Killing Bugs (Blog)

[Steve Pavlina]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

Killing Bugs

[Akashic_Librarian]

Haha...

WEEEIIIRRRDDDD post Steve, and I am quite tolerant of weirdness, that was surreal actually.

I don't see the occasional bug being obliterated to make my life less stressful, as a problem at all. In fact I think that bugs that enter my house have a very limited life span from that moment, in fact the other day I caught a fly in mid air with my hand, I victoriously screamed like a mad man in the after effects of the Warfire flowing through me, good times really good times.

[Rose of Cairo]

Steve, of all your posts, this one is the one that most touched me. You almost had me crying. I'm very happy to hear you're opening your heart to those fascinating little creatures too. Just like you, I try never to kill them, and see them as our equals. Aren't they sweet?

[ArthurHung]

I feel the same as Rose. I sincerely hope you will continue future posts along this line. The same thing has happened to me with veganism. I relate to this so much, and I also feel that tinge even when I eat honey (I know it indirectly kills bees).

[Erin Pavlina]

Just for the record, I'm okay with cute little bugs or spiders. I don't kill them. But it's those pesky roaches. They scare the bejesus out of me. I used to live in an apartment a long time ago that was filled with roaches thanks to the hygiene habits of the previous occupant. I woke up after my first night there to find a cockroach defiantly standing on my alarm clock! Then I found one in my shoe. That was it for me. I hightailed it out of there and went home to mommy and daddy. Even after the landlord exterminated I had issues with roaches all night long. It was sick and scary and I lived alone.

Today I feel more of a live and let live when it comes to insects. With one caveat. I will kill anything that can harm my children. Bees, brown recluse spider, black widow, etc. Once they are in they house they cross the line and they'd better behave or it's back to the ether they go.

Our daughter is so desperate for a pet that she actually caught a spider and put him in a special bug jar, with holes, and was caring for it until it died. she also brought home a beetle from a class project at school and we kept that little guy alive for more than a week before something untoward happened to him. I think our housekeeper threw him out

[Rachelle]

I don't kill bugs either!

I try to make sure I don't step on ants when I'm out walking on the sidewalk... but I realize this makes one look down instead of up, enjoying the trees.

One things I accidentally kill are mosquitos - when they bite you and you feel it, it's instinct (for me, anyway) to slap that area, which will often result in the mosquito's death.

I definitely don't 'like' bugs (although I think of spiders as helpful, since they'll eat other bugs), but I don't want to kill them. sometimes i will muster enough courage to get a bug to crawl on a piece of paper, and then I'll bring the paper outside and shake or blow the bug off.

[faheeta]

I was the exact same way as Steve growing up (killing bugs as a kid). Now that I am older I believe we do not have the right to take another life, regardless if it is human or not. The Bible says do not kill. There are exceptions though (such as self defense). I believe the death penalty is wrong because we do not have a right to take another human life BUT if we abolished the death penalty there would be chaos. Prisons would be overcrowded. The same with insects. I will walk around an ant on the sidewalk if I'm walking down the street, but if an insect enters my house I must defend my territory. Mosquitoes carry diseases, bees sting and ants get into your food. I would have to kill these insects quick and painlessly.There are hundreds of bugs splattering on my windshield while I am driving down the thruway. Does this mean I should stop driving and sell my car?

[ProjectX]

well insects aren't really sentinent beings like mammals and humans. They're more like tiny robots.

[RRR]

Steve..master of synchs. I made the choice to kill a spider crawling towards my hand last night. I felt bad. Then I followed that decision with other mis-aligned heart decisions. I feel that once you take a path even in a small way it can snowball into bigger decisions.

[Rose of Cairo]

Originally Posted by Erin Pavlina

But it's those pesky roaches. They scare the bejesus out of me.

Hi Erin What exactly scares you about roaches standing on your alarm clock or in your shoes? What do you fear they might do? Once you've identified this precisely, if you want to transcend this fear, you could use EFT to reclaim your power from those traumatic events EFT usually is very efficient to address a phobia.

