Contentment

If I move away from the fast-paced world and prevent myself from exposure to the daily news cycle, push back from the offerings on Netflix and Amazon, try not to get pulled into the drama of the basketball and hockey playoffs on SportsCenter, refrain from touching upon any number of ultra-compelling exposes, reality shows, science-based explorations and the like playing on TV, set down the Kindle with it's many book offerings, turn away from the latest podcast, and not compulsively watch any cooking and baking shows, I find I'm pretty darn content. 

Which is puzzling because shouldn't it be the other way? I should be restless and agonizing, positively jones’n for a fix. Well, I'm not. Now how can that be, and more importantly, how did that come about?

Those are answers I cannot give for I do not myself know how I achieved, reached, or have been blessed by this state, which has been with me all of my life. "Born into it", I guess I could say. 

  But methinks I was so born because of all the experiences I had in my past where I was highly self-absorbed and very focused upon any number of outside things and through such involvement solved the riddle of contentment, which is a complex equation, or at least it was for me, one that held numerous variables and the weighing of values that resulted in 'those many things equal this' to me, for contentment is a highly personal thing. 

Putting out this content then is not something I feel I have to do, it's something I want to do, and I can drop this writing at any time simply because it doesn't add a great deal to the measure of fullness I already experience. There is some satisfaction in writing a juicy post, in somehow putting the words together that match the vision I hold within, but it doesn't change the sense of contentment I always feel much. Writing to me is sort of like a skills test, self-administered.

(So yes, putting out content changes me a little. I'll admit that) 

Is contentment a state of 'inner peace' that I'm feeling? I don't exactly know what 'inner peace' refers to. That seems to mean something spiritual and/or mystical, which is what contentment is not. Contentment is more like neutrality towards that which is, neither being for nor against, and not being very interested whichever way things go because contentment will inevitably follow, up to a point. 

A far away point that is fortunately never reached. It may be conjectured, surmised, prophesized, or forecast, but the human race hasn't gone the armageddon route so it'll always been unknown whether I could remain content in the face of that, thank God, so everything else is small potatoes and of little concern.

What things are like in the hobbit village.

Rob Mulally- Unsplash.com

Which is what contentment to me is, a generally good feeling that everything is going to work itself out and I'm doing my little part and that is all that is required because if I was to be on stage in some capacity I would be there and I'm not. I am not one so compelled. 

Blogging is my stage and I'm content with that, until I'm not, and then I'll find out, is another way of putting it. 

"Whatever floats your boat" is my philosophy. The Universe- that grand bringer of life and supporter of same- will see to it that I get adeptly placed. There's really nothing to worry about. 

Contentment is an opportunity to really enjoy things being just the way they are. In this state of mind you are able to step back, relax, and gaze upon the big picture. 

Thought Train

 I woke up this morning like any other morning, pondering the remnants of dreams I had, but after awhile I noticed that also filtering through my awareness was a large concept that called for contemplation. 
Contemplation needs mental space so everything, including TOTD, was set aside, for one does not want to derail a Thought Train. It must run its course for at the end there is something to be gained, understood, known, or grokked and in pursuit of that the focus must be pure. 

Contemplation actually occurs in a state of 'loose' focus. That which desires to be brought into comprehension must be allowed to free associate, that is, it must use all tools at its disposal in order for the mind to grasp its meaning, for the mind is not yet comprehending that which is sensed but not understood. 
To this end, whatever means are required to gain comprehension are employed. These could be memories of things past, bits and pieces of conversations, dreams, songs, or phrases. Signs one has seen. Odd puzzling snippets of, literally, anything that has ever been experienced. 

Thought Train coming through! Make way!

Denis Chick- Unsplash.com

Contemplation for me lies in assembling these bits and pieces into some sort of mosaic, I suppose, or pattern, that leads closer to comprehension but usually not yet. This process might take hours.

 
Complex groks are like this, they use everything that has occurred in one's experience to further illustrate, deepen, and eventually bring into knowingness that which the subject has not known before. Call it wisdom. Wisdom occurs at the end of the contemplative process, when the understanding seats itself into the mind, never to be forgotten. Can wisdom ever be un-known? Can you forget how to ride a bicycle?

 
I have gone for days on Thought Trains, wrestling with complex issues. During those times I appeared to be aloof and I was, purposely so, for I nay desired to derail the Thought Train at any point in the process because.....

