White paint

by zed is dead 10 Replies latest jw friends

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  zed is dead

  White Paint

  I remember in Junior High School asking a question that really pissed my Science teacher off. We were talking about color. We discussed that white is the presence of all light in the color spectrum. Black was the absence of light. That made sense to me.

  Then we shifted to talking about paint, where black is the presence of all color mixed together. My comment that he had a problem with was: "How do you make white paint?" He thought I was just being a smart ass, but that question came back into my mind this morning.

  Of course the answer is that you need a base paint devoid of color. That is what I need in my life right now. I tried in the past to completely recolor my life after leaving the religion, but there were still tinges of very ugly colors mixed in with the base. Negative personal messages about myself, from both the religion and people in my past, kept me from building on a pure white base.

  Since I left, people and circumstances have helped to color my life. I have had friends enter my life, that have added many beautiful colors to the mix; and I will be forever grateful to them for the joy and beauty I find in them, and the hues of their friendship and love.

  I have also had others that brought beautiful color into my life, but then took a huge dump in the paint. This fecal matter mixed with the negative tinges of my past, to ruin the majestic color my life should be.

  I currently have none of the people with loose bowels in my life anymore. Ultimate closure has been achieved through life circumstances. I can define what that closure is, and have. I can leave them with peace, and in peace; as that is what I choose to do.

  The problem is I still have to get the poop out of my paint! I do not want that to flavor my life in my current and future relationships. I want the love that I emit to my loved ones to be shit-free.

  We all have baggage, and I certainly do not expect those close to me to be perfect. Some of them are still having to deal with people pooping all over their lives. I have sincere empathy and love for them, as I know the pain that they are experiencing first hand. I would love to rescue them from the poopers in their lives, but it is beyond my abilities. I just want to radiate pure love to them, devoid of my current self being jaded by harmful experiences from my past.

  So what do I do? Do I scrape the dross off of the current mix, or do I start over with a fresh batch of pure white base paint? I don't know. All I know is that I want to be as pure as possible, and not be influenced by ugliness from my past. I want to distribute beautiful colors without the tinges, to those I care deeply about.

  zed
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  Tylinbrando

  I like that post very much.

  Paint is so tricky. I've painted over so many dried colors with white paint and still some of those colors underneath show through with time. Maybe I just need more white paint? Or a high quality white paint with a stain blocker?

  Some of the most valuable paintings in the world have been painted over with white paint and then the new painting layered on top.....

  What is buried underneath the white paint is sometimes the most valuable part of a masterpiece.
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  King Solomon

  Remember that paint relies on it's color via selective REFLECTION of the ambient light, i.e. it absorbs ALL wavelength of light EXCEPT the one that we perceive as it's color.

  eg If the color of the object (say, painted blue) is not present in the ambient light (eg sodium halide street lights put out yellow light), then the paint color won't appear blue, but BLACK.

  The story is different when you're talking about creating light by mixing wavelengths, which is where white light is all wavelengths.

  Just a bit of scientific correctness for you, since you want to build an analogy with it. :)

  All I know is that I want to be as pure as possible, and not be influenced by ugliness from my past. I want to distribute beautiful colors without the tinges, to those I care deeply about.

  So, just do it. You don't need to build a metaphor to do it, just do it. :)

  Of course the answer is that you need a base paint devoid of color. That is what I need in my life right now.

  Nope, I diagree. You cannot change the past, but you DO need to be aware that what you perceive IS tainted by prior experiences, and hence you really should re-evaluate everything, not denying that your basic assumptions MAY be flawed.

  I think denying our past is a mistake, rather than accepting it and learning from it. Just accept it as a lesson you learned, a step you took that even if wrong was a step YOU took, and one that got you to where you are today. You wouldn't be the you of todaqy without that being you in the past.
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  MC RubberMallet

  I currently have none of the people with loose bowels in my life anymore. Ultimate closure has been achieved

  Awesome!
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  OnTheWayOut

  I love analogies, use them all the time. I used them even more as a JW to give talks. I learned that they can be over analyzed (in this case, stress the "anal) and not fit.

  Do you have to be 100% free of your past to provide the right colorful answers and attitudes to people now? I confidently say no because we are not like tainted paint. We can filter out some of our tainting. Some can do it better than others. Often, we cannot provide what people need unless we have negative experiences to reflect from.

  Still, freeing ourselves of further negative influences is a great thing for our own selves. I just wanted you to know that you benefit one of your friends with your experience.
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  zed is dead

  KS,

  "The crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe."

  The above is a quote from one of my favorite musicians, and very apropos.

  zed
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  King Solomon

  OTWO said:

  Do you have to be 100% free of your past to provide the right colorful answers and attitudes to people now? I confidently say no because we are not like tainted paint.

  And that's the point I was trying to make (but OTWO made it better):

  Analogies (and parables) are a favorite rhetorical teaching device of Jesus (and is probably something you've accepted as a valid approach, without even thinking about it!), but thinking in analogous terms can be limiting when your "model" (paint) includes intrinsic limitations that end up handicapping your life. As OTWO said, we are NOT like paint, and accepting that model places non-existent limitations on you.
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  zed is dead

  I understand that past experience is important, in fact experience in reality is a thing of true value. The whole thing is to learn from it, and not let negativity taint your worldview and emotions. It gives me the ability to have empathy.

  I do choose to strain out the major emotional crap. It is not beneficial to anyone, including me. It is a part of healing.

  zed
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  grumblecakes

  the answer is: screw the paint! burn the f**ker down!!!!!!! BURN IT!

  quick, who knows what this is from...

  "only after disaster can we be resurrected. its only after youve lost everything, thatyoure free to do any thing."
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  Tylinbrando

  Fight Club