Some Notes Along The Way

I enjoyed Ger-bean's post on Words of Wisdom. Hope he'll find the time to update his entertaining and informative blog on the road! His and Marbella's post made me think if I had come to any great insights on my journey. At which point I run smack into my non-verbal hemisphere which claims I'll just butcher anything it has to tell me by putting them into words and will probably phrase them in such a way as they will be misinterpreted. So, meh. I'll just try to salvage some around the edges; here are a few thoughts that pop to mind.

• There are no great truths. Just little truths that it is possible to wrap our minds around. Anytime we think we know the "answer" to anything it is almost certain that a) we don't have all the facts. b) the facts we do have can also be interpreted in ways that support the opposite of what we think is truth. c) what we think we know is usually just where we stopped thinking about something because that's all we wanted to know or we were happy with the conclusion and don't want to muddy the waters. d) It's ok not to know the answers, it's far more important to become skilled at asking the right questions. e) truth in any "objective" or measurable sense is trivial because it says nothing about meaning. f) beliefs are truths we have internalized, if they are not making you happy or giving you purpose, they can be changed if you know how g) the wildest and strangest fantasies about what is real are likely more closely aligned to what is real than what we "know" so far h) there is no external scorecard. what you choose to believe only needs to be right for you, live your own "truth" and do so with passion. i) knowledge is infinite. There is no fixed set of laws to discover and then we'll have everything "figured out." Our manipulation of the physical world is besides the point, it's just another form of physical adaptation, no better or worse than a monkey's.


• The brain is not the only instrument of cognition. If we don't think with our heart and with our gut, we are only experiencing a small part of what is available to us. The brain can be cruel. Become aware of what you are telling yourself and how it makes you feel. The voice may not even be your own. Sometimes we tell ourselves things that if we told a friend, they would kick our ass. Treat yourself with respect and it is easier to treat others the same. Realize that you are work in progress, you don't have to be perfect right now. If you find your brain being rude to you, tell it to back off or help out and keep the snide remarks to itself; if it's so smart, see if it can do better, if not, make it sound like donald duck until it becomes a friend rather than a judge.


• There is an inner world and an outer world and strange entanglements between the two. The most important of these, and the one least understood, most feared, denigrated and ignored is the inner. Yet this inner world, where few of us venture, is the most important determinant in the quality of our lifes. By cultural default, it is mostly formed by our random external circumstances and cultural conditioning; the secret to life is to flip this equation. What we think, feel and understand has generally been pre-formed without our volition through external imprint. Finding ways back to our sovereign rights in our own heads is an amazing adventure and will literally open new worlds. Remember your dreams, you spend 2 hours every night, 8 years of your life, totally immersed in this world; find out what's going on. It's important. Play in your imagination, learn how to experience things clearly in your mind -wake up your inner senses ---these are your crafts for navigation; make up stupid songs at red-lights, meditate regularly. Live inside-out and look at things sideways, so you catch the movements in the corners of the eye; That is where magic unfolds.


• Our bodies are not mere appendages of our brains and spirit. Do things that make it happy. Dance when no one's watching. Jump up and down. Learn to play drums with your hands. Take walks in the moonlight and long, candlelight baths. Find ways that the body loves to exercise and it will repay you in energy and well-being ten fold. Check in with it daily and express your gratitude. Listen to what it's trying to tell you.


• If you're not finding something to laugh about, at least once a day, you are paying attention to the wrong stuff. Attention is the only thing we can really control in the mind, but it's enough, use it wisely. Don't let it just run around willy-nilly or that's how you will live. What you give your attention to is a choice and it will be reflected in your life, your moods and the lines on your face. Don't subscribe to things that package attention for you, like the news. There are an infinite number of things to look at and infinite ways of seeing them. Be artistic with your life. The world is created by how you see, not what you see.


• Be suspicious of language and words (especially these) they tend to want to do our thinking for us.