I know I haven't really written on here in a while, but I am getting more involved with poetry and I might start a new blog for it.
In any case, I just had a conversation about something, and I felt the need to get my thoughts out about it, and it does fit the theme of this blog.
You know, I was thinking this...and intellectually it is easier to understand.
Conceptually it makes sense, but in application is where difficulty arises, and doesn't it always happen like that? So, pain arises from expectations not being met. There are, of course, various causes and sources of pain, but I am referring to the idea of psychological pain as it directly relates to the ego. All these expectations, needs, 'musts' we have, are really putting a great deal of STRESS on our being; Unfulfillment causes pain. So, therefore, it does seem logical that relaxing these pressures on our selves will go some way to decrease the intensity of that pain. The issue stems from the fact that we are 'trying' to be some way. Of course, the discrepancy between doing and trying (they are opposites) is what creates the pain. I MUST be this. I MUST be a good student. I MUST be a good partner. I MUST do this, MUST do that. Otherwise what would they think? Otherwise what kind of person would I be? Of course, this relates to many other sociological concepts such as seeking approval from external sources, and so on, but it is the self's, well...rather, the ego's insistence upon fulfilling these strict pressures on the self so that, when things don't happen as expected, you feel bad. You feel pain because you put so much pressure on doing a certain thing, being a certain way, that if somehow, it does not occur, you will be unfulfilled and extremely unhappy. Letting all these compulsions, needs, wants, identities, labels, and concepts of the ego go, and relaxing them and being 'okay' seems to be a better path to freedom. Of course, it's not easy and for some people, it may be more difficult, but it surely seems a more fulfilling path, at least to me.
