Monday, April 18, 2011

Idle Hands (are not my problem)

Posting has been light because I'm mired in The Mundane performing real work.  You know, the paying variety.  I'd starve to effin' death - and may yet - if all I did was blog.  And just because I tweet every now and again, that doesn't mean it's what I should be doing.  I apologize in advance to anyone whose correspondence might languish in my inbox.

The current project will likely be consuming most of my time for the week of April 18th, which is a total drag because I have a lot of material to share with you - some of which, you might even find marginally interesting.  But them's the breaks. 

In the interim, Mike Clelland of Hidden Experience posted an interesting audio conversation with Phil Imbrogno.  UFOlogists are boring as hell - how many ways can one say We Don't Know - but Imbrogno impresses me as being less dogmatic and more engaging than most, and Mike does a great job on his end.  Give it a listen if you're so inclined.

There is one subject I feel compelled to address.  Phil mentioned it a couple of times in the linked conversation, but it arises almost anytime Contactees are discussed: being chosen or selected

I don't speak for anyone but myself, and, in fact, my communications with other Contactees - or, at least, people who would describe themselves as such (or as experiencers) - has been minimal.  I've never read any books by or about Contactees, and I have yet to attend a UFO conference of any kind, so I have no knowledge about other Contactees who have said they are chosen or selectedThose are terms I avoid like The Plague when describing my experiences.  I believe it is much more accurate to say my Contact experiences are of a reciprocal, as opposed to a unilateral, nature.  Whatever conclusions others may draw - and I am very aware of just how few people reading this understand such a dynamic is possible - those conclusions are theirs, not mineI ain't that special, my friends & adversaries.  If I believed myself to be a prophet or an angel or an ascended master taking a smoke break, you'd be reading this in the premium subscribers section - and I'd be robbing you blind instead of toiling all week on a pain-in-the-ass graphics job.

Later, my curious Taters.  I hope you all have a great week.  We'll catch up soon, okay?


5 comments:

Mike Clelland! said...

Huge thanks for the kind words and the shout-out to the interview with Mr. Imbrogno. I like the guy, but I feel like was too shy as an interviewer to really get into the meaty stuff with him!

You noted the vocabulary words: chosen & selected

I've talked to a LOT of people claiming the direct contact experience, and those words come up ALL the time. So do these:

obsessed
impelled
compelled
directed

(and these phrases)
I have a sense of duty - but I don't know what it is
I have a mission - but I don't know what it is
I have been told to tell what I know
I feel compelled to share my experiences

I am a vegetarian

(just a few of the common things that get said, not a scientific listing, just an anecdotal bit of musing on my part)

Arvin Hill said...

Hi, Mike. One of the keys to good interviewing is giving the subject room to talk, which is something you do well.

I will readily admit to feeling an obligation to publicly disclose my experiences. The nature of that obligation is multifaceted, extending to people who want to know, to ^Them and to myself.

The source of that obligation is the result of a natural dynamic: When an event or series of events occurs which changes one's understanding of reality, for lack of a better term, there is a kind of compulsion to share the knowledge which led to the shift. What people fail to appreciate, generally, is that experience is the message - and it doesn't translate well.

To the extent I feel obligated to share my interpretations of my experiences, the hope is that people - again, the few who want to know - understand they can expand their ideas about what is possible. In effect, we all have the option of narrowing the chasm between possibility and probability. This is an exciting prospect; one reflective of the very marrow of science and art.

It is extremely important to understand the perceptual shift I speak of comes neither from me nor ^Them nor any external source. It comes exclusively from the consideration of individuals who, in the wake of exposure to new information, seek their own experiences.

The dynamic itself is very simple. Arriving at my current understanding of it has taken three tumultuous, wonderful years. Having struggled with all my might to reach this point, I'm not in any position to criticize contactees who describe themselves as chosen or selected. What I can say is that such descriptions are *antithetical* to what I am attempting, in my own way, to convey.

Patti Smith's Dream of Life is the most inspirational lyrical album in my possession. What she expresses in People Have The Power undoubtedly sounds naive to people who don't believe they have The Power. There are many people who don't want any power because believing themselves to be fundamentally powerless absolves them, however superficially, of responsibility. The world is paying a terrible price for humanity's failure to exercise its responsibility. We cannot outrun the consequences forever.

I am curious about one thing, Mike. Of the contactees you have spoken with who describe themselves as chosen or selected, what portion of them might fit the designation of a CE5 contactee/experiencer? For the record, I am not an acolyte of Steven Greer or CSETI - nor of any other UFO-related people or organizations - and my experiences predated my awareness of his work. However, I do believe the CE5 description, as a category of Contact experience, is useful.

Mike Clelland! said...

I had to look up CE-5.

I'm not sure how to answer that question, a lot of the people I've met are in social settings (like a conference)

But, there CE-5 types pretty much proclaim themselves as chosen or selected. And, most people with some sort of "contact" experience (and that might seem sorta foggy) will say they feel "compelled" or "impelled" to act out in certain ways (like starting a blog?)

-

CE-5 and Human-Initiated Contact

CE-5 (Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind) is a term describing a fifth category of close encounters with Extraterrestrial Intelligence (ETI), characterized by mutual, bilateral communication rather than unilateral contact. Evidence exists indicating that CE-5s have successfully occurred in the past.

Arvin Hill said...

"But, there CE-5 types pretty much proclaim themselves as chosen or selected."

Maybe I should go to a conference sometime and listen to some CE-5's. Is there not a logical disconnect between thinking of oneself as chosen or selected if one initiates or reciprocates a Contact overture?

Hello? 911? There's been a collision at the intersection of Semantics Avenue and Pscyhology Boulevard! Oh, Dear God! I don't think the PR is going to make it!

I'm feeling irreverent today.

Sightings are a form of Contact, but, of the people I've shown how to see UFOs (and I have a pretty good record at this), they are no more chosen or selected than I am. We choose. To look or not look. To see or not see. To submit to fear or overcome fear.

Back to work!

Arvin Hill said...

Literally, within seconds after my post yesterday, I checked email. In the subject line of the first unopened email: You've been selected: Access to Private Boutiques.

The Omniverse is not lacking in the humor department.