Do you understand how breathing works? We don’t actually suck air in. We make space, and air pressure forces the air in. Air flows in. We are constructed to live under air pressure near the earth’s surface.
Not only can’t we breathe without air pressure, our ears would burst. Underwater, there’s too much pressure. High in the atmosphere, there is not enough. That’s the purpose for pressurized cabins in airplanes.
We are made to dwell near the surface.
That seems to be where our awareness dwells also. Near the surface, between our conscious and unconscious/subconscious. That seems to be where we breathe easiest.
When we dive too deeply into our subconscious, the pressure hurts our ego-ears.
When we soar too high, we cant get enough oxygen and get dizzy with euphoria.
Fearful of those low or high limits, we nestle into the narrow confines of that about which we can be conscious in a given moment. Moment after moment. Until the moments have amounted to decades.
Sad. Your ego-ears may swell as you descend into your subconscious, but that exploration can transform your unconscious into consciousness, shifting the surface-limit of your awareness, deepening your consciousness atmosphere at the surface; your ears acclimate. If you dove into the deep end before, and it hurt your ears, try to jump in feet first in the shallow end. Or descend the steps to where jubilant children splash fearlessly. But get in, however slowly it takes to acclimate to the chilly water.
Sherpas don’t sprint to Everest’s peak, respecting the perils of the journey. Nor will a helicopter take you there without an oxygen mask. But hike higher at a pace comfortable to the full You, accommodating your ego as your soul walks patiently beside it. Transcend the current limit of your consciousness, and a new awareness-boundary rises with each step.
The thin slice of awareness at the surface of your consciousness will remain shallow without the courage to endure a little discomfort as you rise or fall. But don’t pretend that it won’t be uncomfortable.
Don’t pretend that it won’t feel unnatural, until it feels… natural.
How else can you expect to “know” more fully the very fullness of your nature?
With each step into frontiers, things “suck” a little less, and the pressure feels a little less uncomfortable.
Go there. At your pace.
Before you step, you don’t know what “your” pace is, so you have to step to discover it.
As you step, you can slow as your comfort dictates, while not retreating to comfort. For the boundary of comfort shifts, and that frontier becomes more settled. Then a new frontier awaits for the more comfortable explorer.
Don’t pretend that it won’t feel unnatural, until it feels… natural.
How else can you expect to “know” more fully the very fullness of your enormous nature?
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Neil D. 2021-09-07
Feel with Neil 