Etherial Cat

Becoming president doesn't necessarily give you the cards to do all the move you wish for. You've got to compose with existing forces and be strategic. Obama was supported by the democrats. The democrat electorate and its big donors are overwhelmingly white. While more open-minded, I'm certain that taking strong measures to try to undo systemic racism could have been widely unpopular. It's even likely to have fueled the Republicans. Imagine the shitstorm that would have come from actively trying to push reparations, affirmative actions and other type of strong anti-racist campaigns. Not to mention that even without that, Obama's presidency didn't have the chance to have a collaborative house due to the Rep blocking most of his policies.

? I'd be dying to see the Californian version as well.

It comes straight out of a think tank or from folks with sharp political knowledge. They play that target audience like a fiddle. It's clear they have a fine understanding of its psychology, values and how to emotionally manipulate it. If you'd have told me to make a parody of what would be the perfect political add for republic texans, it would have been very close to this. It's quite disturbing to see how cynical these politicians can be. That's pure devilry.

@NOTintoxicated yup. I wonder how come he's been posting there for so long.

Hmm. I would say it definitely contributes to do so. I picture the structure as a container for the content. You can get good result to disidentify the consciousness by working on the structure or on changing the content. For instance, when you are watching your thoughts you're doing both a work on the structure and on the content.

@soos_mite_ah You're wonderful. I'm getting so excited for the future of humanity when I'm reading such a thoughtful and smart youngster.

I would say energy. There is both a rigidity to it in the form of structure and then there is some sort of tainted consciousness content in it. At least, this is how I picture it.

It depends what type of vulnerability we are talking about, I guess. If you take for instance Eckhart Tolle as he's offering us his authentic self without passing by a persona he's being vulnerable from a certain perspective. But at the same time he can do it because he's so well grounded in his true nature that he has become unshakable. I think the authentic self is what we are on the soul level. Or if not directly, perhaps it is the natural expression of our personality when all traumas are removed. At least this is what I meant by it.

No, it wouldn't be ego. Our true nature is openness and vulnerability. But this is most of the time obsfuscated by layers and layers of ego to protect our nakedness when we aren't able to trust others. Have a look at how enlightened masters are for illustration. Also, without being enlightened some people do not have tons of traumas over their authentic self and are more wired toward this openness than others.

It depends what you mean by "telling what to do in bed" I suppose. There are varying degrees when it comes to how you could interpret these words. I surely need to keep a certain amount of autonomy so I can basically do "my art". Of course, this could make me crazy. I have no problem with the display of masculine energy. But as I see lovemaking as an interplay between the masculine and the feminine, I would not enjoy a cascade of order or a recurring pattern of just being told what to do. It seems that I just really don't have this kink. Being objectified for me would be the moment when I'd lose what I need to feel comfortable. It is really what happens when you're not considered anymore as a person but just as body without any care for who you are and how you are feeling. There is a loss of connection and view of how you are doing. In my case, I find this type of sex and behavior repulsive. Not only on my end, but also on the guy's end. To me, it shows what I'd perceive as a loss of control of his impulse and a break of my trust. But close to that, there is the feeling to surrender to a man's lust and passion for your body while being subjectified. I might be a bit twisted, but I really like it when I see a man battle up to stay in control of himself while being overwhelmed by lust. There is something powerful which emanate from seeing a man fly close to the threshold between his pleasure and being excessive on me. It's a bit like the metaphor Emerald used with the lion tamer and the lion. I feel like the perfect partner would be showing up an awesome show of lion taming and lion behavior. Yes, I have already watched this video. I just believe that these part are ego and the authentic self always wants to be seen.

Before there are social constructs, there is a reality for the mind to assign meaning on. The way I perceive the feminine/masculine duality is that it is the human manifestation of a duality which is present all across the universe. The relative is made out of opposite. These opposites are the dichotomy which allow us to conceive notions as such as up or down, left and right, feminine and masculine etc. Also, I would say that the average stage Green would tend to perceive masculine and feminine as sole social construct with no empirical ground.

