Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Stories We Tell Ourselves

What better entertainment than to spin yarns that make life more engaging? Where would we be without the Grimm Brothers, Maurice Sendak and Mark Twain, to name but a few?

Legitimate story tellers are the myth-makers and arbiters of popular culture (not to be confused with "pop culture"). These imaginative folks lend meaning and insight to the human experience.

And then there are the stories we tell ourselves that are born from faulty perceptions and preconceived notions; seeds of negative thoughts that have been watered to grow a neurotic bundle of neuronic pathways. 

Understanding the difference between pure feelings such as grief, sadness, joy or fear - and the thought patterns that justify those sensations - makes a world of difference as to whether we will hold ourselves with an open heart or a rigid position against which all things are judged.

Feeling our feelings without attaching an agenda to them is liberating. If we could pause and sink into those sensations as if they were a feather bed and simply relax...rather than react...what a peaceful planet we could live upon.


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