The Secret Lives of Losers

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Thaibebop
Posts: 287
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2009 8:37 pm

The Secret Lives of Losers

Post by Thaibebop »

Hello,
Some might have remembered that I was curious over the problem of the need to create and the ego that drives it. Well, I have resolved to try to let the creative happen and am asking for your help in this endeavor. I trust this community to understand what I am looking for and to treat this with respect as it should be. Also, understand that I am using this as inspiration for stories I wish to write.

I am looking for stories of the unseen lives of those who society considers losers. I use this harsh term so that you can understand what I am looking for, those people who are given blatant disrespect because of their position in life or the condition of their minds and/or bodies or for some other reason. Please forgive this example, it is trite and overly simplistic, but a young woman who is ugly and awkward, yet paints beautifully, or is a care taker to the sick and dying. My idea sounds cliche, I know, but I wish to add depth to this and need more real life examples as well as other people's views on such people. My experience in life is limited, so while I can understand and empathize with such characters as I am creating, I have not met many of them in my time. I also do not wish to use examples in popular film, news, books, or other sorts of media. Funny, painful, sad, happy ending or not, whatever the case many be I want this to be as real as I can make it.

Thank you in advance to all those who share or even take the time to read this. :namaste:
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manas
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Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: The Secret Lives of Losers

Post by manas »

The trouble is that in the end, everyone becomes a 'loser'. The miserable person's miserable life comes to an end, and the happy person's happy life comes to an end. They both end up as 'losers'. So whether one likes the life they got dealt, or loathes it, one still needs to let go of identifying with it as 'I' or 'mine', because either way such identification will lead to suffering, either in the present or in the future.

Even along the way, there is no-one, no matter how overtly happy and successful, who does not have some hidden pain that others don't see. There is no-one untouched by dukkha, as far as I know.

:anjali:
To the Buddha-refuge i go; to the Dhamma-refuge i go; to the Sangha-refuge i go.
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Thaibebop
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Re: The Secret Lives of Losers

Post by Thaibebop »

Not quite what I meant. I want to tell stories of people that society deems worthless but show their hidden value to either society or to other individuals. I am not trying to show a hidden pain, but beauty.
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rowboat
Posts: 700
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Location: Brentwood Bay

Re: The Secret Lives of Losers

Post by rowboat »

The kindest person I know is an authentic hermit who lives alone in the rough wilderness not very far from here. He's very tall and thin with that patrician British air about him. I met the man fifteen years ago, long before he decided to completely abandon human-kind. When I met him he'd recently suffered a complete nervous breakdown while working on his PhD in some branch of mathematics. I was walking along the beach while he was cooking his dinner of beans on a small fire. He was easier to talk to then, less frightened by the world, and we got along very well. I'd often go to visit him at his camp on the beach, and while sitting by a little blaze I'd ask him to point out the various constellations or he would patiently attempt to explain points of cosmology to me. He'd read a lot of religious material so often we'd also talk about Ramana Maharshi and Krishnamurti. R has one of those very soft accents from the North of England that are a true pleasure to listen to. But this is where all the the overly-romanticized notions must end. My dear friend invariably has some horrible infection ravaging his mouth and gums, from his decaying teeth, and he's totally obstinate to any possibility of getting them looked after. Some day one of these infections will reach his brain. His closest neighbours being large bears and mountain lions, one day he will succumb to a serious infection, and one of these animals will then feed on his body. Or the ravens will eat him.

He's such a kind man. Terrific sense of humour. He's brilliant. With the mildest eyes I've ever seen. I think he nicely fits your definition, although personally I would never use that word, even ironically. It's a word that burns.

:candle:
Rain soddens what is covered up,
It does not sodden what is open.
Therefore uncover what is covered
That the rain will not sodden it.
Ud 5.5
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Thaibebop
Posts: 287
Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2009 8:37 pm

Re: The Secret Lives of Losers

Post by Thaibebop »

rowboat wrote:The kindest person I know is an authentic hermit who lives alone in the rough wilderness not very far from here. He's very tall and thin with that patrician British air about him. I met the man fifteen years ago, long before he decided to completely abandon human-kind. When I met him he'd recently suffered a complete nervous breakdown while working on his PhD in some branch of mathematics. I was walking along the beach while he was cooking his dinner of beans on a small fire. He was easier to talk to then, less frightened by the world, and we got along very well. I'd often go to visit him at his camp on the beach, and while sitting by a little blaze I'd ask him to point out the various constellations or he would patiently attempt to explain points of cosmology to me. He'd read a lot of religious material so often we'd also talk about Ramana Maharshi and Krishnamurti. R has one of those very soft accents from the North of England that are a true pleasure to listen to. But this is where all the the overly-romanticized notions must end. My dear friend invariably has some horrible infection ravaging his mouth and gums, from his decaying teeth, and he's totally obstinate to any possibility of getting them looked after. Some day one of these infections will reach his brain. His closest neighbours being large bears and mountain lions, one day he will succumb to a serious infection, and one of these animals will then feed on his body. Or the ravens will eat him.

He's such a kind man. Terrific sense of humour. He's brilliant. With the mildest eyes I've ever seen. I think he nicely fits your definition, although personally I would never use that word, even ironically. It's a word that burns.

:candle:
Thank you for sharing. Yes, this is what I am looking for. Thank you. :namaste:
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Ben
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Location: kanamaluka

Re: The Secret Lives of Losers

Post by Ben »

Hi Thaibebop

I think you'll find that, if your society is anything like Australian society - the current form of social pariah in popular consciousness comes in the form of smokers, alcoholics, the drug-addicted, and the obese. I am sure amongst them you will find they are just like the rest of us except have an addiction issue. And as far as having an addiction issue then perhaps they are really not that far removed from most of us. "There but for the grace of God go I." Many people have issues dealing with their cravings - what makes them a little different is that the evidence of their enslavement is probably a little more visible to us.
All the very best with your creative project.
kind regards,


Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

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Thaibebop
Posts: 287
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Re: The Secret Lives of Losers

Post by Thaibebop »

Ben wrote:Hi Thaibebop

I think you'll find that, if your society is anything like Australian society - the current form of social pariah in popular consciousness comes in the form of smokers, alcoholics, the drug-addicted, and the obese. I am sure amongst them you will find they are just like the rest of us except have an addiction issue. And as far as having an addiction issue then perhaps they are really not that far removed from most of us. "There but for the grace of God go I." Many people have issues dealing with their cravings - what makes them a little different is that the evidence of their enslavement is probably a little more visible to us.
All the very best with your creative project.
kind regards,


Ben
That is a very good point, I didn't think of that. Thank you! :namaste:
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