Brenna's Open Journal - An exploration

I do not have a problem with my involvement, should I? Perhaps, but I am not like everyone else. I will never be Jedi because I am too attached. I hate to see someone I have so much respect for take a dump on her reputation. "Things" cannot be explored here else you end up looking like Mort. It's a painful lesson and I hope she learned it...

I really can't be asked with this sort of thing either. it reminds me of the community 10 years ago.

[quote="Naya"Everyone expected Brenna to be miss nice nice and when she showed her other side, they had a problem with that. [/quote]

Actually no, and the deception you seem to cant or dont not want to see lies in the fact that if what she says is true and this other side is not a ruse, but authentic, that she was hiding it the whole time. That, is in fact, a deception.

Haha, an extreme example would be the fact that most serial killers do not parade around that fact in public, and many seem to be upstanding members of the community.

However that is a deception of omission.

Its not a matter of Brenna not being nice. There are plenty on this site that arent nice. I would imagine I fit that bill.

When people found out Jeffery Dahmer was actually eating and dissolving people in his apartment, there was of course adverse reactions.

Not to say these two deceptions are on the same level. However they are similar in the sense that both were omitting certain parts of themselves to the public.

Also Naya, its fairly common knowledge in any attempt at manipulation, that while you can control your actions, you cannot control how people will react.

That is where consequence lies.

You can blame there perception, and while thats true, you are not taking into account that there perception is just that. Despite what you see, or what Brenna wanted them to see, you cannot control another persons perception.

Which is why, any manipulation involving deception has an inherent gamble. You tell people they are themselves to blame, and yet, give no accountability to the the person who wanted to explore....interesting.

Do you blame the person shot by the gun? Or the shooter? The rape victim? Or the rapist? The bad parent? Or the bad child?

You say you do not see the deception, the manipulation, and I would say your being extremely naive.

I see it, I just dont have a problem with it.

Suffice to say, people do know Brenna now, or at least the Brenna she wants to be seen as, which amounts to the same.

Some just arent happy with what they have seen, which is a normal response really.

Zenchi wrote: I do not have a problem with my involvement, should I? Perhaps, but I am not like everyone else. I will never be Jedi because I am too attached. I hate to see someone I have so much respect for take a dump on her reputation. "Things" cannot be explored here else you end up looking like Mort. It's a painful lesson and I hope she learned it...

Sometimes reputation just needs to stop mattering to get ahead.

In reading all fifteen pages of this I am reminded why I missed the Temple so much. We are all at different points in our journeys and the way we interact with others as we progress is fascinating. The thing that sticks out to me most in this thread is that we really don't know as much as we try to belidve we do about the other members here. The actions of a dearly beloved Jedi friend could simply be a charade. Someone can masquerade as a "true jedi of utter light and harmony" yet have inner demons none of us could imagine.

Perception becomes reality. The problem with that is that perception can shift radically in an instant, which is what Brenna (whom I have great respect for) has shown here. (Well it is one of the things shown). We get caught up in perception and assumption and we often forget to search for further truth. The only safe assumption you will ever make is that you don't know the whole story.

I believe all here would benefit from getting to know each other more intimately. After all, what are you trying to hide?

May the Force be with you,
Rai

Mortose wrote:

Zenchi wrote: I do not have a problem with my involvement, should I? Perhaps, but I am not like everyone else. I will never be Jedi because I am too attached. I hate to see someone I have so much respect for take a dump on her reputation. "Things" cannot be explored here else you end up looking like Mort. It's a painful lesson and I hope she learned it...

Sometimes reputation just needs to stop mattering to get ahead.

NB : the bold-type is mine.

Now, that is undeniable - thank you, Mortose.

"Man has accepted conflict as an innate part of daily existence because he has accepted competition, jealousy, greed, acquisitiveness and aggression as a natural way of life. When we accept such a way of life we accept the structure of society as it is and live within the pattern of respectability. And that is what most of us are caught in because most of us want to be terribly respectable. When we examine our own minds and hearts, the way we think, the way we feel and how we act in our daily lives, we observe that as long as we conform to the pattern of society, life must be a battlefield. If we do not accept it - and no religious person can possibly accept such a society - then we will be completely free from the psychological structure of society." ~ J. Krishnamurti, Freedom from the Known, p. 47

It doesn't really matter whether we're cultivating a "good" reputation or a reputation for being "dark" -- when we start living for an image of ourselves and honing the image that we want others to have of us through dishonest interactions, then we're already 'taking that dump'.

We're empathic enough naturally to be able to put ourselves in the place of 'the Other' (cf. C. Daniel Batson, Altruism in Humans. Oxford University Press, New York, 2011) There may be some things we need to cultivate, but many others we simply need to participate in without letting that create an image.

Well, … as far as is humanly possible, that is …

I disagree Alex (to a point), no disrespect, but there is a double standard here, always has been since I've been here. Everything done here is scrutenized with a fine tooth comb. I am not complaining, I've accepted the way things are.

I partially agree with what Kaos stated, but I also disagree with some of it. I'm reading people's opinions about how reputation doesn't matter, and others about honesty. But it does matter, not in the context that people should be dishonest, but why.

Why? Cause there is a double standard here. People who do not think their actions (which reflect upon integrity) connected with how they portray themselves here, or any where else do not matter, are deluded.

I did not make the comment in regards to reputation because I thought Brenna was being dishonest, I made it because people have the tendency to judge, and not forget, even here. She's young, she tried an experiment, and it sort of blew up, lol.

This isn't, .....or "shouldn't" (there's that word) be about dishonesty, but more to do with why people are hesitant to reveal a certain side of themselves, here and out there.

This isn't, or "shouldn't" (there's that word) be about dishonesty, but more to do with why people are hesitant to reveal a certain side of themselves, here and out there.

Which comes back to dishonesty.

Why does one feel it necessary to be dishonest about who they are?

Hence the judgement one can reasonably draw about Brenna is that of a dishonest person, and one who will weaponize that to manipulate those around her.

Not unlike the boy who cried wolf.

As to ones reputation, well, whether one thinks its important or not, one is defined and judged by there actions, to themselves and others.

Everyone has the reputation they created for themselves.

I would be foolish to say ones reputation is unimportant.

That is not to say one needs to seek to look good to everyone, but truly, the reputation you cultivate through your actions will effect how people react to you.

I do not seek to damage my sphere of influence unduly.

It is as simple as that.

I agree with the latter half of your post Kaos, as for the first....
I think she has held it in this long because of fear,
As Dark's are "tolerated" but not fully accepted amongst the majority of members here.
Thus leading me back to the double standard...

Khaos wrote: Which comes back to dishonesty.

Why does one feel it necessary to be dishonest about who they are?

Hence the judgement one can reasonably draw about Brenna is that of a dishonest person, and one who will weaponize that to manipulate those around her.

Brenna was never dishonest to herself, she knew what she was doing the entire time.

I presume that everyone thinks I'm honest, but how can you ever say that this is definitely true? Maybe I'm just really good at being a dishonest person? We should hesitate in our judgements.

Brenna told us why she did it and people are fixated on the lie rather than the reason behind the lie.