The value of "time in the community"

Snowy Aftermath wrote: So I don't understand the hostility from some of those who have been around the longest. At all.

In the old days, it was less about "buddy buddy" mushy love and compassion and more about service as duty. I like to think of myself as coming in right at the end of the old guard (and really beginning the middle guard); I was always taught that being a Jedi was about personal growth and service. It never said anything about being soft and compassionate. That culture only recently became popular, and it's really only taught here at TOTJO.

Elsewhere, Force Academy, IJRS, Jedi Living, etc., their version of "service" is like... Thor goes to clean up a highway. It's very "be a muscle-y god, but then also help the old lady across the street." Or, "beat the crap out of each other, but make sure you're learning so you can defend yourself and others."

It's really just a different paradigm. I was never taught (till coming here) to be a loving person. Just that service was a part of being a Jedi and to do it.

Connor L. wrote: Elsewhere, Force Academy, IJRS, Jedi Living, etc., their version of "service" is like... Thor goes to clean up a highway. It's very "be a muscle-y god, but then also help the old lady across the street." Or, "beat the crap out of each other, but make sure you're learning so you can defend yourself and others."

0_o No idea what community you were apart of that taught that nonsense.

Nor do I get where one thinks Jedi from the Old Guard were unloving. Some of my best years were back in those days. Those days are what shaped me to be who and what I am today. I met ALOT of good people and made ALOT of friends that became family. You want to know why I mention my "Years in the community?" Because those years meant Sooooooooo much to me. Are very very Important to me. And it hurts when people who have never been apart of that continue to insist that it is "Not Important"

There was plenty of love back then as there is now. At least there sure was for me.

The only difference is. We did not shy away from a good argument or debate. We recognized that this is the internet and until you meet the person in person....you really have no clue what the other person is feeling and thinking.

Mostly the Charles McBride community. lol.

Connor L. wrote: Mostly the Charles McBride community. lol.

That makes more sense. And is not at all representative of the community as a whole More like....a very very very very very very VERY small with a very Loud voice.....Part And he had/has good intentions. He is just a bit ummm.....unique He had plenty of love in him too.

I got a similar vibe from Vandor and the FA crowd, with some of the others at JEDI/IJRS, there's the Hannigan bravado too, and I get a little power service from Opie crowd too. I don't think it's as rare as you think.

I am not saying it is rare Just that it is not the icon of Jedi "In the day" The people you listed. Yes. All are a bit Macho. They do not define Jedi. They only define THEIR Jedi. FA is not Jedi....even they will tell you that. Opie is....Opie. JEDI as you knew was lead by Opie, so yes...It had Opie detachment all over it. I can't speak for IJRS I didn't hang around that part of the community. And as you recall everyone hated Hannigan for his blatant disregard for respect.

These individual people do not define the whole.

I could list just as many tender hearted loving Jedi from back then as I can the dutiful ones. That is what Made the community. Unique differences working together to learn how to be good Jedi.

Connor L. wrote:

Snowy Aftermath wrote: So I don't understand the hostility from some of those who have been around the longest. At all.

In the old days, it was less about "buddy buddy" mushy love and compassion and more about service as duty. I like to think of myself as coming in right at the end of the old guard (and really beginning the middle guard); I was always taught that being a Jedi was about personal growth and service. It never said anything about being soft and compassionate. That culture only recently became popular, and it's really only taught here at TOTJO.

Elsewhere, Force Academy, IJRS, Jedi Living, etc., their version of "service" is like... Thor goes to clean up a highway. It's very "be a muscle-y god, but then also help the old lady across the street." Or, "beat the crap out of each other, but make sure you're learning so you can defend yourself and others."

It's really just a different paradigm. I was never taught (till coming here) to be a loving person. Just that service was a part of being a Jedi and to do it.

Connor,
I think you've made a pretty accurate description. Back then, we were free to speak our minds, passionately, because at the end of the day, we were still all friends. One argument or disagreement didn't create a standing grudge. When people met in RL at Gatherings, the focus was training and comaraderie and so differences and previous arguments were oft forgiven or forgotten. Yeah, in discussion and in training, we were sometimes rough, because the real world is rough not because we were mean-spirited or "out to get people". I look out on the community now and I find it difficult to discern its purpose. Its knights, what is their measure in a SHTF situation? What have they really trained for, under stress, under durress? Yeah.... different time, different focus.

