Living Life Levels, Episode 1

Living Life Levels

Life Level Examples, Both Real and Fictitious

Linus Van Pelt

Life Level 3

Linus Van Pelt has an undying devotion to the Great Pumpkin -- a being which, he says, comes out on Halloween night to give candy and gifts to the good little boys and girls who believe in him. Not the belief itself, but rather the reasons and causes for his belief show us that Linus is a prime example of Life Level 3.

How do we know he operates at Life Level 3 (LL3)? Well, we can rule-out LL0 since he is able to think coherently and isn't some sort of raving lunatic. We know he is not LL1 because he does not believe in the Great Pumpkin for personal, selfish gain. Though he wants the Great Pumpkin to appear and give candy and gifts to him and others like him, this desire is not the primary source for his belief, enthusiasm, or actions regarding the Great Pumpkin, or anything else for that matter. And unlike an LL2 person, there is no popular trend, or anything anyone (be it his friend Charlie Brown, his sister Lucy, or his would-be girlfriend Sally) can say that can make him believe or disbelieve in the Great Pumpkin's existance. Linus' beliefs are self-sustained, and nothing can affect them except Linus alone. Life Level 3 has this advantage over LLs 2 and below, making him a generally better and happier person than he would otherwise be. He has his beliefs and he is sticking to them, come Hell or high water.

Though sometimes "Hell or high water" are exactly what we need to align our paradigms with Reality, with what is actually true. It would be best, of course, if it didn't have to come to such drastic measures; if instead we could be fluid enough to match our beliefs with what's real. If we want to be happier and operate in a better way than LL3, we can choose to drop all preconceptions, biases, and beliefs and leap fearlessly into real truth, whatever and wherever it might be. Linus is given the opportunity to do this many times, but any consideration that the Great Pumpkin could possibly be a figment of his imagination is appalling to him, and once he even shouts at Charlie Brown for suggesting it. Life Level 4 is all about being open to all possibilities, giving everything a chance to be good or true, and dropping all prejudices, preconceptions, and biases. It is willing to be wrong at the drop of a hat, and earnestly seeks for truth, no matter the cost or the change required in one's paradigm. Linus is not willing to do that, so we can assess that operates squarely in LL3.

What thoughts or beliefs or ethical codes are you afraid to question? What "Great Pumpkins" do you have? If it's a true belief, then there should be no problem questioning it, but you must look on every side of it honestly, earnestly, and with the same sort of strictness you would use on an idea you may not like, or think is false. Run everything unbiasedly through the same tests, and don't hold back what you hope to be true out of fear of it being false, because real truth will sustain itself, and you'll be immeasurably better off for holding to actual truth. Research, dig deep, think it through thoroughly, and then, as Mar in Light of Ar puts it, always be ready to eat your own beliefs.

And soon enough, you'll discover that Reality is a lot cooler than the Great Pumpkin could ever be.

MO:ULa KI #: 03570860

So...Where is White Knight, anyway?

Wow, it's been a while!

This is just a short note to let everyone know I'm still here, though I have no idea when I might be appearing in the cave again. If any of you have spoken to fallcer37, he may have told you that I "took my show on the road" so-to-speak. That is more or less the case. :) One of these days (hopefully sooner, rather than later) my home will have a foundation instead of just four wheels, and I'll be able to join all of you on Uru once more! Until then, I'm looking for a place to settle down, and at the same time sharing the Life Levels with people I meet.

While you wait, I suggest you read Light of Ar so we can have something to talk about when I show my face again in the cave! What does a fictional modern-fantasy book have to do with Life Levels and the Guild of Peasants? Read the currently posted chapters (the Prologue through Chapter 21 for now) and find out! Trust me (and feel free to ask fallcer37 and ShadeTree about it, too), we'll have plenty to talk about after you've read those chapters. The author is currently polishing Chapter 22, and those of you who have been waiting so long for it, you will not be disappointed!

MO:ULa KI #: 03570860

RIP, Actiontec M1000

You may or may not be aware of this, but I no longer have the ability to visit the Cavern since my modem (an Actiontec M1000, if you care to know) died a few days ago. I will continue to update this blog, and answer questions about the Guild, but just know that answers will come very slowly, as I can only access the internet by visiting my local library. As soon as I can afford it, I will buy myself a new modem and enter the Cavern once more!

I sincerely hope that I left a good foot-print on the lands of D'ni, and that the Uru Community continues to become better in my absence. I have left fallcer37 and ShadeTree "in charge" (as much as someone can be "in charge" in a Guild like this...), so speak to them about anything on your mind, if you can't get to me as fast as you'd like. Gotta go! I'm out of time!

Shorah!

MO:ULa KI #: 03570860

Weekly Guild of Peasants Meetings

Everyone is invited to the Guild of Peasants meeting that will be held every Saturday at 15:00 KI time (3PM MST, 5PM EST) in the Guild of Peasants' Bevin.

The Guild of Peasants' mission is to strengthen and support all other groups, events, and activities of the Cavern, in order to make the Uru Community better for all. This is done under the philosophy that since a community of any kind is only as good as its people (its "peasants"), improvement of the quality of the people will make a better community overall. We accomplish this by a daily study and application of the Life Level System, which measures our method of operation, and how we can progress to operate in better ways. Improving our method of operation means being driven by better and better things in everything we do. This will lead us to be more virtuous (e.g. more creative; more patient; more friendly; etc), which in turn will give us greater knowledge and skills (e.g. talented at creating new things; good at waiting, listening, or learning; good charisma, or knowing how to make friends; etc), making it so we have better, longer-lasting possessions (e.g. projects we've completed; anything that requires an education; friends or companions; etc).

