on second thoughts - to Claire

[Guest guest]

:

I'm a slow thinker. Maybe because I was born under Taurus, though I

don't much believe in Astrology. I mean I keep on coming back to

things, like a ruminant, you know. Sometimes what was right at first

sight begins to look less right, so to say. I'm certain this happens

with many people all the time.

So I've been coming back to this post of yours (the one below). At

first I found it

impeccable, but now something is teasing me. I start to question your

justification.

I respect your

decision to talk offline and only to very specific cases and your

unwillingness

to defend own your choices. But by answering offline to those who

want to follow the diet, aren't you defending a position anyway?

And then again, what's the main objective of joining a discussion

group? If you don't lurk yourself all the time, then you're there in

order to debate, to tell everybody about your point of view or

experience.

I think it may be wrong to try to indoctrinate, although I'm certain

that whenever anyone talks, they want sort of to convince. This is so

natural. Otherwise you wouldn't say anything. But isn't

indoctrination rather a problem of others? Though I may be wrong, it

isn't so much what you say or

how you say it that makes people change or influence them, but it's

rather what they

listen to, what they select from what you say, how they react to it.

The speaker doesn't have to feel responsible for any results, good or

bad.

Adults have freedom of choice, don't they?

So, in this new light, I now see your refusal to talk online as

withholding

valuable information and unnecessary self-protection. I am not saying

you don't have the right to do it, but it could be self-defeating in

the long run, you know. Even if I don't

want to follow Aajonus' regimen, I would like to have some questions

answered, why not? I know there's a specific forum for Aajonus, but

isn't this very list open to all sorts of approaches? So now (and it

feels

strange to say so) I can't help feeling disappointed at and

embarrassed by your silence. Yes I needed some time to realize this.

I would understand you if there were too many questions or if they

were too dificult or too personal for you to deal with. That would be

overwhelming of course. But withdrawing right at the beginning,

moreover after having

posted revealing information about yourself, has created, in my view,

a sort of

suspense and a feeling of uncertainty about you: " What if I ask

another question? Will she ask me to talk to her offline? Better not

to take risks with . "

Really, I am not even asking you to reconsider, I am not telling you

what to do, but I

just wanted to share my feelings and this perspective with you, and I

hope you can be fine with it, too.

Regards,

José

> If anyone on this list has read his interviews or books and is

beginning the

> diet and needing help with the specifics of transitioning (very

hard, I

> know), I would be happy -- off list -- to field questions, make

suggestions,

> and tell you of my own experiences in the process. There is also a

group

> available on .

>

> I don't want to sound rude here. It's just that I have zero

interest in

> defending my choices or persuading anyone else to a course of

action.

>

>