So, let’s dive right into the thick of it, you are energy, can we agree on that? Do you know enough about physics and chemistry to inform a shared agreement that you are made up of moving energy? Gone are the days of thinking we are a singular, solid moving object; we are changing, adapting, responding and reacting all of the time. Our bodies are this complex machine, a living breathing organism made up of atoms, molecules, vibrations and frequencies. For some reason we think we’re special, though I don’t really know why, birds can fly after all, but for the most part, we are a biological animal.
It only takes sitting and watching baby monkeys play, or a lion yawn, to make connections between yourself and other mammals. The similarities between humans and apes both amuse and fascinate me, there is a knowing behind their eyes that lies beyond our comprehension. It intrigues me how humans seem to mostly value the intelligences that they can understand, those they can measure, test and quantify. Humans are ignorant to believe that they truly know anything; nature, the mother of all on earth, all things made up of matter, material and movement, well, she is the sustaining deity of all we live and breathe. Humans, they simply learned to observe, label and manipulate what she birthed and co-created.
Mother Nature’s intelligence can be measured by the sustainable harmony and immeasurable beauty of all she birthed. There is no other place more equipped to take you to the space of stillness within than the arms of nature. She envelops you with her soothing bird song, hugs you with the wind and warms your face with the shine of the sun. In contrast, the human’s intelligence creates chaos and conflict, a world where so much is believed to be known, yet so very little seems to be understood. I like to think that we, as a humanity, are living two revolutions at once, two revolutions that are symbiotic to one another, The Technological Revolution and The Revolution of Knowledge. The Tech-Knowledge Revolution—can I coin that phrase?
For far too long, knowledge has been used as a tool for manipulation, to create false beliefs and fear within the minds and hearts of humankind. It is not too far into the history of man that majority populations were left ignorant and illiterate to the betterment of the few. Heck, there was a time when books were kept under lock and key, written in Latin and only a few were trained to read and ‘translate’ the very mandates of life. In contrast, we now have the internet and access to knowledge like never before, but how does one begin to syphon off knowledge that is useful from that which is cloaked in false wisdom, the guise of fear incarnate?
Humans are fear-based creatures, let’s get that straight. Any other story told and believed in regard to our species is simply born from an inability to admit to the truth of oneself. We begin to be programmed with fear-based beliefs from birth; when we touch something hot, we learn not to do it again; when we perhaps walk in the dark and bump our knee, we then learn to turn a light on or adjust the way we move and extend our hands ahead of us next time. The point is, from the get-go, we explore and adapt to our external environment. Our first sensory explorations as babies involve taste, texture and touch. We see reflections of light that our mind cannot yet classify and comprehend, we hear sounds that are brand new and are received by our physiological systems as such. We know nothing yet. If we look at what it is to know nothing, can we then come to see what we think it means to know something?
As a developing infant we do what all young mammals do: we seek safety, food, warmth and comfort. We use our senses to detect and process what our primary carers do, we absorb this as the known and expected way of living life, then we mirror and mimic this as the norm. Having travelled far and wide on this earth, I have come to observe the following to be true: people everywhere think that they’re right about their way of life, be it about their belief system, their dietary preferences, choice of music, clothing, or even their job. The fact is, we mostly stumble into the life we live and very few of us choose the trajectory of our lives. We are born to our place and position in life, and from there we develop into this individual human by way of a unique sequence of experiences and events, thus being programmed to express outwardly as this individual ego or self.
We were told at a young age that it was necessary to define ourselves, to choose a pathway in life and stick with it, for that was a certain road to security and safety. Yet, the options presented to us are incessantly limited by fear. All traditional ways of living life are rooted in ancestral, fear-based, animalistic survival instincts and patterns. Just look at the overwhelming fear that fuels a human’s need to secure a house or land. This is a universal truth of humans: we all seek security in shelter. What else is important to all humans? That they can access water, food and hygiene facilities, be it a Western plumbing system or a fresh flowing river. The basic needs of humans are the one consistent element of life across the globe. But rather than enjoying creating and sustaining the home in all of its beautiful necessity, we live in constant fear that it’s going to disappear somehow, never certain of our own security. Sadly, this will be the reality for many humans on earth, yet it is by acknowledging this fact that I came to this very simple truth:
If you, in this moment, have a secure and safe shelter, as well as ease of access to food and water, then you can consider yourself a lucky human. If you have anything in excess of this, well, consider yourself privileged.
The modern world feeds on ingrained human programming rooted in primal survival instinct. The consumerist market feeds on an internal fear that you are not good enough exactly as you are, yet it is the very monster of illusion that breathes life into the birth of the fear in the first place. For many of us in the Western world, we are not born many generations after wartimes, times of austerity and rationing, times of ‘not enough.’ These people, our ancestors, were our teachers, but they were people born into times when they were justifiably scared of ‘The Other.’ Yet, the fears that existed in those times no longer belong to this world. Can I tell you a secret? It’s one of the best kept…
You are safe now.
The world would have you think you’re not, that you must fear what is different or unknown, but the chances are that new and different will only ever enrich your mind, heart and soul. We are so scared of everything: change, new, different, challenge, loss, failure, success, love. My goodness, we are so scared of living life, whilst being simultaneously trapped by the fear of death. It is of course healthy to fear death, to an extent, it is what has a person run from a fire or stay out of crocodile-infested waters. When fear is informed by a measure of reasonable risk then it seems sensical to listen to it. But that same primal reaction that stops you from swimming with crocs is the very same physiological fear that stops you from singing on stage just for the fun of it.
Years ago, I started to watch children in a new way, with an element of wonder about my contemplations, a wonder that led me to ask, what on earth happens to us all? We all begin life with sunshine inside of our hearts, we sing, dance and play, we gasp at the beauty of a rainbow and welcome the rain on our face. We laugh, we forgive, we love unconditionally. However, somewhere along the way we learn to believe other things, things the adults around us model and teach. In other words, we learn to fear.
Let’s go back to that little baby exploring the world at its own pace, allowed to make choices based on its own lived experience. If it does not like a certain food or flavour then it will decidedly spit out said food and demand an alternative. However, once a child can communicate, well, it can begin to be conditioned and trained. I wonder at what age it is that parents begin to talk their children into eating the food on offer and stop allowing the child the privilege of choice and refusal.
It’s strange to observe the various eating habits of children across the world. From what I see, it is the story of value placed on the food that determines the child’s relationship with it. There’s a big difference between telling a child that they must eat their greens because you said so, and explaining the nature of connection between the food and the very energy we need to live and thrive as human beings. In most religions a moment of grace is taken in gratitude for food, for the blessing of a full belly. Intrigued by humans and their various ways of living life, I find it unavoidable to draw several connections between the belief systems that exist around the world.
All of them are sustained by the belief that there is a creator of sorts, a deity, a greater power that exists beyond reason or logic. All require Faith, a five-letter word that holds the whole world together. I just think it’s funny how everybody seems to be telling a different story about the same thing, yet they remain in constant conflict about the way it is told. These stories are from other times and places, they belong to different societies and collectives. Stories are always changing, right alongside humans. Once upon a time, the ancient Egyptians believed in the Sun God Ra and an afterlife paid for in treasure. Over time, power shifts perhaps meant that the human powers-that-be needed to find a way to enable the masses a right to a beautiful afterlife too, there be born a heaven for all. Hell was of course needed to ensure that an intrinsic fear of death be sustained.
Fear, the one and only thing that keeps humans divided and out of love. Fear of the other. Fear of the threat of different. Fear of change for fear of being wrong. Fear of wrongness threatening the tidy little package of meaning attached to your life. Fear of reality. Reality isn’t something we talk about much, is it? I think perhaps because the language for it has not existed, or at least hasn’t been universally accepted enough to move beyond mathematical equation and representation.
You are energy in motion.
The stories of the past refer to you as a mind, body and soul. This was a story told within the realms of the knowledge and understanding accessible at the time. Since the evolution of humankind and its stories propelled at a rate that has not yet been lived by our species, it seems to me that we need to wake up and catch up. As a living mix of cultures and generations, we need to learn how to drop stories that don’t belong in the here and now, we need to let go of conflicting nonsense rooted in a history of poor education and limited experience. We need to let go of our fear of being wrong and see the utter wisdom and grace found in admitting you’re not quite sure about something.
It’s understandable, you know, to be afraid, it’s just important to understand where that fear comes from. You see, you are born to a world built around concepts such as right and wrong; failure and success; good and bad; positive and negative; and most experiences that we live are classified as such within our bodies and minds. We then go on to subconsciously base our choices on whether the experience previously lived was pleasant or unpleasant overall. And what determines whether an experience is pleasant or unpleasant? How your body and mind react to it, that’s all.
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Where’s this all coming from? How can I join the ride?
“I lived an eclectic life of variety, and have embraced the uniqueness of my voice. My mind is not like any other, and neither is yours. Embracing and encouraging the individual that you are lies at the heart of the work I will do with any client brave enough to rediscover their truer self. In light of my own journey, I will admit that I used to scoff at the idea of an Authentic Self, that was until I discovered what this really meant, at least to me. All I learned was how to do the things that I enjoyed and how to stop doing the things that I didn’t really like – this mindset led the way and became the key to unlocking the discovery of who I really am! It wasn’t as simple as it may sound… because there’s a whole load of self-subtraction one must do on the way to this discovery of themselves… but maybe your way will be easier, or shorter, or maybe not… but at least you may ask for directions since this ‘maze of self’ can become difficult to navigate; but having traversed these unknown waters and found my way home, I may just be able to point you in the right direction… one step at a time. With love, Ana Maria.”