Will There Ever Be Freedom From Our Conditioned Existence? Spend time in Nature for Self Understanding.
How aware are you of your automatic thought, feeling, and behavioral processes? To realize that at any moment you have the ability to choose the way you respond to others reactions, is a very powerful thing. Becoming aware of habitual response patterns in thought, feeling and action can guide you towards self realization, to understand yourself beyond your own conditioned existence, to strengthen your identity from your soul.
From birth, we are, most of us pigeon holed into a box, with others shaping and molding our identiy and way of belonging. Society is estabilshed by order and family systems follow the cultural norms that they are surrounded with. From the outside looking in this may seem stable and secure but from the inside looking out there may be many unanswered questions and a deep sense of unfulfillment.
Adolescence is a time where many individuals start to explore and search for answers to these internal questions. Erik Ericson the psychoanalyst that developed the stages of Psychosocial development even coined this phase of life as Identity vs. Inferiority. Those that fit safely into these cultural norms within society and their family system seem to have a secure identity, although most people know and accept that this is superficial and a facade, and problems eventually start to surface. What about those that from their core aren’t congruent with their conditioned existence? The ones that don’t fit into the pigeon hole that society and their family system have provided.
Those that question the societal and familial norms and the preconceived identity that they have been given, with the right support and guidance, can make it out on the otherside, resilient and more prepared for life’s journey moving beyond the conditioned existence they didn’t ask for. Things like unearned privilege can be questioned, with a clear voice. Those that fit the mold they were placed in can experience unearned privilege without even realizing. Unearned privilidge reinforces their unconcious, automatic thought, feeling and behavioral processes and people act based on expectations not choice. Unearned privlidge is impermanent and eventually will need to be questioned. Earned privilige comes with hard work, discipline, and an autonomous voice. It is questioning societial and familial norms with rhetoric, reasoning, and effective communication with intention and meaning. It is a deep rooted awareness in reactive states, welcoming feedback and growth, to move towards self earned respect.
When in nature, the self can be challenged as implicit communication patterns surface very quickly and every day routines and distractions are disrupted. Automatic thought processes and behaviors arise to be examined from a different, felt perspective. When in nature, you really can’t hide from authentic thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. As uncomfortable as they may be, they are important to experience without avoidance. This provides an opportunity in any given moment to act with intention and choice. The best way out of a problem is to understand how to move through the problem intentionally. If we avoid the problem, the problem is still there and will keep surfacing until we learn to move through the problem with skill and awareness. There is no better way to earn respect for yourself than to conquer an internal challenge, externally. There is a confidence that comes with knowing that we can overcome obstacles and that privilege is earned not given. At the end of the day, we are the only one that can perservere and find the strength to keep going to reach the top of the mountain. No one can give us that real life, in person, view. They can be supportive and encouraging to make the journey a little easier but in the end, it is us that earns our title.
Affirmation: I am responsible for creating my own identity.
Mindful Moment: Sit comfortably seated, with an awareness in posture. Elongating spine, chin up, shoulders back, arms relaxed, focusing on breath. Listening to the breath, with each breath expanding, lengthening, then letting go. Notice an awareness in how you would describe yourself. Did you create that identity for yourself or was it given to you? Do you like your identity? What thoughts, feelings, sensations, reactions are present? What are you noticing? When you feel distracted or unclear, keep going back to your breath. Is it shallow or full? Lengthen each breath. Then, let go.
Nature Experience: Take a hike and keep going all of the way to the top. Stay aware in each moment of any thoughts, feelings, sensatons, or reactions that are present. Just observe and notice.
Journal Prompt: During my hike today a persistent thought, feeling, or reaction was? What did I observe? How did this effect my ability to keep moving forward? Was I able to keep going to reach the top? What was the view like?
