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Deborah Hazen's picture

On being skeptical of one's total experience

If individuals recognize that they have feelings but that the stories about the reason for those feelings may or may not have anything to do with what is going on in the external--then what is the purpose of reflecting on the story? They may be glimpses into what is going on in the CUC, but beyond naval gazing, do our stories serve any purpose as we interact with each other? On the one hand, if you consider that a story about a feeling may not have anything to do with your external experience then that lends power to the idea the you can't change anyone else, only your reaction to them. Still there must be something fundamentally human, some purpose, to sharing those stories about our feelings. Languages are rich with words to describe our feelings. Art, music and dance articulate feelings and are formal ways of sharing the stories that we construct about those feelings. We go to movies and read books, in part, so that our feelings will be manipulated. So that we can experience a different perspective on something. More proof that human beings are natural explorers?

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