-Mindas Ar'ran

Kit,

I'll clarify. You're right, the WHOLE Jedi community was not like that back then. But, I never saw the version of Jedi you're talking about. I feel as though a large portion (at least 40-50%) of the community was more open and honest about our personalities. Nowadays, when I call somebody out, I get ostracized because I wasn't considerate of their feelings. People have very thin skin in the modern Jedi community. It's part of the reason I resigned all of my posts and I no longer teach Jediism.

Mindas,

Yes indeed. Just because we were rough doesn't mean we didn't love each other. I think we've compartmentalized love to mean only the gushy special snowflake kind of affection. Respect, nowadays, means to be reserved and attentive to everybody's needs. I miss the days when respect meant to honor everybody's needs, but also that each individual had a responsibility to understand that everybody has their own needs and desires. In other words, in the old days I could be myself. Now, we have to alter our communication to suit the needs of everybody. This same problem has come up in other fields. The best example is like with the political correctness of food accommodation. It is considered rude, nowadays, to not serve vegetarian or vegan or gluten free options. While I do believe it is a nice thing to do, and I would love to serve vegan/veggie/gluten free options at my functions, being EXPECTED to do it (under threat of ostracizing or severe, belligerent verbal abuse) is just. blech.

Militant politeness is just as bad as a disregard for people's needs.

I want a healthy balance back.

Trisskar wrote:

Jestor wrote: It feels like bragging, or defensive when it is brought up in other ways... To ME, not that it does to anyone else....

Why is it important?

Where you see Bragging and Defensiveness. And others see Ego

I see Reference Points and Scitations. Either for the Authors own benafit or the readers.

Just because the past of someone isn't important to you.....dosn't mean it dosn't hold great importance to the person remember it. I mention it all the time. Never Ever Ever has it been to Brag. To be Defensive. Or to be Egotistic. It has always been a reference point in my piss poor attempt to get my point's and views across.

I suck at communication. I freely admit it.

But it dosn't do anyone any good to always assume that means I have ill intentions because of it.

Just talking...

Its why I reach out via PM to people to know them....

Um, Ren, Gisteron, Knapsack, Hannigan, Kitsu/Trisskar, Linda's...

We've all butted heads, and I like them all...

After the conversation gets private, things are different..

As the main "ban hammer", to be fair, I have too...

I can't say im always unbiased, but im as fair as I can be....

Its not an assumption of; "ill intentions", as it is, to me, well, just pointless.... lol...

Yes, I do think it is "of great importance" to the person who says it...

By that definition, and used as it is, it feels like some kind of logic fallacy....

Like, "my word means much due to my time in the community"...

Im just talking, I hope no one is taking it personally...

I mention it all the time. Never Ever Ever has it been to Brag. To be Defensive. Or to be Egotistic. It has always been a reference point in my piss poor attempt to get my point's and views across.

Lol....

"Purple is best, in my 10 years in the community, I've always thought so"

All "t-i-c" is, is weight to an arguement.... Weight that only holds water for some....

I don't know how to see it any other way... :huh:...

I mean, unless we are just chatting about it...



~sent from the Hitchhiker's Guide, inside my GalaxyS7~

FA doesn't teach you to be Thor muscle-y go out and clean the side of the road.

But we are about service. Our knights are consistent of:

1) Former MP trying to now get a thing together to teach people about being Stronger American Citizens while playing a balancing act to get her college degree
2) Former Army Comms guy that teaches Martial Arts and inspires his students to be more confident in themselves
3) A Former Police Officer that is working on become
4) A Psychologist
5) A Former Railway worker that worked hard to put himself in positions of authority to ensure the safety of his fellow workers, and is now pursuing a college education.
6) A woman that works with her church to help others
7) A retired UK cop
The Founder and Owner of a Sobriety business out of Sedona
9) A Vulcan Musician that is currently learning how to become a Jedi Mystic so that she can better help others in the community (but she's been a huge part of the community for years).

Our knights do stuff with their life, or at least try to keep it up. Little service stuff like picking up stuff on the side of the road? That sounds like something IJRS promotes. Not the other orders. Even JK promoted interacting with other people for service projects, not environmental.