D'ni and every fallen society have fallen because while the people may have been strong in the areas of possessions and skills, they were weak in the areas of virtues and operation methods (Life Levels). Only by improving our own individual Life Level can we make every group in Uru, as well as the entire Uru Community, better for everyone.

MO:ULa KI #: 03570860

da BOMB and da Life Levels

Before I tell you about the meeting at 15:00 KI time, I want to bring you up to date with a historic (or is it an historic?) event that began at 11:00 KI time the same day. The people involved in this event strongly demonstrated various Life Levels and why that System is so crucial to everything we do and are.

It began at the end of the Guilds Fair on July 3 in Kirel. OHB (the maker of OHBot, a spiffy AI program speaking through a regular avatar like we do) announced to everyone that absolutely nothing was going to happen on Saturday, July 10, at 11:00 KI time in Ae'gura. Click here to read for yourself what he wrote on the Guild of Messengers' calendar. And instead of me giving you every detail from my point of view, you can just click here to read the full report by the Guild of Messengers of what happened.

We still met at 15:00 KI time in the Guild of Peasants' Bevin, even though all of the regular visitors to the meetings were busy trying to disarm the bomb. Kaveman, ShadeTree, and I all discussed the issue of the bomb-threat, and how regular people like us were reacting to it. We reviewed the first few Life Levels so we could all be on the same page, but then RL called for some of us, and the meeting was adjourned. I returned to Ae'gura (having been gone for about 30-45 minutes by now, but otherwise I was there from the beginning to the end), and racked my brain some more for a solution to the bomb problem. (As a side note, in the end my theories weren't even close! I'm certainly no mathematician, so I didn't have much of a prayer of figuring it out. But I tried!)

Many harsh and unnecessary words were flung back and forth in the crowd as tension and pride ran high. Others kept to themselves and studied the strange code OHB had sent to us. One sad thing this experience showed us is that much of the beauty of the Uru Community has been quietly disintegrating behind the scenes over the last few months and years; making the need for a Guild like ours all the greater, and the desire for it all the less. Here, on the MO:ULa forums, I discuss my views on how people were behaving in the Cavern, though I suggest you go back and read the whole thread as well.

Many have found themselves in Loshem's position (see the same forum thread), suggesting solutions from the outside-in, like Cyan charging money for people to take part in Uru. Others, like Christian Walther, think that it's "just what humans do, and the only way to ever get anywhere is to learn to ignore it." Loshem, Christian, and all others who have similar thoughts, we as the Guild of Peasants must respectfully but firmly disagree. I already posted a response on the forums to Loshem's comments, mainly pointing out (as best I could at such a late hour for me) that real solutions come from the inside-out, not the other way around. As for those who sigh, shrug, and say that the way people acted in Ae'gura was just "human nature" and we just need to ignore it, let me say a few words here about human nature.

First and foremost, human nature is fluid. It changes -- or at least it can change -- and can be very different from person to person. Two people from different times, places, and especially cultures will likely have very different natures. Life Levels themselves could easily be called "Human Nature Levels", though I've always liked "Life Levels" better than anything else I've thought of yet. The point is that human nature can and often does change! Ignoring the problem will only let it fester until it's too late to do anything about it! Beginning now to change yourself on the inside will change your own nature to something better, making you a more capable human being over-all! We all saw that if there had been more respect in the Cavern, more concern for others, and especially more holding true to one's own code of conduct, the whole "bomb scare" would have been monumentally more enjoyable for everyone involved!

And we can each change all of this for the better. Start with your inward self, and then reach out a helping hand to those who are struggling to do the same. When I was young, I operated in the lower Life Levels, and had I said at the time that that's just the way things are, then I'd probably still be thinking in those ways now. But I don't. I learned and grew and became something better, something more. We're told every day that the only things we can change are more external stuff like strength, skills, and knowledge. That's because most people don't know how to change their very natures, because they need the Life Level System to do it!

If I sounded enthusiastic about all of this, that's because I am. I do not want to come off harsh or mean, though, because I don't want to be either of those. But this subject is so important to me, and it's so vital that we all understand something that could really fix so much of what's been deemed "unfixable" by our culture (like human nature). Good, wise, influential men and women have lived and still do live, but as we try to emulate them, it's often difficult to pinpoint exactly how they became such incredible people. By improving your own Life Level, it's suddenly not so difficult anymore.

Shorah,

MO:ULa KI #: 03570860

Our Next Meeting

Everyone is invited to the Guild of Peasants' meeting on Saturday, July 10 from 15:00 to 16:00 KI time (5PM to 6PM EST) in the Guild of Peasants' Bevin. Come discuss with us ways we can become a better community and thereby make Uru more enjoyable for everyone! Representatives from each Guild/group are especially welcome to join us so that the Guild of Peasants may work through them to improve the Cavern for everyone!

Check out the links on the side, and read through old posts to learn more about this Guild!

Shorah,

MO:ULa KI #: 03570860

sorry for the short notice...

...but today we will be meeting in Kirel at 13:00 KI time with the All-Guilds Meeting. I know that's something like 20 minutes from when I'm typing this, but I've been busy in RL, and I only just remembered the meeting in Kirel. Here's what I posted on the Left Imager in the Guild of Peasants Bevin:

"At 13:00 KI time (1PM KI time) on the first Saturday of every month there is an all-guilds meeting in Kirel. The Guild of Peasants not only supports every Guild, but one of its main goals is to strengthen every member of every Guild from the inside-out, making them better-functioning and more productive in every way. Consequently, our usual meeting will be with all of the other Guilds on the first Saturdays, and will be at 13:00 KI time in Kirel.

"All of the other Saturday meetings will continue to be here at 15:00 KI time. See ya!"

I Hope to see you in Kirel today and every month at this time!

MO:ULa KI #: 03570860