We were watching the movie Mulholland Drive yesterday and it suddenly hit us like lightning. How many times do we misdiagnose a situation. How many times have we walked down a road without knowing that our assumption has led us miles off course.
It’s like playing golf and only knowing how to use three clubs and having to use them in every situation.
It’s like looking through a camera’s zoom lens instead of a wide-angle lens.
It’s like blindly following someone else’s opinion.
The fact is that we spend most of our lives reusing information collected in our formative years. Therefore, when something new enters our arena, we immediately go to the past to try to make sense of it.
The result is: each of us lives an illusion. We each see our world through some very tinted spectacles. Each of us acts as if we were a hammer and everything that comes before us is a nail.
The problem is. IT DOES NOT WORK.
We were surprised how easily we fell into the trap. How easily we interpreted what was happening before our eyes and made it logical. How easily we seek closure.
In order for us to feel comfortable we wanted to put things in a comfortable category. We wanted to box events in the same way a librarian codes books for easy access. Oh! That goes in the family box. That is rude behavior. That is unacceptable in public. That shows that he has no education, etc., etc.
Yes, it could be argued that this form of coding is important in life because it helps us to live life quickly.
OBJECTIVE!!!
Why do we like to put ourselves and others in “psychological boxes”? What do we like to say that we are this type of person or that? Why do we want to limit ourselves? Why do we want to sell ourselves short?
It’s like being a carpenter who only has a hammer in his toolbox. We are restricting ourselves beyond belief. Imagine how restrictive it would be if he only had a hammer in his toolbox. How can you be passionate about something if all you’re capable of doing is racking your brain with whatever information comes your way?
How do you find out why you were brought to this planet if all you can do is respond the same way to whatever comes your way?
How do you develop and grow your children if all they see is the same behavior regardless of the issue at hand?
How do you deal with the challenges of our society if all you do is apply the same reasoning even if it doesn’t fit?
Like Howard Shatz. The famous New York dance photographer stated in one of his books:
“I told every dancer that when it was easy, it had probably been done
before, probably many times. I explained that only when it was so difficult
that it was almost impossible if maybe we were close to getting something
unique and extraordinary”.
Is this why we like to categorize situations and people? We really don’t like hard work.
Is it that we don’t like the pressure of being ourselves? Why do we have to stand out to do that?
Is it that we can’t cope with being unique and extraordinary, so we just want to be similar and ordinary?
Is it that we are afraid of what we could be? Are we afraid that we might succeed? Afraid that if we admit we’re talented we might have to do something with our lives?
Is it that we really don’t want to discover who we really are and what we are capable of?
We don’t know about you, but we want to be unique, we want to discover and use our uniqueness. We want to be fulfilled. We want to find our source of energy that is released when we are doing what we are meant to do. We want to be in the flow, as some writers describe it.
We have realized what prevents us from being in the flow all the time. What prevents us from releasing our passion. What prevents us from behaving naturally. Which makes us waste energy.
FEAR.
Fear keeps us putting people and situations into categories.
Fear prevents us from leading ourselves.
Fear prevents us from leaving the past behind.
Fear keeps our habitual patterns in place.
Being afraid and feeling second to none prevents us from finding ourselves.
Fear buries my natural self.
“A musician must make music, and artists must paint,
a poet must write if he wants to finally be at peace with himself.
What a man can be, he must be”
(Maslow)
And you?
Good luck
graham and julia
www.meditation-desk.com