There is an issue hovering in my head for a while, again... It is one of those I began writing about in my 20's, as in a biography; I began in the third person - obviously an indication of how painful the topic was to me.
It is about things that happen to us (all of us, I imagine I am not singled out - at least I hope not...) in situations one feels hurt and/or taken advantage of, manipulated, yet it is not quiet clear or transparent why...? There are a lot of "smoke and mirrors" and, false reassurances along the way that your very deep/at gut level perception could, at worst, be a simple misunderstanding... That, is how societal environment is preparing us to react.
The book was aptly titled The "UnRespectful" Ones, no matter what my friend Frank W Dabbs would say... I stuck to my choice and incorrect spelling because it really, really felt the right way to spell it. "Un" felt definitely having more weight, more "without", than the simple "Dis" which, sounded as an excuse for an interruption...
It appears like just semantics, but our language/use of words, does have a tremendous impact in how we express ourselves, even on how we think and unfortunately and, harmfully on how we "feel".
Expressing feelings and acting strictly according and, within the parameters "given" by a language, that has its own "story" behind it, is most certainly a dangerous pratice...
Buckmisnter Fuller had the right idea when he did not speak for a number of years while he evaluated the way he spoke/language.
Through the decades, as we are being reassured (quiet often lately) "we are evolving", I am finding more and more evidence that human nature has remained the same for millennium, all I have to do (in despair and answers) is go to my Oxford Companion to Philosophy to find that the the ancient Greeks had it already all figured out and we are giving it all newer and newer spins - I might add, they got it all figured out pretty well!
Just as often I ask myself, what have we learned?
Our society has became a DIY junkie... we want to continually fix everything, redo everything, reinvent everything in a never ending circular dance of madness, much as a dog chasing its tale!
The more I think about it, the more certain I am that this "evolutionary movement" is not given impetus in an altruistic affirmation of intentional global advancement, rather, I am more inclined to dig my heals in with the conclusion that it is simply impulsed by commerce and ego.
The more "new" one may come up with, the more money, hungry/trained consumers will throw at it ... while in reality, the "clever ones" are presenting us the same old wheel with a new set of smoke and mirrors.
At its worst, they are telling us what we already know or, what our family/ancestors/friends must have passed down to us. I think we have somehow - in this contemporary evolutionary process - have forgotten to feel and act "accordingly" while substituting for "appropriately" or, in a "controlled" fashion... (controlled by whom?)
This also applies to what I now view as the shameless spiritual industry and the newly packaged psychology and psychiatry fields, piggy-backing to the evangelical and older snake oil sales practices.
As to psychology and psychiatry, nothing wrong with either one - IF - they would solely be concerned with healing... but, I think that even the practitioners were sold/have bought into, this never ending nightmare, which separates life into neat categories and labels... as in a CSI investigation where a Profiler (an "Expert") steps in to "map, package and label - while sealing a person's fate".
There is nothing worst than being bestowed the label of "knowledgeable or expert" in a mass production line... because we do it all in "big, industrial quantities" - quality appears to be an accidental by-product...
I did go off somewhat on a tangent, but I will continue and return to my original "focus" as soon as I finish with this... my apologies. However, I hope it will serve as an introduction to the topic.
What I see happening is that the more "empowerment" we seek to find in the words of others, the more dis-empowered we become.
Any time we give, we allow the words of others, to label our feelings, thoughts, deeds - we give ourselves up.
We are living in times of general "unbalance", of extreme high anxiety; mental illness is the leading disability cause world-wide... 10% of the population is affected, 8% hospitalized. Those are the brave ones admitting to "being weak, damaged or right out wacko" - according to the newest evolutionary trends. The rest, just go along pretending there is absolutely nothing wrong with them as they flip-flop along inflicting havoc in the lives of others - without any control!
Through a life fully lived, very few may have the luxury to say they were never so deeply affected by events, their mental health ever suffered...
We have not learned yet the basic needs of all human beings: stability, respect, dignity and, love. Most of those cannot be bought with money nor acquired through the words of a book. But rather can be taught, learned through example. Shelter and financial stability have also a role, supporting the above and continue building/nurturing a society in safety...
Health in general and, mental health in particular, are to be balanced when all the above ducks are in a row!
It is quiet simple, yet we manage to complicate it - so we can then, present others (in the confusion created and the addition of smoke and mirrors) with the solution.
© 2009
Labels... "Life Lessons" - Continues bellow
* As I was writing, it came to mind the article of a Panamanian friend whose recent article on an old village tradition of the Devil's Dance dealt, at a very basic/primal and healthy level with the fear and reality of "dark" forces through enactment... The entire village used to participate ... a number of young people are attempting to resurrect this ancient tradition. A lot to be said about some olden rituals!
Another thought, urgent somehow, was not to forget recommending the book "Women that run with the Wolves" Dr. Clarissa Pinkola-Estes, in which she addresses a number of "fairy tales" from around the world holding a common thread, and speaks of how these stories passed down from generation to generation informed and educated about all of lives matters. It occurred to me it was a simpler, perhaps more entertaining "equivalent" of the Oxford Companion... ☻
We must still read... of course! Ideas enrich us, but we must have different bins to sort them into :)
Books are no all good, just as all words are not good... they just "are", and will have to serve us good and/or bad, until we relearn, at a cellular level, to sincerely care and talk to one another...
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