Mindfulness IRL
So if emotions are SO useful, why have they gotten such a bad rap?
Well... to begin with they feel pretty freakin’ uncomfortable. As humans, we do whatever we can to avoid pain, which can be useful to our health and safety. It keeps us alive. But avoiding all discomfort can cause other problems.
We need the information that our emotions are communicating to us to have clarity, make useful decisions, and lead fulfilling lives.
One major thing this Coronavirus pandemic has called our attention to, is how little control we actually have in life. This has been and always will be the case. Viruses and other threats to our well-being have always existed and will always exist. I don’t mean to create even more anxiety by saying this, but we’re all about the facing the truth here. Even when it’s not a truth we like.
Oh man, fear can be a beast! It can get right on in there, take over, and control everything. If we let it.
Fear is our most primal emotion. Absolutely necessary for survival. Yet, we live in a time when there’s actually the least amount of threat to our survival in history. Still we experience the highest levels of fear and stress.
This is why mourning is so important, even though it’s not something we talk much about in this larger Western culture. We think of mourning as that thing that happens after a death or the end of a romantic relationship. But mourning is a constant process as we’re always losing things that are important (to varying degrees) to us.
So as I washed this laundry - by hand- I felt a little more free with every clean item. And with that freedom came thoughts and inspiration. I thought about how physical dirty laundry is a metaphor for mental and emotional dirty laundry. The thoughts, beliefs, emotions, regrets, resentment, fears that we carry around in the backs of our minds at all times, not dealing with them, not cleaning them out.
Yesterday, I went for a bike ride. It was as a part of Ciclavia, an event in Los Angeles that shuts down miles of Los Angeles streets to cars so that people can bicycle, skateboard, roller skate/blade, run, walk, etc. Long as it’s person and not motor powered, you can move about however you want. I’m a big fan of this Ciclavia. It’s an opportunity to safely explore areas of Los Angeles in a different way.
I’ve always liked having choices. I enjoy a lot of things so I want the option to experience all of those things. But I’ve gotten to a point in life where I’ve become overwhelmed with options and instead of making choices, I’m paralyzed by the thought of having to make a choice. Or maybe life has become overwhelming with options…
