This is not an interview segment

How did you decide to write your blog?
The concept of the title "This is Not a Blog" was an attempt at negative self-reference.  Obviously it's a blog.  When I tell people about it I say "go check out my blog."  But the title would have you believe otherwise.  I saw a couple of my friends on Facebook starting up a blog, and I sort of stole the idea as a free-writing exercise.  Shout out to Emily and Leanne, by the way, and their excellent blogs.

What is your blog about?
Even though I didn't set any guidelines for what I write about, most of my entries are kind of an explanation/practical application diagnostic about a person's self-realization and ultimate happiness. I meet a lot of people as individuals and they have... different levels of fulfillment in their lives, and everyone has all these problems or... hurtles they have in front of them.  Now I don't want to pretend to understand anyone's problems; I'm not a particularly deep person if you met me in real life (laughs) but I understand depth, and I know from experience that often times all it takes to address a problem is to reframe it.

How do you mean?
Oh well, you know, like... events have lots of dimensions, so there's multiple ways to reframe [events].  I personally run into all sorts of walls in life, and it forces me to adjust my attitude so I can see the opportunity in it clearly.  Grace under pressure, right?  (laughs)  Of course, I end most of my sentences with a period when I write, so I might come off as thinking I'm all that and a bag of chips.  Perhaps I should say "I write my blogs to myself and hope you too can find relevance."  Yeah... that'll keep the critics from calling me out.  (laughs) heaven forbid I get any confrontation!

Do you not like confrontation?
Oh, I was kidding.  I actually like discussing things with people.  If someone hated me and wanted to tell me everything that's wrong with me, I'd bring a notepad and start taking notes.

But what if the stakes of a problem limit your options?
That's a tough pill to swallow.  Responsibility, man... it can be a bitch (laughs).  If there are other people you care about riding on your decisions like children or employees, then it definitely turns up the pressure.  You're a lot more likely to play it safe.  And maybe that's the right thing to do.  Like I said, I won't pretend to understand the anyone's problems, or.. events, cause they have lots of dimensions.  how do I know [about these events]?  I don't.  What I write about is abstracted, and it's up to the reader to insert themselves into it.  Unless it's not.  (laughs)

What is your relationship with God?
I have a unique and personal relationship with God.  In terms of theology... I think I know my stuff, but I'm not here to preach christianity to anyone, not in that sort of way.  I read a statistic that christians have the lowest writing proficiency level of any world religion.  There can be lots of reasons for that, but I would like to make that a challenge.  I try to make the things I talk about square up with the Bible and with science, but I think good wisdom is relevant to anyone. I've seen Him, unmistakably, I've witnessed His hands at work, so the one thing I'm not going to say is "you can never be sure."  If you ask me how to be saved, I can regurgitate the habitual verses and slogans they teach you growing up in evangelical churches.  I heard a pastor once say at the end of the sermon "if you want to have a relationship with the Lord our Savior, you can talk to...." and he finished with "some of the elders at the back of the room," but I think the actual answer is "God."  I don't even think that most people have a problem with HOW to be saved.  It's what their being saved FROM that's the real struggle.

What does Jesus save people from?
(laughs) That's the golden question.  Did I mention this isn't a God blog?  The gut answer is "Hell," which I suppose necessitates a fear of pain.  So there's this huge mythological, perhaps literal Hell that threatens our souls from the afterlife.  That's a hard pill to swallow.  Ask any pastor.  There's also an underworld that you can dwell in while you're still alive in the context of Earth that you can easily fall into.  In His first thirty-three or so years on Earth, Jesus did and said everything He could to save us from that as well.  He's not the only one, Buddha did that, and the Zen Tao addresses these things.. hell, the answers are all written on our hearts, so pretty much anyone with the gift to put wisdom to words had something to say.  Jesus is special because He claimed to be God and save our souls from something much more literal.

Do you believe in freewill?
I do and I don't.  I spout "the direction of attention is the quintessential act of freewill or at least a key component" in my blog because I think that's a good way to treat your actions; and serves as a reminder to transcend an event to get a clear view of the possibilities.  I got the phrase from my friend Xanderz, I liked it so much.  I also got "unlimited infinite possibilities" from him; he came into the room shouting it one day like some sort of prophet.  We all started using it as a catch phrase, sort of an endearing way of teasing him, but for all its redundancies it's a pretty effing good thing to say.  I'd prefer not to elucidate my actual view on how freewill works because I believe I am wrong.  (laughs)

I've seen you mention the zodiac in your blogs.  Isn't this against your religion?

I don't know if astrology is against my religion.  Divining is against my beliefs.  And there is a distinction between religion and belief.  So a good horoscope is like a good fortune cookie: some pearl to pay attention to, but not indicative of the future.  Beyond that, astrology is just a huge personality profiling agent.  It's been in use for two thousand years and it's more accurate than the Meyer's Briggs test.  It's still not even close to perfect though.  It's useful, and sort of fun to consider, but if you're a second decan gemini and that allegedly paints you as self-serving... well, don't let yourself belong to it, that's all I'm saying.  

Do you ever discuss these things in casual conversation?
Oh absolutely!  I love to wax philosophical with people, especially when I've knocked back a couple shots.  I like it when someone changes my mind.  It happens a ton, so take my words with a boulder of salt! (laughs)

Does it ever get you laid?
(laughs) Nope.  In all fairness though I've never tried to seduce a woman by shouting "unlimited infinite possibility!"  When I'm attracted to a woman and she's attracted to me, I would be surprised if either of us had anything particularly intellectual to say.  Witty yes.

What do you do to seduce women?
(laughs) That's an awesome question because it's both invasive and unrelated to my blog.  .... Although I'm an advocate for higher level thinking when it comes to love and relationships, it seems to me that [initial attraction] is based on more primal aspects of biology; things that go on in the brain.  Pheromones and all that.   I also read a study that stated that the most successful relationships statistically featured couples with similar facial structures.  Of course, what does "most successful" mean?  ....My general advice is that you don't tend to choose who you're attracted to, only how attractive you are.  Females will attract men by being women; not by being a little girl and not by being "one of the guys."  Similarly, males will attract real women by being real men; as opposed to little boys or good friends.  A relationship is a business partnership, so if one or more of its members is a child who is needy, or creates drama, or doesn't offer up any real support or value, [the relationship] will tumble down.

What about gays?
I dunno.  What are you asking me again?

Do gays need to be real men or women in relationships?
Probably.  (laughs) I'm not sure what homosexuals are attracted to in same-sex partners.  I will say this: those mutha's are really organized.  I mean it, they've got hooking up all worked out into systems.  If a man walks into a gay bar with a cowboy hat and a particular scarf, that means he's a butch looking for a one night stand and likes to be on top during intercourse, or if a woman walks in wearing pink hat tilted to the left... I don't know all their codes.  (laughs) It's kind of inspiring how well they communicate with each other romantically.  Us straights need to step up our game!  All we're doing is divorcing and gritting through lousy relationships by telling bad marriage jokes to all our friends.  We can do better than that.

.....

--J.M. Gatewood
Probability Significator