lkwdblds
Crusader
Telling one's own story can be journalistically sound.
Ted, basically I agree with what you are saying. Even so, I think there is value in sharing personal anecdotes with your audience. I would love to be able to write and talk more about things other than myself and my experiences but those are the only things I am really qualified to comment on.
This whole thread was originally predicated on telling stories experienced by a "nobody". I didn't work with Ron, I only made the level of a Director when on staff, my parents did not have wealth or fame. We all led just average lives. I had noticed that people enjoyed hearing things as told from the viewpoint of the "little guy", the average Joe. I think some good examples are Willie Loman's life in the play, Death of a salesman, Rodney Dangerfield's jokes about "I don't get no respect." Roseanne Barr rising from nowhere and with limited talent, becoming one of the top people on television just depicting an average life.
When Hubbard was writing fiction, I remember reading a line where he said a good writer acted as the eyes and ears of those who wanted to go to far away exotic places but who couldn't. He took them there with his story telling skills. The great Mark Twain appeared to have an average backgound but he took people to exotic places and told fascinating stories. Because of telling about his own expolits, his life became legendary and he took people mentally to places which they never would have known about.
All I had going for me was above average (but not ultra above average) intelligence, good story telling ability, honesty and forthrightness and a really excellent memory. When I first got to ESMB, I was trying to think what to write about and thought a lot of people wish they could have been on the Apollo when Ron was there and that I could take them there.
That is how I started this thread. I developed a following just based on telling stories and giving points of view honestly from the point of view of someone who was basically a "nobody". If I talk too much about myself, and I believe I do, it is not really so much that it is about me, but I am just using my personal experiences to give an unbiased viewpoint of life as viewed through the eyes of "Joe average guy".
Some of the other posters on the thread do a lot of talking about their own experiences as well. Carmelo, writes and provides photos of his lifestyle and gets nothing but raves for doing so. His life is more storied than average, he knows a lot of well known people and the public likes to know a lot about celebrities and well known people just as they enjoy the views of Nobody's like Joe the Plumber in the 2008 election. Also, Johnny does his share of talking about his life and his exploits. His life is not the usual or average but he has had a remarkable life which people are actually DEMANDING to know more about. Probably in his case, it would be an overt act to not tell about his life and personal experiences. Face has revealed great details of his life as well and has a tremendous facitlity as a Will Rogers type of story teller.
SUMMARY - Your quoted comment is an excellent general truth. Just me, me, me, and I, I, I over and over is disgusting, monotonous and hard to take but I believe that if a person finds or creates a niche where he writes about himself with the intent to entertain, inform and provoke thought in others, then this person is consciously conducting an enrichment type of activity. I agree that even this can be carried too far. If it is kept within bounds and done tastfully and if people are being entertained, informed and provoked then there is no need for a writer to reign himself in.
Lakey
Dalai Lama: "One of the most effective ways to overcome anxiety is to try to shift the focus of attention away from self and toward others. When we succeed in this, we find that the scale of our own problems diminishes. This is not to say we should ignore our own needs altogether, but rather that we should try to remember others' needs alongside our own, no matter how pressing ours may be."
He's right, you know.
Personally beef up your own or permit another to beef up on you the self-interest, the self-investment, the self-importance and the potential for upset looms large. YOUR bridge, YOUR case, YOUR next level, YOUR post, YOUR stats, YOUR conditions... MY bridge, MY case, etc.
Ted, basically I agree with what you are saying. Even so, I think there is value in sharing personal anecdotes with your audience. I would love to be able to write and talk more about things other than myself and my experiences but those are the only things I am really qualified to comment on.
This whole thread was originally predicated on telling stories experienced by a "nobody". I didn't work with Ron, I only made the level of a Director when on staff, my parents did not have wealth or fame. We all led just average lives. I had noticed that people enjoyed hearing things as told from the viewpoint of the "little guy", the average Joe. I think some good examples are Willie Loman's life in the play, Death of a salesman, Rodney Dangerfield's jokes about "I don't get no respect." Roseanne Barr rising from nowhere and with limited talent, becoming one of the top people on television just depicting an average life.
When Hubbard was writing fiction, I remember reading a line where he said a good writer acted as the eyes and ears of those who wanted to go to far away exotic places but who couldn't. He took them there with his story telling skills. The great Mark Twain appeared to have an average backgound but he took people to exotic places and told fascinating stories. Because of telling about his own expolits, his life became legendary and he took people mentally to places which they never would have known about.
All I had going for me was above average (but not ultra above average) intelligence, good story telling ability, honesty and forthrightness and a really excellent memory. When I first got to ESMB, I was trying to think what to write about and thought a lot of people wish they could have been on the Apollo when Ron was there and that I could take them there.
That is how I started this thread. I developed a following just based on telling stories and giving points of view honestly from the point of view of someone who was basically a "nobody". If I talk too much about myself, and I believe I do, it is not really so much that it is about me, but I am just using my personal experiences to give an unbiased viewpoint of life as viewed through the eyes of "Joe average guy".
Some of the other posters on the thread do a lot of talking about their own experiences as well. Carmelo, writes and provides photos of his lifestyle and gets nothing but raves for doing so. His life is more storied than average, he knows a lot of well known people and the public likes to know a lot about celebrities and well known people just as they enjoy the views of Nobody's like Joe the Plumber in the 2008 election. Also, Johnny does his share of talking about his life and his exploits. His life is not the usual or average but he has had a remarkable life which people are actually DEMANDING to know more about. Probably in his case, it would be an overt act to not tell about his life and personal experiences. Face has revealed great details of his life as well and has a tremendous facitlity as a Will Rogers type of story teller.
SUMMARY - Your quoted comment is an excellent general truth. Just me, me, me, and I, I, I over and over is disgusting, monotonous and hard to take but I believe that if a person finds or creates a niche where he writes about himself with the intent to entertain, inform and provoke thought in others, then this person is consciously conducting an enrichment type of activity. I agree that even this can be carried too far. If it is kept within bounds and done tastfully and if people are being entertained, informed and provoked then there is no need for a writer to reign himself in.
Lakey

