Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Another Uninteresting Rant about a Book

A few months ago I posted about an Oprah book club guy who wrote the "Un tethered Soul." At the time I was very excited about the book but then I just sort of lost interest. Recently, I have picked it up again and instantly became just as intrigued as I was when I first discovered him. The analogies the author uses to demonstrate the coping mechanisms people utilize in every day life are ON POINT! I am going to quote some passages and then give you my 2 cents about it.

"In our highly evolved cooperative social structures, this survival instinct has gone through evolutionary changes. Many of us no longer lack food, water, cothing, or shelter; nor do we regularly face life-threatening physical danger. As a result, the protective energies have adapted toward defending the individual psychologically, rather than physiologically. We now experience the daily need to defend our self concepts rather than our bodies."

That sounds so foolish doesn't it. To me this says, it is the state of human nature, today, to be consumed with protecting their fragile psyche because their bodies and lives are now safe. Does this mean that we view our psychological state to be as important as our lives? Or does it mean we need something more productive to occupy our time/thoughts?

He goes on to say that we are so afraid of experiencing disturbance, fear, insecurity, rejection, etc. that we shut down. He calls this a thorn and we do everything in our power to control/design our lives to avoid anybody, or anything disturbing that thorn. To disturb that thorn (imagine in your side) would cause you pain. You develop mechanisms and avoid situations that might disturb the thorn; thus, limiting your life experiences A LOT!

Being so ultra sensitive about things is actually a symptom of being out of balance. So, for example, my ex would freak the fuck out if anyone said ANYTHING about an animal. If I said, "Oh my friends dog passed away." He would literally YELL at me. Or,me for example, I avoid a lot of people, and situations that remind me of anything disturbing. It's exhausting. You know those people you have to walk on eggshells for, those are the one's who are way out of wack.

"[I]f you protect yourself, you will never be free." "All of your habits and idiosyncrasies will stay the same. Life becomes stagnant when people protect their store issues." RIGHT!!!!

More later..I have to chew on this for a while.

No comments: