X-Message-Number: 22613 From: "Kitty Antonik Wakfer" <> Subject: Expressing Relief and Hope Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 18:30:02 -0400 To those interested in bettering the current situation of cryonics and willing to do soul-searching and take the time to understand ... really. The message below has implications for the present and future of cryonics - for the growth of the individuals who want to see a better "community". ...There really is a future in the past...a saving of the situation now... I invite those reading me to just take the time to listen, and travel with me...I will tell/show you a story that can be very interesting/enlightening/discouraging/inspiring....it's up to the individual and his/her ability/willingness to stop/turn/look/consider/wonder. I was hoping to get this completed to make the cutoff for the 9/30 edition, but it became evident a few minutes ago that this would not happen. Instead I may be the first for 10/1 and this is good enough since Charles and Ben will be getting a private copy. I want to give assistance to Charles and congratulations to Ben, because in the past I have had my own difficulties in being friends with both of them - maybe because at those times I had not learned yet to fully appreciate our similarities and wonder at the possibility of strength in our differences. I have gained much insight with this manic episode - the countless winding and unwinding in so many directions at almost the same time in the same place - I have been going through since 9/22. But I have now learned that if I can continue to maintain my balance in all these dimensions/planes; I can do more than endure. I can renew and grow - wind and rewind with control - *my* control; not that of imposed/forced medication/hospitalization. I can ensure my own survival by using my own talents and those of others with whom I choose to associate. To my/our upstairs neighbor, Ben, come on down and let's listen and dance to Alan Parsons Project's "I, Robot" together and wonder at the power of the words and music and the relevance for us - to our individual histories/present. Charles, if you aren't familiar with this music group, you may want to investigate - there is strength/support/therapy in music - and dance. When we are in AZ in a few weeks, we hope that you will want to drive south and visit at our house - I want to limit travel and keep to our home base (either of the 2) as much as possible for a while. A special public congratulations once again to Jerry Lemler. Jerry, I could in my way feel the difficult (to put it mildly) sensations/emotions you were/are experiencing in this most difficult/painful/fearful series/collection of events/activities. I have many times been in positions of assistance to individuals who have been somewhat where you stand now. The big difference now though is that you have a life boat with your name on it just waiting for you to need it...This is such an important difference that it can provide much peace - if the the life boat is of the best quality material. But if it is not, then we do not know...we can only hope/wonder/fear. And assurance is what has been sorely missing from cryonics all these many years. Wishing just does not make it so, no matter how many wishers there are... It takes cold/hard facts/science/work/honesty...Now, finally there appears to be sufficient willingness by serious "players" to look inside the box/self and consider/wonder if there is something more, something else that is obstructing progress... something(s)/someone(s) that would help solve the problem(s)... The show must go on...if we want more... if we want to comeback and continue to play/investigate/produce/play/wonder/enjoy/learn....day after day the show must go on - we want to go w/ time on our side... I have hope.. I am relieved/hopeful/...in some wonder that the puzzle is solvable/understandable/beneficial/valuable... in a sense it is mind expanding - but could be painful/fearful for those who don't have assurance that an individual can learn how to see the dots/relevance and how to connect/relate them and understand that there is value in the connections .... that it is a tool of understanding about oneself and others and how to improve relationships... in order to work together..to grow..to succeed... -->> metamorphosis. -->>survival, Survival, SURVIVAL. It can be done. Each of us can achieve so much more understanding/knowledge....we can work together better .... That is enough for now...anyone who has read this far should get the picture....I think/hope I wrote it well enough...If not, you'll just have to watch the movie :>) **Kitty PS: 18:21 09/30/03 ...Paul has just completed review of the above message and is comfortable w/ it being sent {cd changer holding Alan Parsons Project CD:Stereotomy in the #1 position; track 2...sipping red wine, eating salmon dinner leftovers from last night... better// have been taking Lithium 100mg BID - last dose 10:20 today... ..better..better.. i ok... ...>>>> track 3 starting... ... ... back later...later.. i ok..[position 5 in changer is being held by Alan Parsons (new group project): Time Machine ..!!