In honor or afaceinthecrowd, who graciously said that my post # 4126 entitled “Cancellation of My Certs” was my best post yet, and in honor of him touching my heart and my memories when he said,
In fact I am so excited about sharing this first one, I am not even going to get it proof read, which a dangerous undertaking for me.
Pop, or Big Johnny Raff, as he was affectionately known to everyone, was a small town bookie that everybody bet with, from Mayer Casey, to the guy on the street, but there was nothing small about Pop. He was the genuine article - a guy who went head on into life with a gusto - a guy generous to a fault (although it was not a fault - people loved him for it) and a guy we all loved more that we can say.
When Pop was in his later years, he used to sit on the porch and talk to all the woman who came by. Hell, he always talked to all the woman who came by.
With one of Pop inimitable expressions he replied, “I’d rather be sixty, and look like Shit!”
“That son of a bitch Hubbard,” he would say as he emerged from the coma. “He owes me money, he welched on a bet.”


I personally find it unnecessary to experience that which I do not choose to.


There are many things I do not choose to experience,
and many things I am not willing to experience.
I am working to increase my RESPONSE-ABILITY, my ability to respond in a FEEL GOOD way to what does, or does not happen in my life. I am seeking an ability to feel good no matter what, and to feel good most, if not all of the time. And I am also working to embrace the belief and the idea that only feel good things will happen in my life.
I am NOT seeking to experience anything, for there are many things in my past I do not wish to experience again, and there are many things I have no desire to experience at all.
I am seeking the ability to attract only FEEL GOOD people and happenings.
I am seeking to live like my alien friend Bashar. I am seeking to live in a world where wonder, magic, love, joy, ecstasy and FEEL GREAT FEELINGS are simply the way it is
I am seeking to ADMIRE AND RETIRE any thoughts that this is a pipe dream. I am seeking "not to face the reality" that people on Earth say I must face. I am seeking to face the reality I want to face, a reality of love, freedom and magnificence so grand that things can't get any better, and then they get better. I experienced that once, so I know it can happen. Now I am working to have it become the default mode of my life.
The Abraham/Hicks book and CD called, ""The Vortex" is a major part of my present tech. I love the idea presented in that materiel that a belief is just a thought we keep thinking. So I am working to think only feel good thoughts to the point where I only attract feel good things that are easy to experience.
So I am now thinking of my friend Roger, and my feel good friends on ESMB, and darn if I ain't feeling good.
Love and good feelings to you and yours, Johnny.