Playing with the Monster

When I was a little kid, I was terrified that a monster lived in my closet. He had a pale face, long fangs and sharp claws. He also looked surprisingly similar to Ronald McDonald, but that's a whole other story. Anyway, I was afraid to go into my closet because I was afraid of what lived in there. I just knew that the monster could consume me, or at least hold me hostage long enough for me to be forgotten.

Now that I've grown up, I realize that the monster never lived in my closet at all. My monster lived in my mind. Both dark places, to be sure, and both scary to explore. Unfortunately my fear remains the same- if venture in there too deeply, will I be consumed or lose myself to the outside world?

There seems to be a fear of internal exploration amongst us. Or if not fear, a generalized avoidance. We seek information from other sources, looking for advice from friends or the Internet, searching for our answers outside of ourselves. We are constantly being bombarded by outside stimuli. We keep ourselves busy with external activities and get caught up in our day to day routines, without ever tapping into our greatest resource: our own minds. Why? Do we fear the isolation that is required for quiet reflection? Or do we feel a strange void when we block out the noise of the outside world? Without all the outside stimulation we often feel lost, alone and in need of a guide. But there is no one that can guide us through the darkest recesses of our own minds. Psychologists and Philosophers try, however there is too much unexplored territory to provide us with detailed maps.



If we really let ourselves go, would we spiral out of control? Would it be a rapid decent into madness from which we would never return? Or could we somehow balance our day to day routines with an occasional retreat into our inner consciousness? Could we manage to remove the structure from our thought processes and encourage our brains to work in a way that we rarely allow- a free form method of creativity that does not follow what we have come to label as "logic?"



Most people that I know do not allow for that kind of exploration. We say that we don't have the time, or that we don't know how to meditate, or that it's just not that important. But the one thing that has endured through time is our ability to tap into something bigger than just our physical world. It defines who we are as humans. Our ability to tap into this energy is what connects us with each other through the collective unconscious. Unfortunately we let things get in the way of exploring our minds- we fear what we might find in there. So we avoid the unknown all together; keeping ourselves busy in our over-stimulated lives; doing what we are told we "should" do and never listening to our inner voice.



But what would happen if we played with that monster? Certainly it would become less threatening over time. The dark recesses of our minds do not have to be scary if we are able to refrain from judging the things that we find there. And who knows what you might stumble upon? We just might find ourselves becoming better humans, with the ability to form better connections with those around us. We could also gain the capability to solve our problems in new and exciting ways. And best of all, we would find that our unexplored mind is not really a monster at all, but the path to enlightenment.

About Time

Is Time a benevolent or cruel mistress? Time is the one commodity that we cannot earn, buy or trade. It can only be squandered or maximized.

I don't know about you, but I don't often think about Time as a finite thing- I sometimes live my life as if I had all the Time in the world. Occasionally I even find myself wishing that Time would go by faster: I can't wait for the work week to end so that I can get to the weekend or for it to be summertime again....but if my Time here on earth is limited, why would I want to fast-forward through it?

I have a huge bucket list of all the things that I want to learn, see or do before I die. That's not to say that I haven't already had extraordinary adventures- I've been fortunate enough in my life to have done more things than most people will be able to experience in a lifetime. Yes, I am greedy when it comes to living my life passionately, but sometimes I get lazy. I forget that Time moves forward regardless of whether I do or not.

In thinking about some of the things that I want to accomplish, I was struck by the realization that I am sometimes guilty of squandering away my most precious commodity. Reality, like Time, is not forgiving. I have no excuse for not achieving some of my goals yet; Time has moved forward, but I have not. Sure I could make the standard excuse "Well, I just haven't had the time," but I know that's bullshit. I have the time- we all have the same amount of hours given to us every day. I just haven't used it for that purpose. Sometimes I have wasted it doing useless things like watching television, or being a voyeur on the Internet. Sure, I can "justify" wasting time my Time by saying that I needed to do something mindless for a while, but the truth of the matter is I will never get back those hours. Was I being inspired by those activities? Did they really enhance my life? Will I be on my deathbed one day wishing I had spent more of my Time doing those things?

That's not to say that we should be over-scheduling ourselves. In fact, I believe that many of us are already hyper-stimulated, but often by the wrong things. We work long hours, over-extend ourselves by making too many commitments and exhaust all of our energy engaging in activities that do nothing to feed our souls. We are usually so sped up that when we do slow down, we shut down completely.

Time is the one thing we can control if we put our attention on it. Health and Wealth are often a matter of luck. How we choose to spend our Time is more within our control. Are you making each moment of your life matter? Are you surrounding yourself with people that inspire and delight you? Are you learning new things and exposing yourself to new experiences? Are you challenging yourself daily? Are you making a positive impact on the world and those around you?

Each moment you have right now, is one that you will never regain- are you making conscious choices about these moments? The quality of your life is defined by how you spend your Time. So isn't it about time that you started thinking about it?