Our daughter is so desperate for a pet

I can understand her very well Living with animals is so great. They're awesome and beautiful. Experiencing connectedness with them and learning how to communicate with them is a wonderful experience.

I'm always wondering why you haven't adopted a cat or a dog yet. When I joined the forums over a year ago, I did it specially to tell you I had dreamed about me asking you why you have no pet

[jpletting]

This post is so me. !!

I was always the super-sensitive child who cried when we passed roadkill in the car and buried dead bugs in jewelry boxes. When I got older (don't laugh) and got to college, I actually started stopping when I saw an animal (unsquished), just to check and make sure it hadn't just been hit and needed help. I became vegetarian in 8th grade and upgraded to vegan in college--it just felt right! I'm no longer vegan (or vegetarian), but am making my way back--it just feels right.

These days it's a challenge to get my beau to use cinnamon instead of Amdro on the ants that sneak in, he just wants to dump poison on the hill because he's afraid they'll start building nests inside our walls. Fortunately we also have four cats who are great little hunters, which means I don't have to worry much about bugs getting into the house, or staying long.

[Aylana]

Well this is interesting as I have been thinking about this issue for the past few days! I generally try to avoid killing anything. However one of my cats brought fleas into the house recently, so I have been committing mass flea murder. It has to be done but I do feel a bit bad about it. They are just trying to survive after all.

I disagree completely with the statement that insects are just like little robots though. I did an animal communication course last summer (talking telepathically to animals). I was a bit apprehensive about it at first but it really opened my eyes. I try to stay in practise and have had some of my most insightful conversations with insects. I find it is quite easy to persuade insects to walk onto a piece of paper so you can take them outside, or to get a bee or wasp to follow you out the door. You just have to explain to them why they would be better off out there and send a good dose of loving feelings.

Ants don't tend to listen though. Apparently neither do fleas!! But then why would they, I am their food source!

[Anna Conlan]

I feel upset with myself if I kill a living creature, however small.

But there is one exception to that - flies, I don't feel upset at all if I kill a fly. Maybe if I went a little more raw that I already am, I'd feel compassion for flies as well

[Rose of Cairo]

Originally Posted by Aylana

Ants don't tend to listen though.

I've had good results with yelling at them to make them leave.

[frntk]

When I first read the title of this post I thought it was about a comparison between personal development and killing [software]bugs

[Christopher Lovejoy]

Hi,

Just finished reading "Killing Bugs", by Steve Pavlina.

After reading it, I just had to comment on it. I saw the link to the forums, and so I joined. So here I am.

Killing Bugs. As I read it, I laughed in spite of myself. It triggered a lot of fond childhood memories. I was a raw foodie for three months earlier this year. I can relate. Especially to the heightened sensitivity.

So here's my brief intro. I don't kill non-creepy bugs. But the creepy ones? The slithery ones? In my home? Let's just say I'm still working on that.

One final comment about the post. The conclusion to Killing Bugs is strong. Authentic. And well worth reading, if you haven't already.

About me? See Steve's recent interview on Zen Habits. Read his response to the question about his passions. That describes me quite well.

My parents? My father was strict, my mother was easy (most of the time). To this day, I still juggle strict and easy. But hey, I'm having fun with it.

Now, tell me something, dear reader: why are you here? What keeps you coming back to these forums? What turns your crank?

Talk to me about this so that I can get a sense of who you are

Cheers,
Christopher

[Aylana]

Originally Posted by Rose of Cairo

I've had good results with yelling at them to make them leave.

lol, then you have had better luck than me. I get told I am insignificant. It is rather a blow to the ego to be told you are insignificant by a creature a few millimetre longs that is in the process of stealing your food right in front of you.

[Dedekind]

What will you do when you go to a place with lots of mosquitos? Do you invite them to drink your blood?

[eternomi]

Incidentally, you don't need to become a raw foodist to get to a level of awareness where you start respecting bugs.

