Hey Dudes,
Just some rainy day mindwanderings. I'm curious about everybody's take on this.
Seems to me that a couple of areas on this here forum have been quite busy of late. "Over the line" and "What's that smell" have been alive in the last several weeks with the musings of many of us Dudes. Lots of conversation about Islam and politics of all sorts. And that's cool, that's cool.
But we're all Dudeists here, which means, I presume, that we're interested above all in absorbing ourselves in the art of abiding, keeping the mind limber, taking 'er easy, and well, you know? And it strikes me that much of the activity on the aforementioned boards has the potential to piss on the rug of our collective ethos, if you let it. I'm not saying it shouldn't be talked about (far from it), just pointing out an obvious feature of the conversation.
So, it raises an inneresting question (parts, anyway). The question is about indulging the Inner Walter. We've all got one and we all can be real reactionaries in our own way. When I read some of the stuff that's been posted, I feel my Inner Walter AND his dirty undies getting all worked up. But for me anyway, part of the Dudeist way of life is to realize that my Inner Walter is living in the past. He's overreacting and, in the end, not really accomplishing anything. He's got a limited frame of reference, man, and he seems to lose sight of the whole durned human comedy.
So, for me, being a dudeist means accepting the Inner Walter, but not indulging him. Saving my energy for the finals and not worrying about the low-brow intimidation techniques of Jesus and Quintana.
What's your take? How does the Inner Walter fit into your Dudeist lifestyle?
Peace.
Walter wasn't all bad, he had some good characteristics such as loyalty and he had balls. Sometimes I think he gets too bad of a rap. He also stood up for his rights, man. In a pinch, he might be a good dude to have on your side, crazy fuck that he was.
DB, that reminds me of my uncle. His job involved, um, some organized associates. My mother and others had a problem with a real jackhole at work. My uncle offered to send a couple associates down to take care of the problem since he had no ties to our area. He meant well, but it was funny when my mother realized what he was saying.
Yeah, could be, but didn't he always end up fucking things up? I'm thinking through the movie, and trying to remember if any of his reactionary methods ever solved anything? Maybe he helped with the nihilists in the parking lot, but the rest of it - throwing out the ringer, handling Larry Sellers, calling out Smokey - none of it actually accomplished anything -- in fact, it had the opposite effect, making things worse than they needed to be.
Just asking for the sake of argument, Dude. Couldn't Walter be a cautionary tale about how uptight thinking fucks the whole drned thing up?
Quote from: DigitalBuddha on June 10, 2013, 07:12:58 PM
Walter wasn't all bad, he had some good characteristics such as loyalty and he had balls. Sometimes I think he gets too bad of a rap. He also stood up for his rights, man. In a pinch, he might be a good dude to have on your side, crazy fuck that he was.
Quote from: MindAbiding on June 10, 2013, 08:23:28 PM
Yeah, could be, but didn't he always end up fucking things up? I'm thinking through the movie, and trying to remember if any of his reactionary methods ever solved anything? Maybe he helped with the nihilists in the parking lot, but the rest of it - throwing out the ringer, handling Larry Sellers, calling out Smokey - none of it actually accomplished anything -- in fact, it had the opposite effect, making things worse than they needed to be.
Just asking for the sake of argument, Dude. Couldn't Walter be a cautionary tale about how uptight thinking fucks the whole drned thing up?
Quote from: DigitalBuddha on June 10, 2013, 07:12:58 PM
Walter wasn't all bad, he had some good characteristics such as loyalty and he had balls. Sometimes I think he gets too bad of a rap. He also stood up for his rights, man. In a pinch, he might be a good dude to have on your side, crazy fuck that he was.
No doubt he had his faults, I think he reminds us of how we all can be sometimes. No such thing as a perfect dude I would say.
I won't say my Inner Walter has never been prevalent in my life. When I was younger and dumber I was more Walter then anything else. Smallest slights or issues were met with an over the top reaction that brought about not pleasant results.
But I've calmed. I've turned away from that aspect and have come to embrace the more Dude side of things. I don't let stuff get to me, I try to defuse situations more often then not. Even friends and family and acquaintances at the oat soda watering holes have noticed. But Walter is still there. He's calmed but he's still there. Standing un-noticed in the back of the room, patiently surveying the scene and assessing the situation to see if this will necessitate a reaction from him.
The key I've found is the balance. Well not even balance, maybe a 1/4 split. Dude most of the time, but if they've pissed on my rug and it warrants Walter Sobchak coming out of retirement, it will happen.
I don't know if it's just the way I was raised, upbringing or what has happened in my formative years of life, but even while going through Dudeism, trying to live the way, I still believe that all men still need to have that bit of Walter in their lifestyles. No I'm not saying pull a gun, mark it zero, but the side of the dude that can put his foot down, stare someone in the eye and say "No".
