Questioning Our Reality.
After a few weeks of working with clients who seem to be actively traumatising themselves with conspiracy theories, I thought I would write a post about something that I describe to them that can help us to understand our subjective realities and how the narratives we are holding in our psyche dictate how we will experience any given situation.
EXAMPLE:
2 people are living in a house together in isolation, A husband and a wife.
The father watches the news, and trust the government completely. He has a narrative inside him that says:
"The government is doing such a good job, thank you Scott Morrisson you have successfully flattened the curve! Im so happy to be Australian we have proven that we live in the best country in the world! We are all in this together, and I feel so grateful for all the doctors and nurses who are going to work everyday so we can stay home, we got this"
The mother sits on the computer on youtube drip feeding herself conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory. She now has a narrative in her head that says:
"This is a joke! Do they think I am blind!? Do they think I can't see through all the bullshit!? Bill Gates obviously set this whole thing up and wants to force vaccinate my child, well thats not happening! The government are trying to take away our freedom, they are the enemy! Not only that, but there are 5G towers all around us now, theres no escape from this! Even the doctors and nurses are paid by Big Pharma!"
The fathers experience of reality will be directly aligned with his narrative about whats happening, the mothers subjective experience of reality will be directly aligned with her narrative about whats happening.
The father is experiencing feelings of gratitude, thankfulness, and hope.
The mother will experience feelings of terror, paranoia, and despair.
Our subjective experience is just that, a subjective experience and it actually has nothing to do with a reality "out there" it is happening purely within the realm of imagination, and I don't say this to make either narrative "Wrong" but simply to draw peoples attention to what story they are telling themselves inside their own head.
And before you stop reading I want to make a clear point that I'm not speaking for or against any conspiracies. Im attempting to point toward the fact that we are literally creating our experience in each moment, usually unconsciously.
We create imaginary threats, we live primarily in our imagination and disconnected from the reality of now. The reality of the situation of this husband and wife is they are home together, perhaps eating a meal. And everything else is presumptions, projections, and belief systems. None of which they can know 100% to be true.
This perceptual overlay can be a cause of SO much stress. It can literally traumatise us.
Interestingly enough I can look at it from both perspectives, from both the fathers and mothers points of view. And I'm not attached to either narrative. I don't know whats happening. And I am not overly concerned about it either, whatever happens I will act accordingly in the moment that it happens. Until then I choose to rest my attention in this moment. And right now I think I am going to look for a suitable picture to put with this post.
When I drop all narratives and just be here, what is it thats left of this moment? Utter simplicity and ordinariness. Only HERE and NOW will I find the peace I am truly searching for.
If your a healer, a teacher or a person who is in the business of helping people. Please be aware that what you are posting is having a direct effect on peoples experience and certain types of posts are capable of traumatising people and further damaging peoples mental health in what is for most an already difficult time.
Moral of the post is:
Don't believe your thoughts, no matter how convincing they may be! Whether they are beliefs that are being backed up by the media or by youtube conspiracies. Just be here, in the simplicity of now and u may stumble across a clarity that will help take care of you no matter whats happening :)
Peace,
Matt Nettleton
www.mattnettleton.com