As a side note, respect does not have to mean "falling prey to" either. In nature, balance does not arise from non-interaction. IOW, you may have to rethink your respect policy if carpenter ants ever decide your house is good nesting material! If they don't show respect to you, what can you do?! :P

[Tously Xid]

Signed up because of this article. Thanks a lot.

[Niamh]

I love my spiders! I let the harmless, delicate ones live in the corners of my walls. The cobwebs trap other insects that fly around; they're very useful. ^_^

Roaches... ew. I'm with Erin on this one. I would spray my entire house weekly (ok, I'm exaggerating) if I found a cockroach on my alarm clock.

And mosquitoes! When you wake up in the middle of the night with five mosquito bites in each arm, you don't feel too bad about the squashing. Not to mention the diseases they may carry with them...
I still have the scars of some really bad bites from last week; and they don't even need the blood! It's like eating meat because that's how you like to get your protein.

[Erin Pavlina]

Originally Posted by Rose of Cairo

I'm always wondering why you haven't adopted a cat or a dog yet. When I joined the forums over a year ago, I did it specially to tell you I had dreamed about me asking you why you have no pet

Steve is allergic to cats. I grew up with lots of cats. We would adopt every stray cat in the neighborhood. But they were always outdoor cats, never allowed inside. I can't really do that to a cat here in Vegas, or so I'm told by the experts here.

As for a dog... we've discussed this many times. I'm not willing to walk it or clean up its droppings. I don't think we could give it the proper amount of time and attention. I wouldn't want to bathe it or figure out what to do with it when we travel. It's just not a good option for our family dynamic.

So then I thought about smaller animals, but to put something in a cage goes against my beliefs. So no fish, hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, etc.

All I could really come up with was a turtle, which apparently do very well here in Vegas. But a turtle isn't exactly cuddly and playful, though I like them cuz they're slow and I think they're adorable. But I've got kids who are cute, cuddly, adorable, and potty trained

[eruso]

Wow! Steve's gotten a little crazy(er) and I like it!

Good crazy, of course.

[Lena Carpenter]

I felt this way about bugs ever since I was a small child. I accidentally killed a spider a couple of weeks ago, trying to get it out of the house. I was really sad. Spiders are actually pretty gentle creatures. They are easy to kill. When I didn't have a baby, I just let them live and crawl away. Now, I try to catch them or shoe them out of the apartment.

Flies on the other hand, cross the line, when I can't get some sleep with a fly buzzing around and landing on me. I don't feel sorry for killing one. I don't know why.

[Bliss Sage]

This was such a sweet article...it was nice for the little spider to keep Steve company . I kill mosquitos...no other insects. I hurts to see the little "buggers" struggle or writhe if some ill fate has befallen them. Have you ever rescued an insect from a tragedy, like from a swimming pool, and put it on the ground and watched it try to pick itself back up again? And watched and watched and hoped it would be alright...? And then feel happy when it finally gets up and walks away.

I have a concern/question concerning the raw food diet. At first when I read the passages below, I was momentarily inspired to try a raw food diet myself.

Shortly after I became a raw foodist, these feelings were greatly amplified. Raw foodists often speak about how the volume on your emotions gets turned up massively when you go raw. Believe me — they aren’t kidding! Emotional feedback that was once extremely subtle becomes much louder and clearer, so it’s harder to tune out.

It’s like I’m finally discovering what it’s like to feel human — maybe for the first time in my life. All those years I was eating cooked and processed food, I never knew what I was missing. The intuitive and emotional signals were too subtle for me to process.

My concern/question is: If the diet amplifies emotions, would this diet then create even more upset and turmoil for a person who is already both highly empathetic to others and has emotions so amplified that the person is moderately to severly dysfunctional?

Steve is allergic to cats. I grew up with lots of cats. We would adopt every stray cat in the neighborhood. But they were always outdoor cats, never allowed inside. I can't really do that to a cat here in Vegas, or so I'm told by the experts here.

As for a dog... we've discussed this many times. I'm not willing to walk it or clean up its droppings. I don't think we could give it the proper amount of time and attention. I wouldn't want to bathe it or figure out what to do with it when we travel. It's just not a good option for our family dynamic.

