FlameKeeping: Discussion of the Week - 27Mar12 through 2Apr12

[veggiewolf]

This week, we wanted to try something different. Rather than giving everyone two foundation essays to read and then a set of writing prompts, we're going to ask you to apply FlameKeeping to a specific topic...without the essays for support.

The Mistakes we Make

As human beings, we all make mistakes. And, most of us are about as eager to discuss those mistakes with others as we are eager to have a root canal. But, mistakes are a learning opportunity. The mistakes we make can actually enrich our Dark Flame if we're able to apply the lessons learned to life.

With that in mind, here are this week's questions:

(1) How willing are you to discuss your mistakes? What do you think will happen if you do?

(2) Are your mistakes practical in nature? Spiritual? What can be learned from them?

(3) What is one mistake you made recently? What did you learn from it? Do you think discussing it might benefit anyone else?

[Devo]

This week, we wanted to try something different. Rather than giving everyone two foundation essays to read and then a set of writing prompts, we're going to ask you to apply FlameKeeping to a specific topic...without the essays for support. :D

I like this idea, I think it will help to apply FK concepts more. We should try this more often <3

(1) How willing are you to discuss your mistakes? What do you think will happen if you do?

I am willing to discuss my mistakes. I'm fairly open about my practices, if asked. I don't always bring it up on my own, but I will answer if asked. I don't think anything will happen necessarily if I talk about my mistakes. Maybe someone will learn from them, maybe they won't.

(2) Are your mistakes practical in nature? Spiritual? What can be learned from them?

I'm not sure. I suppose it's a bit of both. I've ignored gods, gotten the wrong idea about them. I've ranted on about particular groups and sects of my religion without really thinking first. I've picked fights for no reason. I've stirred the pot for no other reason than I was bored... it kinda runs the gamut. I suppose the biggest thing that could be learned from me is tolerance. Learning to live and let live and to not stick noses where they need not be.

(3) What is one mistake you made recently? What did you learn from it? Do you think discussing it might benefit anyone else?

I almost ignored good advice that was given to me not only from my therapist, but from several close friends. I let my mind tell me that it knew better, despite the fact that it didn't. I learned that I can't always trust what I think I know. That sometimes I'm wrong, and sometimes my brain is wrong. Sometimes you need to do things that don't always sound like they'll work. You need to be open. Yes, I thought discussing it would help, hence why i wrote a blog post on it

I feel that mistakes in general are good for all of us. They help us to learn, help us to grow. Our biggest failures can lay the foundations for our greatest successes. It does none of us any good to beat ourselves up unnecessarily over our mistakes.

And on a similar note: http://www.urbansamurai.com/2010/11/reaction-disgrace/

-Devo

[earth_dragon]

This week, we wanted to try something different...

This is a very cool idea. But I'll have to get back to it a bit later. Have to run off to the gym for my first assessment. EEP! I'll get back to this soon as I can.

[earth_dragon]

This week, we wanted to try something different. Rather than giving everyone two foundation essays to read and then a set of writing prompts, we're going to ask you to apply FlameKeeping to a specific topic...without the essays for support.

The Mistakes we Make

As human beings, we all make mistakes. And, most of us are about as eager to discuss those mistakes with others as we are eager to have a root canal. But, mistakes are a learning opportunity. The mistakes we make can actually enrich our Dark Flame if we're able to apply the lessons learned to life.

With that in mind, here are this week's questions:

(1) How willing are you to discuss your mistakes? What do you think will happen if you do?

I'm very willing and even eager to discuss my mistakes. Sometimes I have a difficult time pinpointing what they are on my own, so I know I do best when I'm discussing them with someone else. That's just how I learn best in general, thru discussion.

(2) Are your mistakes practical in nature? Spiritual? What can be learned from them?

I would say mostly practical, tho, of course, I've made my share of spiritual mistakes as well. What is learned from them all depends on what kind of mistake was made to begin with. Learning from a spiritual mistake isn't really going to translate *too* much into learning from a plumbing mistake. I think there are just some lessons that everyone needs to learn in general, tho they don't necessarily have to come thru mistakes. Patience is incredibly important, and it was one of those things I had to work at learning for a very long time. But now that I have that lesson, I can apply it to both my spiritual life, and to practical things like plumbing problems. Carrying a positive attitude is something else that can be applied both spiritually and practically, but it's something many people have to *learn* how to do.

(3) What is one mistake you made recently? What did you learn from it? Do you think discussing it might benefit anyone else?

I'm still having to learn how to deal with relationships; specifically, I'm having to learn when someone else is just having a bad day and when it's a personal attack on me. I'm not good at telling those things apart. So I try to ask a lot of questions. But sometimes I jump the gun, forget the questions, and my emotions take over. That happened recently with my fiance and we had a rather large fight. We determined later that *both* of us were at fault. But I know I didn't help things. Some things I did ok on, but others I really messed up. But both of us talked a lot about it, and we tried to determine where the other stood on each issue, how it made each of us feel and why. We took a great deal of time to communicate.

[Annie Roonie]

With that in mind, here are this week's questions:

(1) How willing are you to discuss your mistakes? What do you think will happen if you do?

I usually have to acknowledge them both at work and at home. At work there are so many people holding me accountable that I start off my telling them that I make 100 mistakes before breakfast, and it is their job to correct me. At home I am alone so there is nobody else save the cats. So mistakes stand out as mine. If I make a spiritual mistake or a mistake online, I'd like to admit them and learn, but there are only a few places they will be pointed out. Usually what happens involves a kind of forgiveness.

(2) Are your mistakes practical in nature? Spiritual? What can be learned from them?

I almost wrote that my mistakes are practical in nature; however, even as I thought it I wondered how the heck I could assume that.

Sometimes a mistake teaches far more than the content of the error, so a good many things can be learned. I've learned how other people handle my admissions and that helps in understanding how to work with those people.

When a mistake is a character flaw of mine, it's harder to admit and let go. And when the opportunity is gone to do so, as with misjudging a person, I've often thought the lack of closure was a kind of punishment for the mistake. So I do learn about myself and it directs me about how to grow.

(3) What is one mistake you made recently? What did you learn from it? Do you think discussing it might benefit anyone else?

A practical mistake I made recently was to ignore the flyers sent from my cable company. I assumed they were trying to sell me some extra service as they usually are. But two of them were supposedly about signing up for a new 2 year service agreement by default if I did not respond. I did not respond and was signed on for two years of incredibly expensive service that I don't want or need. I learned that I should hold on to my cynicism about corporations and read the dang junk mail before tossing it. I do think discussing things like that are valuable to others as customers united can often make changes happen.

Spiritual mistakes are harder as I have very few people with whom I can even begin to discuss such things. I do not know the dynamics involved with such discussions, so I am not sure if it would be helpful. Some other errors occur in studies or in writing at such an involved place in a journey or problem, that by the time I'd mapped the way to the mistake, I'd be alone again.

Personal mistakes in relationships are things I learn from, and, more often than not, wish that I had not lost so much time for the lessons learned. Some of those lessons are easy to say and acknowledge (like "he's just not into you") but understanding their profound nature is something that cannot be done without the experience of failure. Unfortunately.