Paying the Tributes

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Paying the Tributes

I am crazy in love with this new book I am reading, “Pronoia.” I don’t want the focus of this post to be about the book, so you can check the details below. What I do want to focus on is one of the exercises in the book:

Paying the Tributes

“Have you ever seen the game called “Playing the Dozens?” Participants compete in the exercise of hurling witty insults at each other. Here is an example: “Your mother is so old, she was a waitress at the Last Supper.”

I invite you to rebel against any impulse in you that resonates with the spirit of “playing the Dozens.” Instead, try a new game, “Paying the Tributes.” Choose worthy targets and ransack your imagination to come up with smart, true, and amusing praise about them. The best stuff will be specific to the person you’re addressing, not generic, but here are some prototypes: “You’re so far-seeing, you can probably catch a glimpse of the back of your own head.” “You’re so ingenious, you could use your nightmares to get rich and famous.” “Your mastery of pronoia is so artful, you could convince me to love my worst enemy.”

I have invited some friends to play this game with me over on twitter and I would love to have you join us! Mark your tweets with #pronoia so we can get a running list of all the fun, funny, awesome tributes.
Let’s play >>
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Pronoia
Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings
by Rob Brezsny
Thanx to John Halcyon Styn for shining a spotlight on it.