Freedom is a State of Mind
The human mind is an overwhelmingly paradoxical mystery. It is the horseman controlling the reins. It is the magician with tricks up his sleeve. It is the capricious child. It is the wise elder. And no matter how strong we may like to think we are, the mind consumes us. It strangles us and throws us onto a street corner. From its processing to its biasing, we are at its mercy. Left to ponder whether it is reality or "in my head."
Senior year of high school we were asked to draw pictures of our home and family to be analyzed for personality and character. I wasn't in class the day we got our results, but the next time I saw my teacher she gave back my sketches with a short paragraph stapled to the back. Being the on-the-go senior that I was, I glazed over the text once with the intention of looking at it in greater detail at a later time. But one sentence in, my eyes could no longer hurdle words. The description seemed oddly applicable. Familiar.
I was later informed that the supposed five-star analysis was actually an illustration of the human tendency to accept general and vague characterizations of themselves and take them to be accurate. Everyone had received the same text to describe his or her drawing. Take a horoscope for example. Could it really be that every single individual born in August is experiencing financial tribulations or a thriving social life? No, but each could find some aspect of their life to force the description to be applicable.
I am always assessing social situations. Observing. Analyzing. Understanding. Why did he say that? Why did she do that? The fact is, nothing can be taken at face value. Every little encounter or exchange is distorted by our preconceived notions and biases. The light might be hitting the retina and sending a cascade of electrical and chemical stimuli to the brain, but just as the image is distorted (the whole mirror-image thing), so is our assessment. We see through our mind's eye.
It's downright frightening. The fact that in a group of four people, no two people necessarily take away the same message. What you say and hear is tainted by the mind. The great puppeteer. Strings attached, you hang on every word, phrase, moment.
While it is of great importance for us to use this powerful mind of ours to think about our actions and those of others, we are also in grave danger or thinking too much. For allowing our minds to take complete charge. To turn everything into an ego-centered one. To make us think that we are to blame. To convince us that we are being treated differently. To urge us to feel that everyone "knows" some private detail.
But it really just is a state of mind. The good news is that we can make of every experience what we want. It doesn't always have to be that worst case scenario. It isn't necessarily because of you. Undressing ourselves of the distorting lenses may lead us to see more clearly. Mark Twain said it in reference to age, but if you ask me, it's universally applicable. It's always a question of mind over matter. And if you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
Senior year of high school we were asked to draw pictures of our home and family to be analyzed for personality and character. I wasn't in class the day we got our results, but the next time I saw my teacher she gave back my sketches with a short paragraph stapled to the back. Being the on-the-go senior that I was, I glazed over the text once with the intention of looking at it in greater detail at a later time. But one sentence in, my eyes could no longer hurdle words. The description seemed oddly applicable. Familiar.
I was later informed that the supposed five-star analysis was actually an illustration of the human tendency to accept general and vague characterizations of themselves and take them to be accurate. Everyone had received the same text to describe his or her drawing. Take a horoscope for example. Could it really be that every single individual born in August is experiencing financial tribulations or a thriving social life? No, but each could find some aspect of their life to force the description to be applicable.
I am always assessing social situations. Observing. Analyzing. Understanding. Why did he say that? Why did she do that? The fact is, nothing can be taken at face value. Every little encounter or exchange is distorted by our preconceived notions and biases. The light might be hitting the retina and sending a cascade of electrical and chemical stimuli to the brain, but just as the image is distorted (the whole mirror-image thing), so is our assessment. We see through our mind's eye.
It's downright frightening. The fact that in a group of four people, no two people necessarily take away the same message. What you say and hear is tainted by the mind. The great puppeteer. Strings attached, you hang on every word, phrase, moment.
While it is of great importance for us to use this powerful mind of ours to think about our actions and those of others, we are also in grave danger or thinking too much. For allowing our minds to take complete charge. To turn everything into an ego-centered one. To make us think that we are to blame. To convince us that we are being treated differently. To urge us to feel that everyone "knows" some private detail.
But it really just is a state of mind. The good news is that we can make of every experience what we want. It doesn't always have to be that worst case scenario. It isn't necessarily because of you. Undressing ourselves of the distorting lenses may lead us to see more clearly. Mark Twain said it in reference to age, but if you ask me, it's universally applicable. It's always a question of mind over matter. And if you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
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