Are We Really In Touch With Our Inner Hidden Landscape?

One of those days when I show up at the page and have no idea that is coursing through my fingers into words on the blank slate. It’s been such a long time - for the past year or so, there has always been a niggling thought or a burning problem that I have been grappling with, one that required me to solve it on the page. Writing, books, dancing, and meditating are my doorways to solitude. When I engage in these activities, a part of me can find solace - it’s like the metaphor of how ducks appear calm on the surface but waddle like crazy just below the surface.

Now, that you come to think about it, that is true regardless of what is going on in your life, right? We go about our lives - get up in the morning, brush our teeth, drive to work, do all important stuff, come back home, and go to bed. But, throughout the day, our inner body experiences another world. For example, you are driving to work and somebody cuts you off. Your eyes see the car coming in front of you, your legs hit the brake - your thoughts go one of two ways: a) angry at what happened or b) tolerance for somebody who is in a hurry. Based on these options, your body begins to generate a reaction of either anger or compassion. What just happened - A car came in front of you, and you are developing a reaction based on your thoughts.

So, how many thoughts do you think throughout the day? And how many are really related to what is happening in the moment? Right, and that’s what your inner body knows - it uses our six senses to get the input and, based on our conditioning, generate an appropriate reaction and off we go. The generation of a response is not the issue - acting on that reaction is a problem. Like, in the previous example, anger has arisen. It does not mean that we have to get angry. However, most of us do not know how to avoid getting angry. That is the ultimate lesson in life: how not to react, but to respond. If only each of us could master that the world would be a much better place to live, but it is so hard to overcome the conditioning of years, especially when the instant gratification of anger hits. We are all addicts - people with a substance use disorder of the sensations that we experience when we get angry, annoyed or are even afraid, so much so that we keep creating situations in our life where those sensations can be experienced again and again.

It sounds stupid - right? We all know that getting angry is not suitable for us - but we still do it. Not only do they do it, but they also repeat the same thing over and over again.

What can we do about it? First, become aware that this is happening, and accept it. Then, be kind and gentle with yourself. These habit patterns existed way before you were born; in some ways, this is the agreement that society has imposed upon us individuals (knowing that society is also made up of individuals). Third, as much as possible, be equanimous about it - even keeled about it as much as possible, like a witness or an observer. You are the scientist and the experiment. Fourth, believe that the universe is friendly and has your best interests at heart. And lastly, have fun - do not take life so seriously. No rule says we cannot have fun while we get angry or while we are alive, experiencing these emotions, and sometimes even witnessing them.

Sometimes it’s good to realise that at the end of the day, we are a tiny mote of dust in a blue dot in the vast expanse of the universe.