...once derailed, it's hard to pick up the concept again! States of mind calling for contemplation are precious and thus must be fully acted upon when they arise. They are opportunites brought about by Spirit and desire by the self to further the self's understanding. The larger Self already knows, the earth-based self does not, thus, in order to regain the state of knowingness, the small self must, in lieu of suddenly becoming aware, work to bring awareness back to self. 'Know Thyself' goes the saying. 

What else can human life be but a slog through the misty lands of forgetfulness until the Self is regained? States of contemplation are steps in that process for human life is difficult and poses challenges. It vexes us and has us calling for solutions. Introspection offers us the opportunity to lessen difficulty and improve our lives. In this way, we are directly facing our issues and using our willpower, the inspiration that comes from dreams, our connection to Spirit- our intuition- and our contemplative abilities to elevate our awareness, which enables us to transcend our difficulties. It can be no other way for who can do it for you?

Others may offer a temporary fix, a salve or a balm that addresses an issue, but since all issues arise from energy, which we are made up of, the energetic basis of any issue must be addressed in order for the cure to be permanent. 
(Many call this 'processing') 

Okay. Enough writing. I gotta get back on today's Thought Train. It's a juicy one, I only took a breather from it to document the process.

Stepping Back

News item: 25% of young adults say that they are 'almost constantly' online. 
Guess you have to do something before you get a job and you spend what seems to be that same amount of time at work.

Which leads to this: when your nose is pressed up against the display window of life, and you're staring at whatever is entrancing you, or if your 'nose is to the grindstone', which is the old saying about work, you're not looking around to see what else might be there and so time passes and next thing you know a day, a week, a month has gone by and "Whoa! It's November already!" you remark, as if you'd just realized something, which you have, and that is that other things have happened while you were away. 

It's at about this time that 'time out' needs to be called, but if you're not ready for it then by all means continue what you're doing but for the others there are things called weekends and vacations and even longer term things like sabbaticals and retreats. 
It's good to get away from it all for awhile because in doing so, you make room for your thoughts to come in again instead of being continuously awash in somebody else's. You actually spend some time with just yourself. Rediscovering what that is.

I've done this enough times to recognize that for the first couple of days I'm going to continue to run on momentum, and then that will cease. What comes next is restlessness and some boredom, which is hard to get through, but the payoff is some sort of extended vision quest period where I break through and enter a state of being that seems familiar, peaceful, and very comfortable. I call this breakthrough point 'arriving at yourself'. 
In this place, space, or state of mind, whatever it is, you get in touch with deeper aspects of yourself, reflect on where you've been, ask yourself what you want to do next, visualize your future, play with concepts and ideas, do research on subjects that interest you, explore possibilities, and fully rest for periods of time- which may be short or long- into states of non-thinking (which creates space for new thinking, interestingly enough). All sorts of treasure awaits. 

You're just not going to get this sort of thing after pulling a shift at work, or setting aside your 'smart' phone for an hour. You have to break the momentum of the mind, get off the fast track, pull off the information superhighway, unplug and unwind. It takes me days to do this, and all the reports I've heard from others say it takes about the same length of time for them. 
Perhaps we need this 'checking out' time more than ever now. The pace of life is so rapid these days that if you're not overworking yourself physically it's highly likely that you're overworking yourself mentally. 98% of the people in the U.S. have cellphones, and around 75% get on the internet at least once a day. We are online a lot, there's no doubt about that.

He’s got the idea

Unsplash.com

It's hard to stay offline entirely anymore so what I've done on my latest retreat is I have selectively gotten onto the internet during my retreat time. I have avoided 'busy' sites and have researched, shall I say, 'calmer' web pages. Pages with less animation, sidebars, flashy graphics, videos, etc. Just the facts, please. 
    Seems to be working very well. Insights and ideas are occurring. Good stuff is coming to mind, ideas that are invigorating, expansive, and different. I'm in control of the content, rather than the content being in control of me, and I'm liking that. 
Due to this, my attention can be fixated on rich subject matter for greater lengths of time. I have no tempting distractions in my peripheral vision that might break my concentration, and the volume on my computer is kept low or on mute. Likewise, potential home base ripples have been proactively neutralized, keeping me fully immersed in a contemplative state.

Sooner or later I will rejoin The World but until then I'm content to spend my retreat in this manner. Instead of it being Go time all the time, it's Chill time.

Does doing something like this sound good to you? If so, give a retreat a try. Customize your away time so it fits your preferences, and sink into some quiet time. It's bound to pay you dividends.