My stance on that is that females can resonate with this especially due to integrated patterns of internalized misogyny. But there are also elements that are just the interplay between the feminine and the masculine. In my case, I'm especially put off from objectification (though I appreciate being desired) and what she calls the power of threat and discipline. And i'm torn about the point one. If I'd feel that the order isn't having a deeper echo within me or the energy is off, the odds are good that I'd either laugh or get mad. Her last point seems also like there is a strong dichotomy between her ego self and her authentic self. Ideally both are merged or at least not at odds. I am having a hard time seeing how coherent it is to enjoy being objectified and then being seen and understood beneath the walls if not for an inner split. A lot of that domination thing is the sexual replay of subconscious power dynamics.

I can try, sure. It's a connection on the existential level, which includes room for transcendence. Instead of being wired towards the usual ego game dynamic, the relationship is wired towards Truth and Love come what may. Most relationships I've seen are rather superficial because none is doing proper self-actualization work. Often, they aren't necessarily compatible on a deeper energetic level. As a consequence, there is a lot of work to be done in order to "maintain" the thing going, because the reality is that these people got together because they want something from each other. Also, both play roles with themselves and with each other. The connection I'm talking about is wired toward authenticity, knowledge of self, wisdom and thus just allows for deeper intimacy. There is little overlay between both individual.

Thanks for writing this extremely valuable post @tsuki. The only thing I would like to comment is that if it's true that gaslighting is a defense mechanism on the end of the gaslighter, it is also an offense mechanism on the receiving end. In a nutshell, what is so problematic about it is that is keeps the gaslit in a position of being routinely hurt, which prevents their healing. And the gaslit can rarely just substract itself from the influence of the gaslighter, because the gaslighter leverage various power move and means to keep the gaslit into the desired position. So before any type of healing can occur, it is important that the gaslit escape the reach of the gaslighter so its attack on him/her stops. In general, having social norms enforced as such as through justice or even policing shouldn't be overlooked as a mean to stop the flux of brutality through neutralization. It's true that justice (at least not the retributive type) won't help heal the trauma but it can make it stop by enforcing boundaries between an oppressor and an oppressed. And tell the oppressor he's been out of social standards. I also do totally agree on the fact that abusers and narcissist are deeply traumatized individuals. And instead of being vilified they should be absolutely helped and understood. But the violence needs to taken cared wherever it currently occurs in the social chain to stop further trauma on victims, which could then also end up traumatized and going through the circle after integrating stress. So an abuser, whether he is been both a bully and bullied, needs first to be neutralized if he's bullying and then healed.

As I see it, gaslighting occurs when someone doesn't want to acknowledge someone's truth or free will, because something is at stake for him/her. It's a power move which includes re-writing and controlling the narrative in order to strip the person being gaslit from its sense of reality and get it to conform to an expected behavior. What is really at stake is a battle for power and sens making. Through the gaslighting, the person is trying to shape and define reality. The main issue will be to recognize the pattern, because the gaslighter will deny its gaslighting through self-deception or ill intent.

Yet, the best way to be God-Like as a woman and match your man would be to Love him enough to let him go. If the relationship breaks at this point, it means that something which can't be worked on is tearing it apart. Most of the time, this would be an unresolved personal issue that can only be deal with on the level of the individual. The other can't do it for him/her. Or just plain realities limitation as Life unfolds. Often, it's both. Maybe the more God-Like you become, and the easier it is to accept that all good things come to an end. Ideally you'd Love during the relationship, and you'd Love the person as it goes. I mean, what makes separation difficult is the ego and a lack of perspective. And obviously, it's desire to possess. If you'd be with such a God-Like person, it's quite likely that anyway the whole relationship would have been an efficient training to its conclusion. Intimacy with a highly developed human, guided by the principe of Love, would be realistically one of the best teaching one could have to get more conscious. But yes, I mean, like Shakespeare said it well "These violent delights have violent ends". Welcome to the relative.