to the full wheel, but let's try and have some fun with it :)
Related I love Louis when he gets deep. He is hilarious, and some of his horribly politically incorrect shit is amazing. But when he really gets to the heart of the issue I wonder if he's a comedian or just a really fucking smart person educating us all.
He has a little Hicks and Carlin in his routine. He makes some pretty deep points under the guise of comedy quite a bit, and I love him for it. He's more Bill Hicks style of comedy and enlightenment. Carlin was much more upfront about it, unlike Louis who hides it behind more comedy. There was a clip, on Conan as well, from a couple years ago now where he was talking about people going on flights. He also talked about the economy crumbling in America, which also had some good insight. The whole bit was "Everything is amazing, and no one is happy." Start at 1:55 - 6:00, couldn't find a youtube clip: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8m5d0_everything-is-amazin... Like it's just a comedy bit, but he hits some pretty deep criticism of our society.I wonder if he's a comedian or just a really fucking smart person educating us all.