Can we truly allow Life to be what it is?
Last night, my husband and I went to the movies to see the latest installment of “Mission Impossible: Fallout.” What is summer without seeing our “good guy/white hat” character Ethan/Tom Cruise running at light-speed, hanging from airborne helicopters all to conquer the “bad guys/black hat.” (Ironically played by Superman actor Henry Cavil, for a mind-twist.)
Even as I was sitting in my oversized AMC theater “fantasy-cockpit” seating, I was aware of being adrenalized. Aware.
That’s “Entertainment! ” At least one definition. Tongue in cheek.
Adrenalized. Pumped up. We are so very conditioned to be pumped-up. Hyper. Heroic. Mythic. All to conquer the bad good.
What is our collective cultural purpose without the bad guy?
I grew up with the concept of Cold War Russia. I cried, sang and cheered with everyone when the Berlin Wall came down. It was the end of separation, isolation, fear. We thought.
But then “we”, the collective we, resurrected or erected the next version of evil. We have SO many more versions now. Is it Big Business? Is it the Baby Boomers, our own parents who **cked up the Planet? Is it Privileged White Males or Trust Fund Babies? Is great bad guy Racism, Hunger, Ignorance or Abuse? You can take your pick and target whoever you like. Who is the baddest bad guy of them all?
What if… the answer is none of that. It’s not them. It’s not someone else. It’s not “out there.” What if it’s an inside job. What if the truest solution, the deepest relief is all within reach.
What if the peace we seek…
not the entertainment,
not another way to grow your social media platform
… is to softly, gently look again.
Not cynical.
Not gullible.
But opening a space for something more, something wiser.
What if … the only bad guy is the idea of a bad guy?
What if, more than anything else, it’s how our Mind perceives. As long as we look out into the world we inhabit and see the world as “good guy/white hat or bad guy/black hat,” it’s ALL we program ourselves to see.
Dualistic.
On, off.
Black, white.
Certain, uncertain.
Oh, I don’t know about you but I love when I find a moment of spaciousness. When I stop running around inside my little Mind-box, bumping into the same old walls. Once you taste freedom and fresh air you’ll never go back.
My passion surges, my creativity flows like a river, my sense of Belonging cradles me and I sing the Song of the Beloveds.
Can we respond to what Life gives without knee-jerk fearful reacting?
Without being a cranky cynic complaining or a gullible fantasy-addict “jonesing” , just be with life as it is? In yoga we say, “breathe into it.”
Living Life.
Not cynical.
Not gullible.
Spacious.
I Love You Now, I Love You Always.
SusanJoy
SusanJoy Grieco
Spacious Living of the Life.