<> ** oh boy.....lok...i am ok..your' ok too...just give it time..to settle to get balance..s.... later...Up uplll.ok..yes.. ********************** From: Kitty Antonik Wakfer [] Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2003 4:50 AM To: Aubrey de Grey Subject: RE: IABG 10: Would you like to write a meeting report? Hi Aubrey, I've already started a report on the effects of IABG10 on me personally, which is a severe situation but has applications for all other attendees. This one in progress will be multi-faceted and actually has an objective the understanding by others of how I - a manic depressive (bipolar) - reacted to an enormously stress-filled, rest-deprived, thought provoking 3.5 days. I have been collecting data on myself and the coping mechanisms that I utilized and "developed" with this, my 4th episode since the initial one in 1975, diagnosed as acute dissociative reaction - simply a label for the displayed signs and symptoms. This "case history" and patient/nurse's notes will be an entry in the Kitty Reflects on MoreLife <http://morelife.org/personal/kittyreflects/>. (It will take a week or two for me to do this while attending to other MoreLife business.) I intend to make some specific suggestions for improved conferences and team building activities, with the objective being *optimum* levels of stress for each individual for his/her own health of body and mind. This is important - vitally so - not just because of the essential value of the individual's health to himself because of the principle of the I and the non-I (see Natural Social Contract_annotated <http://selfsip.org/solutions/socialcontract_annotated.html>), but because once this principle is followed and respected by large numbers of people, the interactions between them - and even with those who have not fully reached this level of understanding - will be far better for *all*. The order of importance is the *I* - and then the other individuals of the non-I; the order can *not* be reversed. This lesson must be learned by those who are, with all good will and enthusiasm for the enormity and importance of the problem to be solved, tending to stuff as much as physically possible for them personally and the facilities they are using. Failure to remember that each potential and actual team member brings with him to an intensive conference/training session his own set of physical/psychological "problems", can result in damage at some level to the individual and risk of reduced effectiveness of the team as a whole. Since I'm almost there with a verbal picture of what occurred - and is only just now resolving itself for the better for me, and for Paul and I as a team/couple - is the manic episode I have been in since Monday 9/22/03 - "Manic Monday". You and others saw me that night and the following day in a controlled mania which was almost entirely of pleasure, w/ a much lesser aspect of depression in the background - Paul's periodic expressed feelings of depression, of being "out of place". I have been on my own personal search for further understanding of everything/(portions of everything) for how/where/why there are interconnections/relationships between them now/(in the past)/(in the future) for me and others. It has been a lonely journey at time because of the confusion and fear such a search can create, or at least the fear in me that such a expedition causes. The travel was initially fascinating and most pleasurable and didn't become really uncomfortable until Wednesday 9/24 because of my failure to get adequate rest/relaxation during the waking hours and actual sleep at night from Friday 9/19. By Wed, I was in a "driven search" and have only now *finally* understood why I've been searching, searching - > Survival... of the individual, chosen teams, and the entire human race (all individuals who choose to understand why and how). I think I have found a tool that will allow others to visually connect with the experiences of my search - my visual autobiography. That's enough for now as a written explanation; better understanding can really only be attained by an in-person discussion with specific background music that is extremely complementary to my view of myself. If you (and Adelaide too, an important ingredient for full comprehension/appreciation) will be coming to Toronto or Phoenix anytime during the year when we are in residence in either of those locations, you are most welcome to visit with us. The added learning experience of such a meeting would be valuable to both of us/(our teams)/(our individual/combined projects). I hope that Adelaide has fully recovered from her cold. And an added note - I *thoroughly* enjoyed the punting - both of them - and look forward to a similar adventure in learning about various people. Both trips were a good team building experience and .... I am getting ahead of myself; I am still doing it.. My level of synchronicity is still fragile. I am tired and will, I think though, now finally be able to start getting more sleep. **Kitty **Kitty Antonik Wakfer MoreLife for the rational - http://morelife.org Reality based tools for more life in quantity and quality Self-Sovereign Individual Project - http://selfsip.org Rational freedom by self-sovereignty & social contracting > -----Original Message----- > From: Aubrey de Grey [mailto:] > Sent: Monday, September 29, 2003 12:11 PM > To: > Cc: > Subject: IABG 10: Would you like to write a meeting report? > > > > Hi all, > > I am already thinking about how to make sure that the success of IABG10 > translates into good things for future meetings and the enhanced profile > of biomedical gerontology in general. I am sure that the most important > thing at this point is to let the world know how successful IABG 10 was. > Therefore, I am writing to ask you whether you would be interested in > writing a meeting report. A few journals have asked me to write one, > but they will be much more influential if someone other than me writes > them (and also, it is important that a lot of them are written!). <snip> Content-Type: text/html; [ AUTOMATICALLY SKIPPING HTML ENCODING! ] Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=22613