So then I thought about smaller animals, but to put something in a cage goes against my beliefs. So no fish, hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, etc.

All I could really come up with was a turtle, which apparently do very well here in Vegas. But a turtle isn't exactly cuddly and playful, though I like them cuz they're slow and I think they're adorable. But I've got kids who are cute, cuddly, adorable, and potty trained

What about a ferret, or two? Much better than a cat or a dog, IMO (toilet-trained like cats, don't require walking, but can be taken outside on a ferret leash--it's nice for them to get outside--funny, soft, cuddly, more independent than a dog and less independent than a cat. Ask me if you'd like more info.

[Fullcrum]

I wonder if being rawsome can destroy Steve's cat allergies.

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by Fullcrum

I wonder if being rawsome can destroy Steve's cat allergies.

I wondered about that too. But when I visited my sister in L.A., I didn't even touch her cats, and my eyes were watering when I left her condo. Emily had the same problem. So the raw diet hasn't done anything to correct that so far.

However, I haven't had any illnesses at all during the time I've been raw this year, while Erin and the kids have suffered multiple illnesses. Currently my daughter has strep throat, and Erin has a cough. It used to happen that we'd all get each other sick when one of us did. Now I seem to have opted out. I'm really enjoying this raw immunity boost.

[Rose of Cairo]

Originally Posted by Bliss Sage

My concern/question is: If the diet amplifies emotions, would this diet then create even more upset and turmoil for a person who is already both highly empathetic to others and has emotions so amplified that the person is moderately to severly dysfunctional?

Hey, Bliss

From my experience, no. I'm a highly sensitive and very empathic person with strong to explosive emotions, I'd say I used to be moderately dysfunctional because of that. But on a raw diet, it gets better. It's true that my senses are amplified, like I'm more sensitive to light, can smell better, and taste much more. But my borderline pathologic sensitivity disappears. The emotions don't disappear, but they kinda even out. I calm down, get more centered, stronger, and gain stability. Internal and external events or feelings of others affect me less, I'm better able to stay peaceful in any situation.

I know everybody talks about stronger emotions when raw, but I have found it to be the contrary. Which is good! So I'd say a raw diet does not amplify emotions, it normalizes them. If you are as emotional as Commander Data, you'll suddenly love spiders and if you're a hysterical wreck, you'll probably get zen.

[WilliWibald]

Steve: You need this tool! It's a must have for nonviolent insect-friends.

Snapy

I got it as a present at my last birthday.

Even though I thought it was silly - it works much better then the "glas + paper"-technique. The insects don't seem to notice this coming and thus are not escaping in the last moment that often.

[Bliss Sage]

Originally Posted by Rose of Cairo

Hey, Bliss

From my experience, no. I'm a highly sensitive and very empathic person with strong to explosive emotions, I'd say I used to be moderately dysfunctional because of that. But on a raw diet, it gets better. It's true that my senses are amplified, like I'm more sensitive to light, can smell better, and taste much more. But my borderline pathologic sensitivity disappears. The emotions don't disappear, but they kinda even out. I calm down, get more centered, stronger, and gain stability. Internal and external events or feelings of others affect me less, I'm better able to stay peaceful in any situation.

I know everybody talks about stronger emotions when raw, but I have found it to be the contrary. Which is good! So I'd say a raw diet does not amplify emotions, it normalizes them. If you are as emotional as Commander Data, you'll suddenly love spiders and if you're a hysterical wreck, you'll probably get zen.

Hi Rose,

I actually thought of you when I asked the question and was wondering what your experience was, so thanks for answering. I guess it balances people out--ones with little emotion and sensitivity get more and over-emotional ones like us calm down. That's good news. I hope Steve is paying attention, because I don't think his take on it wasn't accurate . I couldn't imagine how bad it could be for me to go on a diet that would make me more sensitive and emotional. Anyway, he didn't answer my question, but the chance is still there to answer if he has a different answer.