Photo Challenge ~ Round April 30, 2011
Posted by nrhatch in Art & Photography, Humor, Life Balance.comments closed
”What are you ~ a god, an angel, a saint?”
“No,” replied The Buddha, “I am A-W-A-K-E.”
Related posts: Weekly Photo Challenge: Round * Round (Creating Magic) * Round (The Laughing Housewife) * Round (Jeanne’s Blog) * Mirth & Motivation
Tending Our Gardens April 30, 2011
Posted by nrhatch in Books & Movies, Mindfulness, Spirit & Ego.comments closed
As I read through the comments on Checking Out, I realized how society’s underlying beliefs about life (and death) shade our views and skew our perspective.
We are easily influenced and manipulated . . . especially if we are not mindful of the choices we are making:
Social mores have much to do with our conditioning. We are “brainwashed” from birth.
FREEDOM entails looking around and beginning to THINK for ourselves.
While considering that comment, I noticed evidence of subtle (and not so subtle) “brainwashing” everywhere I looked.
Spin is everywhere.
People want to influence what we do, say, wear, eat, think, and consume.
Not just little decisions. It’s far more encompassing and pervasive than that.
We are inundated with peer pressure to conform, fit in, and tow the line.
In A Very Circumspect Choice, Kirk Weiser noted “the people we choose to hang around influence the way we feel, the way we think, the way we grow, and ultimately who we become.”
In A Terrible Case of “Should Be”, Maggie observed that many of us use a generic time-table to gauge our progress and success in life.
Where does this time-table come from?
From our interactions with books, movies, TV, friends, family, churches, and schools.
In order to get us to do what they want us to do, those in our sphere of influence encourage us to conform to the norm.
When we say something “discordant” . . . they remind us to behave. When we do something out of the ordinary, they use the ego’s fear of rejection to encourage us to get back in line.
From the time we are born, people shove “truisms” down our throats the way factory farms force-feed geese to produce foie gras.
And we keep gobbling it up. Until we can’t any more.
One day, we awaken to the realization that much of what we’ve been told does not make sense in light of the direct, personal experiences we’ve had.
We began to think for ourselves.
We re-evaluate what we’ve been taught. We look within for guidance. We keep what resonates and reject the rest.
We allow our unique gifts to blossom.
We use our inner wisdom to guide us in deciding what to plant and what to weed out of our lives.
We become who we were always intended to be.
Here’s to tending our gardens!
Aah . . . that’s better!
Quote: To be nobody but yourself ~ in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else ~ means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. ~ e.e.cummings
Related posts: Changing Beliefs (WordPress Prompt) * Confessions from a Non-Conformist * Whose Shoes Are They Anyway? * Live Your Life * The Awakening * Reflections: To Live Without Belief (Mirth & Motivation)
Spirit Lights The Way 