Relieving Yourself In The Face Of Solemnity

Lay down all thought

Surrender to the void
It is shining
It is shining
- John Lennon (Tomorrow Never Knows)

I used to believe that each day I knew all there ever was to know. The next day, I would learn a few more things and marvel at how stupid I was the day before. That's the way it is with life. Each day brings new possibilities, new hopes, new dreams and, of course, fresh concerns. Balancing the 'yings' and 'yangs' of our existence can leave us dumbfounded as we existentially grope around in our subconscious for our minds to hang our 'sense of being' and self-worth on.

For many, juggling the psychic apparatus of their various cognitive and psychological states is serious business, and good business for many institutions come circus barkers. It's really something to meditate on.

Nevertheless, I've never been much of a meditator. In fact, I'm much too full of myself for the practice and balk at any idealistic isms that preach self-nullification. Perhaps it's a defense mechanism, but for many years, I felt as if I was my own best friend. Alone with my thoughts which I could never really share, I'd entertain myself and find ways to make myself smile. I never heard voices in my head, though I would occasionally talk to myself.

That being said, I have read much about meditation. I've done the breathing and focus-defocus exercises always coming to realization that I was trying much too hard and therefore becoming a burden to my efforts. It's easy to distract yourself with your 'self' as your self can't help but get in the way. It's easy to miss the forest for the trees ... when you are a tree. And perhaps that's really the whole point of it ... to accept yourself for who you really are.

Honestly, if one was happy with oneself, why would one want to lose oneself in a crowd? If we are happy with who we are, then how could we not look in the mirror and smile? An exercise I do each day, sort of my own special daily affirmation, is too look in the bathroom and feign a constipated expression. It always cracks me up, and for a few seconds each day the stress of all that was and all that is yet to be shatter from the moment and fall to the ground.

So how do you distract yourself from distraction? Some would say by training yourself to get lost in the moment. This a far cry from suggesting we lose our minds. Even former vice-president Dan Quayle misquoted "What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is." I would wholeheartedly agree, if I knew he knew what he was talking about. Unfortunately, he doesn't ... or rather didn't, so the point is moot.

What I do know is that when we lower our guard, demand less and have fewer expectations we are more apt to really enjoy any given moment. I can't vouch for living fully in each moment, because that sounds a bit too wide-eyed and pollyanish for my taste. Sorry, but it's just not in my nature to prance or frolic. Still, I firmly believe that freeing yourself from the gravity of some moments seems doable.

Still, brazenly relieving yourself in the face of solemnity will most definitely ruffle the britches of the hand-writhing and hard-washing rank and file. Some will encourage we be all that we can be. Others will admonish us to lose all sense of independent existence. In both cases, these 'powers that be' surreptitiously suggest that we surrender ourselves, not so much to a void, but to their will. In marketing, this is known as the old 'switch and bait' ploy.

There are many who are seeking a spiritual state of mind. This is a mistake. It's our minds that get in the way of the manifestation of a spiritual state. I'd suggest it's easier to shoot for achieving a spiritual state of 'spirit'. Now defining spirituality is a matter for another post, but trust me I can can definitely propose the following advice: raise your spirits and your mind will follow.

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Suggested Reading:

A Birther In The Rye (and other nonconformist ideations)

Light the lamp and fire mellow, 

Cabin essence timely hello, 

Welcomes the time for a change. 

- Cabinessence:  Brian Wilson & Van Dyke Parks

Uncle Sam used to tempt to us to 'be all that you can be', assuming we enlisted in the Army. I'm sure that many a good soldier not only answered this challenge, but met this call to action. Lots of others, however, paid it as much mind as they did the Tidy Bowl man (read: Ty-D-Bol) hustling his product from the blue waters of his commode based rowboat. Nevertheless, a bit of logic would suggest that sometimes you have to separate the message from the messenger.

Why do only a fraction of us actually challenge ourselves to be all that we can be? A better question yet might be why we even aspire to be more than we are. Why aren't we just content to embrace mediocrity? Why must we be egged on to face and overcome adversity, just to fall back on resting on our laurels?

Slackers in Hell

Some might say that the answers to the above questions lie in our decidedly guilt-laden 'western' creed cum Judeo-Christian work ethic (breathe) chastising us to work on lest we be nothing... or worse than nothing (i.e. you're going to  hell). In the 12th century, admonition is found in the words of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer "Idle hands are the devil's tools." Some years later, in 18th century America, Benjamin Franklin chimed in as well "Trouble springs from idleness, and grievous toil from needless ease." Clever guy that Franklin was; talk of the devil makes some people real nervous.

Who among us hasn't smirked at the adage 'practice makes perfect'? We may nod, scoff, or lower our heads in submission. We may slink away in self-righteous depression and then mentally flog ourselves in passive aggression. Or, for a fleeting moment we may resolve in earnest to do better when 'next time' next comes around. Regardless, guilt for not 'trying harder' has already hit home, sometimes bringing with it humiliation, deprecation, degradation ... and lots of other negative ideations, too!

Congratulations! If you have read this far, take heart in knowing that you have reached the point where a narrator booms "Don't despair! Help is at hand!" From the depths of morosity a voice is heard. It starts in low, and then starts to grow... and as the Grinch discovered much to his chagrin, the sound isn't sad! Why, this sound sounds merry! In fact, it is merry VERY! (pregnant pause) Ok, maybe not merry, but the point is we can change our way of thinking, or at least we can think for a change and stop banging our heads against the same walls we know all too well. If we can learn to push the envelope of our own mental and emotional confinements and think outside of the boxes we entrap ourselves in, then we can defy our own expectations and in fact, the expectations of others.

A good place to begin is by introspectively asking ourselves who we are looking to please. Is it ourselves or the 'others'? Indeed, we need to ask if we define ourselves or if we are defined by 'others'. We must question why it is incumbent on us to seek recognition and approval from 'others' and not ourselves. We must petition for the question to be raised concerning why we have seemingly been programmed to place 'others' before ourselves. We must forward the proposition that, at some  point in our existence, we allowed 'others' to impress upon us the idea that we must repress our own needs and desires, suppress our emotional yearnings and oppress our thoughts with self-doubt and self-nullifying conviction.

The 'Donald'

Yes, despair not for I am sure that even now, though many of you have yet to reach for pitchforks, shovels and lanterns, my words have nevertheless resonated deeply within you all. As I spread these seeds of non-conformity, I can almost hear the words frothing forth from the corners of your mouths as you demand to know who or what institutions have visited our psyches with such atrocities. Friends, I don't have all the answers, but rest assured that I can tell you one thing of which I am certain ... Donald Trump is a bell-end.

PS. Thanks for reading. How easy is it for you to think yourself out of a box? Is it a box or more like a carton? Are you a 'birther' or were you just born that way? Let me know.

Suggested Reading:

     
     


Suggested Listening: