(Julian Walsh — Waking Times) Today I would like to return to your awareness an aspect of the Human condition that bargains with uncertainty and finds comfort in denial. Every so often we must deal with an unpleasant truth we wish would just go away. Sometimes the truth can be very shocking and we find ourselves inadequately prepared to handle it. That’s when denial comes to the rescue— and what can’t be denied can always be rationalized away.
Perhaps we take for granted our gift of
expression and ability to interface in such a complex world. It’s a
wondrous thing really. Our curiosity and appetite for adventure are
tempered only by the fear of death.
We fancy ourselves as intrepid beings willing to brave most any course
and face the great unknown. Be this as it may, there are limits. There
are places where even the most courageous will dare not venture.
In the following paragraphs I intend to
wrestle on a pair of Salvatore Ferragamo shoes that are way too tight.
You see they’re stylish, expensive and give a good impression. The
blister forming on my big toe is of no consequence. I need only convince
myself that it’s me and not the shoe that’s the problem. As usual, I’ll
put on my best face and it’s off to the party I go.
Ignorance is Bliss
As we walk in this light of consciousness we
find ourselves on a narrow isthmus just above the churning waters of
doubt and confusion. Should we fall into these tumultuous tides, we risk
succumbing to their cold and relentless currents. But there are times
we would rather jump than confront a scary truth that beckons before us.
When truth is more frightening than the lie that conceals it, denial
can become a welcomed place of refuge.
We’re aware that jumping away won’t solve
anything. What it will do is provide an opportunity to avoid something
we really don’t want to face. So we dive into the swirling abyss and
dismiss the matter as hopeless and irresolvable. We wash-up somewhere
downstream clinging to the slippery banks of evasion. Happy to now see
it all behind us, we make a vow to never pass that way again. And yet,
the memory lingers.
Avoiding truth is not so much a function of
ignorance or intelligence but rather conditioning and programming. Being
able to convince ourselves that a pertinent truth is neither relevant
nor important is a feat worthy of some note. We’ve all been thoroughly
schooled on how to do just that. We’ve been told repeatedly in our lives
how to think and what to believe and so it becomes somewhat natural to
impose these same edicts upon ourselves. If something seems too
dangerous to handle we simply label it as such and avoid it at all
costs.
Many of us would rather admit the “shoe” fits
just fine if it makes everything else that much easier. So we brush off
the undesirable stuff and continue onward pretending once again that
we’re an intrepid soul. If something doesn’t match our sensibilities and
reasonable expectations we are quick to dismiss it. For those who
decide to accept a difficult truth, they are torn by decision and run
the risk of changing the way they see the world. For some it can create a
paradigm shift or an awakening. They might begin to question all that
they once held as true. Everything would then fall under doubt and
scrutiny. How many people are truly willing to upset the proverbial
apple cart to this extent for a glimpse of bitter truth?
I have found this number to be few. Most
would rather accept the status quo and not make ripples in their world.
There are logical reasons for this and I would be challenged to dispute
such a mindset. But truth has a way of anchoring deep within us even
when it comes uninvited. Whether we like it or not, truth is truth.
Being naive and unaware may have a blissful
quality to it. But it does not represent who and what we are. If we are
indeed the intrepid souls we fancy ourselves as being then there is
little we can’t do. We have powerful minds and an even greater will, so
we are very equipped to handle the most difficult of matters. Living in
denial or rationalizing away our fear offers no ultimate remedy. We are
merely jumping into those murky waters of evasion where we find other
wayward “swimmers” who are also struggling to just stay afloat.
Breakup and Heartbreak
No one wants to face a breakup. Nowhere is
this better exemplified than in a troubled relationship. If, for
instance, one suspects the other of being unfaithful there are a number
of avenues they may choose to take. Denial is certainly one of them. It
is much easier to convince yourself there isn’t a problem, even when
compelling evidence suggests otherwise. Instead of diving deeper into
the issue, some will choose to simply continue along as if there’s no
problem at all.
In the end this serves no one. When two people are in love, an
intuitive bond is formed. If the bond is broken, so goes the
relationship. As painful as this may be, it also affords an opportunity
to rediscover oneself, move on and grow from the experience. By denying
the bond is severed, one is doomed to live a life of mediocrity, shallow
love and empty promises. But gosh, don’t these shoes look great.
Sometimes we feel intimately connected with
an institution or belief. If we love, for example, our country or
religion, then we are likely to only see the good things about it. We
don’t want to know about the dark side. This is not important. More
apple pie and ice cream please. Ah, such a good life. If and when
presented with an uncomfortable truth, many will simply dismiss it. The
lie they believe is more attractive than the truth they’ve been served.
In conversation they may offer cursory lip service and feigned interest,
but when it really comes down to it they can care less about this truth
you bring. It’s water under the bridge for them —the same water which
they swim in.
It can be heartbreaking indeed when one
realizes the institution they so ardently believe in is not what they
thought it was. Now as we near the anniversary of the tragic events of
9/11, our sensibilities and intuitive knowing are once again feeling
challenged. There are many “truths” people have dismissed because it
defies all that they hold on to. Yes, and so a life of mediocrity and
illusion is chosen above reality. More apple pie please.
Chess and Deduction
There was a time I was a pretty good chess
player. I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but I was rarely beaten. But
that was a while ago and most any state level player would surely make
me eat my words along with my tinfoil hat. That being said I do know the
rules of the game and how to play to win.
Chess is a strategy game. An expert player
utilizes many tactics ranging from logic and deduction to deception. One
of my best moves with less experienced players was to make them think I
didn’t know what I was doing. I use to call it my “Colombo” maneuver
after the detective show from the 1970’s. Deception is an interesting
aspect to the game indeed. Sometimes I would forgo my queen as a ruse.
Only a dummy would lose their queen early in the game. But you have to
give up something really good to make the ruse work.
The powers that (want to be) are master chess
players. I am both humbled and appalled by their methods. I play an
aggressive game—but all I can think about is knocking my opponent’s
“king” right off his little Masonic square. The master players are
patient and will think long and hard between each move. They rarely make
mistakes. Every move has purpose and meaning. Sometimes they too will
sacrifice a major figure on the board to move their plan forward.
When I reflect on the events of 9/11, I see a
whole lot of chess playing. This was a carefully orchestrated game
indeed. And while I’m not prepared to point fingers at any particular
group or organization, I am aware of the “sacrificial” pieces that were
set in play. They weren’t queens or knights, pawns or rooks— they were
skyscrapers. One chess player can’t fool another. Whether on a board or
played in real life, I know these moves from a mile away. But not all
the pieces fell like they were supposed to. Something clearly went
wrong. There was one piece that stood alone and had to be taken off the
board in a very brash, inexplicable and self-destructive way. This is
the chess equivalent of the illegal move of simply grabbing the piece
from the board as a frustrated child might do. Ah yes, the cold chess
master blinked as there was no errant plane (or whatever else) to cover
the ruse of the collapse of Building Seven.
Final Thought
Who among us has not awakened to this clarion
call? I ask and wonder. What else does one need? She fell in front of
us for all to see, to bear witness and to comprehend. Forty seven
stories of exceptional construction, metal and concrete, yielded to a
simple fire—so they say. Eighty-one vertical columns, forty-seven
stories of steel-framed perfection dropped into its own footprint in
nary 6.5 seconds. Perfectly normal, of course, assuming laws of physics
and reason don’t apply. World Trade Center Building Seven should
resonate at the core of each and every one of us. If it does not then
perhaps the lie has gotten the best of us. The sleepwalkers would rather
jump into the murky water than face a truth of this magnitude. I would
offer them a safety line if I could, but it seems they would rather
drift away into their sea of mediocrity and indifference. And it is so —
and so be it.
I cannot live in that world of make-believe.
Like so many others, I’ve been accosted by truth and I have found that
truth has indeed that magical quality of setting us free. So agonizing
over a bitter reality seems a small price to pay when it comes right
down to it. And so as I pick up the pieces of Seven, I pause and reflect
about the meaning of it all. You see, that building spoke in ways hard
to describe. I love what she stood for, not because she was merely a
building, but because she woke so many of us in the thunderous roar of
her climatic fall.
And yet there are those of admirable
intelligence that still cannot see or will not see. Their paradigm
simply won’t allow it. But to what end does it affect me? It does. This
is not merely a battle rooted in science and logic but rather in the
heart, mind and consciousness of Humankind. The non-seers and the
“won’t- seers” seem to shirk their duty of an enlightened Human. To jump
off the path and swim beyond this towering spectacle of resonate truth
seems inexcusable and unacceptable to me. Where are we as a race when we
dismiss such a trumpeting call to wake? Do we simply forget how this
building fell before us?
I decided to take off those shoes because the
pain was getting ridiculous. Seems I started a fad though. Everyone at
this formal affair has now slipped off their shoes, taking delight in
the grounding experience. They tell me they “feel free” and of course
that’s exactly what I like to hear. And so now I must ask—how free is
free enough?
-Until next time
Julian Walsh: There is a certain obscurity that follows Julian Wash. After all, any writer that starts off with “Dear Humans” might be a little hard to nail down. We sense he’s benevolent, a little crazy and we think rather enjoyable to read.Source: Waking Times
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