Denial: I have to wonder what this is really all about.
Over the decades, as psychology has gone more mainstream, it has infiltrated every aspect of our lives culturally and socially. It’s in our health coverage plans, employee benefits, in the movies, sitcoms, and even more in the advertisements. I’d say they’re having an influence upon our self and group consciousness.
Earlier, I caught myself asking a question to seek the opinion of someone else about my skill, rather than just toot my horn which was what I was inspired to do in the first place. I had just finished work on a project that made me feel pretty good, and true to joy, a little cocky swaggering was called for. Instead, I censored myself and tried soliciting accolades rather than be boastful. I puzzled over this turn-about and what influenced this censoring.
As I have studied and observed the human condition over the years, it has been noted that a steady surge has broken down communion among people by placing more emphasis upon personal satisfaction and fulfillment. With so much individuality pushed in the marketplace, advertising relationships, etc., the subliminal influences shift our value-base unconsciously. With there being so much negative media created to ’sell’ to consumers, the personal identity and place of the individual in context to family and community becomes obscured, questionable, and finally, burdensome, to many.
On yet another side, the self-help industry is so full of individual band-aid stories, that the people seeking solutions typically find themselves discovering more personal problems than they bargained for. It’s like reading the horoscope. There are enough generalities and commonalities among people that we can buy into a prognosis which we then make more real through our own belief. In addition, rational and healthy human behavior ends up falling under close scrutiny while answers are sought amongs all the expert opinions, programs, and books.
As I found myself concluding these thoughts, only one question remained. When will simply being a joyful and sharing human being be okay again?


It’s a psychological disorder.
Tell a story, or just write? Stalled by what I thought might be a clever devil, rather than an authentic self, I questioned. This is a big deal, a big moment, a potential turning-point. Dare I be so bold as to flow with it?
I can see the resistance too. There is a devil in the experience of change that wishes to stay within the security of even the most foul life experiences. It is more afraid of the unknown, than it is of the painful reality it has managed to find some solace within. Even though you and I can sit here and recognize this, we also feel that other sense screaming, “No, this is not the experience of life I signed up for! There is more! Much more!” Pay attention.
Being caught in a State of being, whether it is in suffering anything that is mental, physical, or emotional, it is important to see that quite often people will identify their Self with that State of Being, rather than the true sense of Self that has experienced so much more in life. An ancient expression, This too shall pass, is a valuable ally in recognizing the ebbs and flows of our lives in this sense. Rather than get caught into the vicious cycle, notice the frustration too, and the mental wrangling as the dark and the light are fighting for the direction that heals or steals. Get on side with the side that is fighting for healing, and when thoughts of the mind are busy comparing between what could be and what is, use that desire and refocus that energy upon creating change from the negative cycles that are perpetuated by the mental and emotional experiences.