As much as you need to let things go, let everyone do their own thing, and let life go on, in some situations, mostly while attempting to get the monkey off your back in the corporate world, you need that streak of Walter to push back against those who would walk all over your Dudely side and take advantage of it.
Just like the yin and the yang, it should be the Dude and the Sobchak, and knowing which situation calls for which side of the spectrum.
(http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk277/Teutonic_Knight_Funnay/Album%202/dudesobchak_zps2397b464.jpg~original)
Sorry for the horrible MS Paint skills by the way lol
Yeah - I think I need all this because my inner Walter is too strong (does it help that my my name is Walter?). Balance would be good...
Quote from: vlodko62 on June 11, 2013, 11:56:44 AM
Yeah - I think I need all this because my inner Walter is too strong (does it help that my my name is Walter?). Balance would be good...
Good to have you abide here, vlodko62. Welcome to dude-topia, grab a lane, an oat soda and roll with the rest of us, dude! Bars' over there, mang!
Quote from: MindAbiding on June 10, 2013, 04:01:48 PM
Hey Dudes,
Just some rainy day mindwanderings. I'm curious about everybody's take on this.
Seems to me that a couple of areas on this here forum have been quite busy of late. "Over the line" and "What's that smell" have been alive in the last several weeks with the musings of many of us Dudes. Lots of conversation about Islam and politics of all sorts. And that's cool, that's cool.
But we're all Dudeists here, which means, I presume, that we're interested above all in absorbing ourselves in the art of abiding, keeping the mind limber, taking 'er easy, and well, you know? And it strikes me that much of the activity on the aforementioned boards has the potential to piss on the rug of our collective ethos, if you let it. I'm not saying it shouldn't be talked about (far from it), just pointing out an obvious feature of the conversation.
So, it raises an inneresting question (parts, anyway). The question is about indulging the Inner Walter. We've all got one and we all can be real reactionaries in our own way. When I read some of the stuff that's been posted, I feel my Inner Walter AND his dirty undies getting all worked up. But for me anyway, part of the Dudeist way of life is to realize that my Inner Walter is living in the past. He's overreacting and, in the end, not really accomplishing anything. He's got a limited frame of reference, man, and he seems to lose sight of the whole durned human comedy.
So, for me, being a dudeist means accepting the Inner Walter, but not indulging him. Saving my energy for the finals and not worrying about the low-brow intimidation techniques of Jesus and Quintana.
What's your take? How does the Inner Walter fit into your Dudeist lifestyle?
Peace.
Some good insights dude. I like your style... that is, to let our inner Walter be a part of our past. I hope you stick around our little beach community here dude, maybe some topless trampoline girls will show up if we're all nice to each other. ;-)
Much obliged, Hominid dude!
The inneresting thing about the Inner Walter is that it's not living in the present. Much of the time it's living in the past, but it can also be lurking in the future or in some alternative reality (the way we'd like things to be). The point is that because the Inner Walter is fighting with reality (that's why he's so outraged, Man), he's not actually living with the world as it is.
Now, perhaps he feels justified in doing just that (thousands of years of beautiful history and all of that), but one thing's for sure, it's tough to Abide if you're resisting things as they are.
I suffered a spell of "Walterism" as my wife was going through chemotherapy for breast cancer. Paranoid, anxious, jacked up all the time, for no damn good reason at all. Tried taking medicine for it, tried drinking it out a bit, finally found some catharsis in an un-looked-for place, and suddenly it mostly went away.
I realized I was spending worry on things outside my control, and even holding a handgun to fate wouldn't have stopped it. Like a twig, it snapped in my head that I was being very un-dude, and while not easy, I had to give myself permission to not worry about the scoreboard, and let it just flow. My inner dude may have just saved my soul, because it was getting ugly there for a while.
Some people come here for the joke, some people mean it. I find myself building my core philosophy on dude-ish themes, because the Brothers who penned this all down in the first place had some awesome perspective and inspiration. I am grateful for that, and for the place I've gotten to since then.
Quote from: MindAbiding on June 10, 2013, 04:01:48 PM
But for me anyway, part of the Dudeist way of life is to realize that my Inner Walter is living in the past.
Living in the past and always worrying about a future that is, at best, unknown. An inability to live in the moment and abide.
Yup. That's me. As much as I tell myself to stay in the moment I find myself dredging up old shit or worrying about shit that hasn't happened yet. The former brings on the old familiar fear and because of who I am I can't let someone else see that I'm scared so I cover that fear with anger thinking that it will make me look more manly.
All that money wasted on therapy. I could have just gone bowling and downed a few oat sodas.
Oh please, dear? For your information, the Supreme Court has roundly rejected prior restraint.
Man, I love his place. Where else can people who just wanna abide and have a good life come and share their similar experiences with life's travesties? I got nothing to add really, except just be you man. be a good person and be good to others, but if someone pisses on your rug you have every right to go a bit Walter on them. A little Walter is ok if'n it's warranted.