I don't normally condone writing many daylogs in e2 to inflate ones number of writeups. But I haven't posted anything on e2 in over a year and I figured this would be a good place to start.
First of all I have lately become more interested in Wikipedia than e2 (although I don't contribute there). I think it is somewhat unfortunate that e2 hasn't enjoyed the success that wikipedia has (hell it spawned the whole freaking wiki craze). It might have been a better direction to allow anyone to edit posts made on e2. But I suppose speculation like that is fruitless :) I guess I now view e2 as a source of creative writing instead of a factual reference. Thats not better or worse, just different.
I have been wondering about, reading, and practicing some Taoist/Buddhist concepts of ego removal, controlling ones wants and desires, mental health type things. I find this type of stuff hard to talk about with other people. Especially friends and family who are religious. My distaste for religion has been growing with recent events but I think you just need to get the right mindset about it. For the most part, religion helps people on a day to day basis and is more of a social thing. But I don't want to digress too far :) I just find those buddhist things hard to talk about with others. It may be neccesary to work with others to remove ego and control desires and to maintain a detached mindset. Basically I am now looking for some sort of meditation class or forum where I can ask my questions and get some help and feedback. I am also especially interested in ego removal techniques. Detachment techniques. Ways to increase ones compassion towards others. However it is a trivial thing to gain a detached mindset temporarily, maintaining that mindset throughout the day/week/year is much more difficult. At some point I think you just need to stop focusing on yourself so much and help some other people out. That seems like the easy way to enlightenment - don't worry about yourself so much and dedicate yourself to others. Maybe I am just too focused on ideas and too reclusive.
If anyone actually reads this and is interested in Taoist ideas I recommend "The Tao of Inner Peace" by Diane Dreher