220226 What I learned in my studies this morning 2

Have I mindfulness?

Even monkeys fall from trees.

Attentiveness helps.

Daily Stoic:

If someone challenges me, contradicts, opposes, or insults me, either they are right and I should heed their contentions or they are mistaken and I should understand this and make allowance for it.

When criticized, too often I mentally leap to defend myself. I fail to consider the import of their words, but rather sound the alarm to "man the battle stations" and "defend my honor."

Instead, I ought to practice mindfulness and consider that they may have a point. Maybe I am acting irrationally or stupidly or ineffectively or unkindly.

If virtue is truly my goal, my response should instead be a heartfelt "Thank you for correcting my error" and a conviction to be better in the future.

If I do pause and consider their words and find them mistaken, I should remember all the times I've been wrong, intentionally or accidentally, and the troubles my actions have caused.

I should also remember that people want to be right, to know true things. If there is a way to correct their error, one that doesn't compound the current conflict, I should pursue it.

(Aside: a plethora of psychological considerations must be taken into account when attempting this, but the moral principle remains: if the error can be corrected, it should be. It's the can and the possibility that must be discovered in the moment.)

So which am I? Do I listen to criticism and work to improve myself? Or do I let my monkey brain drive the bus and react as though a psychological "attack" is functionally equivalent to physical danger? Something to be fought off first (without regard to the possible merits of the "assault") and only pondered after destruction of The Enemy Who Dares Threaten My August Personage?

Today's Meditation:

Today's Music:

Max Richter - Vladimir's Blues

From Ward Farnsworth, Classical English Rhetoric, Part 2. Structural Matters:

12. Leaving out words: ELLIPSIS (pp. 157-166 )

Technical term:

ELLIPSIS (el-lip-sis) is an omission of expected words.

NB: Another favorite gambit of mine, though I usually take the more vulgar path of using the symbol (...) to indicate the ellipsis. Perhaps I should trust my readers more to ferret out a missing part.

Uses:

Ellipsis can generate different reactions:

» the audience is involved in the statement, filing in the missing word(s);

» the audience is caught by surprise;

» the omission creates a sense of "brevity, energy, or elegance;"

» the omission is of a word in an earlier phrase, tying the two together.

Patterns and Examples

— Omitting a Noun

— Omitting a Verb

— Omitting Subject and Verb combinations

— Omission Anticipating Things to Come (reversing the usual pattern by omitting the words first then supplying them in the next phrase, causing the reader or listener to have to backfill the proper ideas into the former sentence)