Good Morning

A reality check is an extremely mindful way of testing which reality exists. We feel the need to pinch ourselves when something is too good to be true. But why? Because it is a way of causing physical pain, which your brain can then interpret and think to itself… yeah, my actions [pinching] align with my thoughts and what I want my body to experience [pain], so this is real. We yawn in the morning to help wake us into a state of alertness, the conscious realm of experience. Some are able to perform reality checks in their dreams and induce lucidity—your mind fully awake within a dream, able to interact and even create scenarios.

It is my belief that if you are not at peace and able to find beauty in every hidden corner of life, you are missing some vital piece of the puzzle. Or more precisely, your mind is not fully awake. We have at our fingertips all the tools necessary to develop wisdom, but we usually lack thorough attention and subsequent action.

Our brains are magical, yet obviously they cannot contain all knowledge. Because of this conundrum, many unknowns cause unconscious, subjective fear. The more we know, the more we realize we do not know. Let’s face it, humans have a warehouse of huge sums of information in our evolved brains and therefore we often have to struggle to be at peace with all of that stored knowledge. This is why we worry so much more than trees and squirrels. Their scope of vision is much narrower whereas we have the ability to store more information and process it more efficiently; to think about issues, to make sense of our surroundings, and to use that wisdom to better our experience. Other animals do this too, but we have developed the rare ability to think complexly about [and above] our five senses.

Let’s say the story of Adam and Eve was entirely factual. If so, then before biting the apple, the two were merely animals unable to know and subjectively experience what we nowadays call sentient pain and joy. But since we cannot devolve back into this state of existence, we must use our knowledge to learn how to be at peace. If the story of Adam and Eve is not factual, then at best homo sapiens have adapted to experience reality more consciously than other species. At worst, we just think we are better [because we're thinking beings] but are honestly no more aware than any other creature, despite what western philosophy spouts. Therefore, we must adapt our ability to perceive contentment like all other critters. It is my belief that inner peace is not only possible like all of the religions and philosophies argue, but knowable and provable once we humans get a fuller picture of reality. Though we may be far off from objective Truth with a capital T, the only way to avoid unhappiness [whether we were kicked out of the Garden of Eden or we never left at all] is to become like a child, or an animal, and ironically soak in as much information as possible allowing our brains to do what they do best: connect the dots. When the pieces come together and more parts of the engine are known and understood, more becomes beautiful.

Knowledge is our downfall, but knowledge is also our only hope out of subjective woe. When our brains have greater information to store and can connect it more efficiently, we better develop the ability to perceive beauty. And the only way to stay on the side of beauty and not fall stagnant into the pits of despair is to continuously see the world in new ways, to actively evolve your mind from birth to death as much as possible. We experience consciousness because our intricate web of neurons allows us the ability. So, to improve our neuron connections, we must wake and challenge our own reality by causing friction within our stubborn minds. And the best way to do this is to immerse yourself in new ways of perceiving the world so your hungry brain has room to grow.

This is why my blog is not entirely about me or my daily life. Sure, my life will be mixed in. Yes, it contains depth and depth requires thought, but I hope to introduce enough sides of the spectrum to challenge false assumptions and plant ideas that will hopefully lead to greater awareness, understanding and therefore peace.

-CJD