Happy Sunday, G.O. readers!
I intended to do a blog entry last night, but decided I should probably focus more on my “Missy Show” blog on Saturdays (since that’s the day we broadcast and I like to blog about the day’s show). During yesterday’s “Psychic Pets” episode, I reached a point where I started talking about how I believe animals are more tuned into their present moment experiences because they lack language. Without language, they don’t have the ability to constantly judge and analyze every situation or being they come into contact with; and because of this, they’re better able to pick up on things that we as human beings cannot (or do not). Here is an excerpt from yesterday’s Missy Show blog:
“I personally believe that animals are more attuned to the natural (and supernatural) world than we as humans are. We have all the distractions of daily life such as work, school, maintaining a household, watching television, listening to music, social media, and playing on the Internet to keep our minds bogged down; and even if we didn’t have all these technological distractions, there would still be the issue of the constant chatter that goes on in our minds. We are forever making mental judgments about our environment, ourselves, and each other. It’s rare that we are able to purely experience the present moment just as it is. For us, there is always a past or future to lament or be excited about–to provide a constant commentary about. Because animals lack language, they can have no thoughts. This lack of thoughts frees them to fully experience life as it arises–which in turn allows them to be more attuned to the natural world and perhaps, to that beyond it.”
It is true that animals tend to have keener senses than humans, so they’ll naturally be able to sense many things that we can’t; but even without that advantage, I believe they would always notice more than us. As I was doing my research for yesterday’s show, I had the thought that “animals are walking mindfulness meditations”. What I meant by that is, animals are just purely in the present stream of the now. They exist outside of time. There is no mental weight of a past or future. There is only now. They have no sad or happy story about who they are. to attach to. There is no ‘I’ or ‘me’ for them.
Unlike animals, we humans are attached to the constant stream of thoughts parading through our heads. We even identify with our thoughts about ourselves. I made these mistakes so that means I’m a bad person. I had these achievements so that means I’m smart. I’m about to turn this particular age, so that means I can no longer do this or that. Pretty much the only time our minds shut off is when we’re sleeping.
It’s not that thoughts are bad–they help us maneuver our way through the world (for example, they can actually be very helpful when making positive affirmations or planning next year’s vacation), but it becomes dysfunctional when we get so caught up in the thoughts that we think we are the thoughts; or with every new experience we have, we have to immediately cover it up with thoughts.
Though I know this would take a lot of practice and patience, what would it be like to meet someone for the first time and just have the pure experience of who they are without the mental commentary about if they’re attractive or unattractive, rude or nice, fat or skinny, etc? I’ve tried it a few times with inanimate objects like doors (it’s much easier than starting with people). I would just look at the door and try not to think about it’s color or whether it was a French door, or a well crafted door. I will say, it was the weirdest, yet most exhilarating feeling to just look at the object the way a baby would–with no judgment or commentary about what the thing is or a description of it. Of course, I found that I could hold that state for only a few seconds, tops; and then the mental commentary would start right back up, (but that’s normal-as long as you’re alive, you’re going to think).
This entry isn’t about knocking thoughts. We think for a reason. Thoughts are practical, and we have to have them to function, to an extent. Nor is this entry about lessening your mental judgments so you can be more in tune with events or phenomena within or beyond the natural realm. This entry is just about perhaps being less controlled by our thoughts and thinking that we are our thoughts. We could maybe tap into what is available to animals, infants, and small children by choosing to be more present and carving out spaces of time for ourselves to get quiet for a while and be purely with the current moment.
Remember it’s okay if part of your present moment is noticing that you are constantly thinking and planning. The key is to be able to differentiate your true self from the automatic stream of thoughts that will flow regardless. No one has to become a yogi. No one even has to become awesome at noticing the difference between themselves and their thoughts. If that’s your goal, it’s likely just your perfectionist thoughts wanting to annihilate themselves–which is really just more thinking. I learned a lot about this by reading Eckhart Tolle’s books, “The Power of Now” and “A New Earth”. They’re very interesting books if you’re interested in the ego and thought identification, (even though I greatly oversimplified the subject and didn’t get into the ego stuff).
Hopefully when I go back and read this, I won’t think it sounds like the jumbled ramblings of a woman who refuses to think about the fact that tomorrow is Monday and her off days are now over. But either way, I’ve invested so much mental energy into pulling this out of myself, it’s getting published either way. I hope you guys are able to get something useful from it, and that you enjoy the rest of your Sunday.
Until next time,
Focus on the positive, and let’s strive to love more (ourselves and others)–we’re all in this together, after all.
