| | Three things Lucinda, before I ramble on re RIGHT SPEECH. Thanks for your post here. I may be back to posting more regularly now that Toni is dead. And I’m hoping others will join what I hope will develop as a general conversation.
Yes, care giving for Toni was the hardest thing I have ever done in my ulife. And you’re a hospice nurse. For how long? How old are you? Or is that too intrusive?
Intention is important, but more important to my mind is attention. My question in my previous post was whether my talking had to be intentional to be RIGHT SPEECH. I have previously played with a practice of trying to take a full breath, or even 2 or 3, before each sentence I speak. That somewhat changes my talking from being totally spontaneous to there being a very brief and slight bit of deliberation before I uttered a sentence. Interestingly, no one, not even Toni noticed when I succeeded for a while in making my speech that deliberate.
Tlhe downside, if it is a downside, is that in a conversation with more than one or two people, you seldom get a word in unless you use one of various techniques to successfully compete for the floor. Have you noticed how almost all general conversations tend to be highly competitive, Those most successful in establishing the “listen to me, pay attention to me” position do the most talking? Those not as competitive frequently lapse into silent boredom. This is why I tend to prefer conversation in quite small, less than 3? Groups. Being spontaneous is currently highly valued in our culture. One hundred years ago or so, being deliberate and deliberation were more highly valued than spontaneity. A lot of the change may be attributed to the influence of advertising on the culture. The general theme of advertising is ‘don’t think, buy” Dr. Pepper, Coke, that new dress on sale, “hurry, hurry, hurry,” etc.
Being spontaneous means being controlled by old habits, previous conditioning, what are called unconscious factors. Being deliberate, which almost always means slowing down, gives me some opportunity to change and not be controlled by the very successful advertisers, etc.
So, should RIGHT SPEECH always be intentional? And, what does anyone think of my brief discussion of deliberation and spontaneity? Any one willing to try my technique for making my speech more deliberate and intentional? If you do, tell me how it goes. |