The cold glow of the computer screen
White washing the curiosity from his eyes
Corralling the impulses of neural circuitry
Into neatly monetized categories of desire
Filtering the raw experience of beauty, and pain
Through marketing campaigns of image construction,
Image posturing, Image propaganda.
The imagination is wired through a circuit-breaker
To keep him tied in to the loop of new images, sounds
and touches of discomfort to keep things interesting.
And outside the world is on fire.
Because the news feed made it so.
We are addicted to the need to know.
And we all are responsible for our own actions
Or inactions, as we ponder what to do…
Where is a better way?
Inside us… the pain has grown… and it yearns for sleep.
Inside the mind of a man, the pain occupies a space of certain proportions
Deserving of attention every day, and yet does the pain have a name?
It seems there would be an ideal balance of experiencing feelings
Within a time of self-attention, getting better at self-seeing.
Self-knowledge, self-understanding, self-love.
But without this time, the self is in the back seat watching the cars go whizzing by at 130 miles per hour.
Without this time of presence and learning, escapism has the wheel.
Fixated on driving into the brightest bank of lights carrying lots more emotional sugar caffeine booze tobacco pain relief and highs. Fixed.
We have selves in our back seats needing attention. Being ignored while I can’t take back seat driving from the voice in my head.
Do I have a voice in my throat to make my head heard?
Do I have a brain function for that program, while paying attention to my natural self?
Can I start living in a conscious way while turning away from the glow of the bank of lights in my hands?
There’s a new kind of escapism. It’s self-preservation by escaping the demons of addiction to their delightful mind-control devices.
To be clear, the devices are in the programs that we choose to use and be used by. The addictions are fueled by desire for meaning and for stability in these chaotic and painful times. The machinery we have around plugged in and wireless is the currency of the white hot core processors of the Great Tower of Babyl reaching for omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence.
zion beckons sweetly from the deep of our hearts deep in the natural world, calling us to escape from the stupor of escapism and enter our hearts our minds our souls for recharging truths of our interbeing. We can equip our life boats with the necessities of life and the seeds of change. We are charged with purpose to create life as community of beloved relationships. Goodbye cruel world. Hello new world.
J. Nathaniel Peyman
2/4/2018
wholearts 