Ego
Something that has been bouncing around in my head for a while now. This is the extent of what has settled down so far.
1. Your Ego is omnipresent and inescapable
2. You are not your Ego
3. By noticing your Ego, things change
More detail
1. It's true. I could go on and on about it. But it is there, in every thought and every emotion you have. It rarely initiates them, but it always comes along for the ride and is stuck to them like glue.
2. It's a thing. It always behaves the same way, and is very predictable. It is not You. There's actually a lot more of "you" that is not actually You, but that's a larger topic.
3. You cannot stop it or make it go away. It is, itself, unchangeable. But noticing it and observing it, changes everything. Freedom begins to wave from across the room. Well, Freedom has been waving for years and years, but maybe now you notice and realize that you're not over there with it.
People (well, at least I used to...) think that Ego has something to do with the subjectof your thoughts and feelings. Further, it has come to be associated with positive self-image. EG, if you think "I'm so smart", that's your ego, right? Neither are true. Ego is the thing that takes things that aren't about you and makes them about you; and it takes things that are about you and makes them important because they are about you:
You are better. You are worse. You are different. You are the same. You like vanilla. You don't understand. You do understand. You don't get what I'm saying, you just don't get people who take simple things and try to make them complicated. . .wait, what was that? You just noticed something. Like a whisper in your ear during that last thought. . . [you're not one of those people]. . . maybe that was it! Holy shit. Wow, you're having an epiphany. This is great! [now you are one of those people that has epiphanies] . . . wait, was that it again? [you're so observant!] Aw crap. Stop! [you can make it stop]. You're right, it's part of me so I can make it stop. [see? good job!]. Shit, I can't make it stop. [you're right, you're totally fucked].
The good news is, you're not.
1. Your Ego is omnipresent and inescapable
2. You are not your Ego
3. By noticing your Ego, things change
More detail
1. It's true. I could go on and on about it. But it is there, in every thought and every emotion you have. It rarely initiates them, but it always comes along for the ride and is stuck to them like glue.
2. It's a thing. It always behaves the same way, and is very predictable. It is not You. There's actually a lot more of "you" that is not actually You, but that's a larger topic.
3. You cannot stop it or make it go away. It is, itself, unchangeable. But noticing it and observing it, changes everything. Freedom begins to wave from across the room. Well, Freedom has been waving for years and years, but maybe now you notice and realize that you're not over there with it.
People (well, at least I used to...) think that Ego has something to do with the subjectof your thoughts and feelings. Further, it has come to be associated with positive self-image. EG, if you think "I'm so smart", that's your ego, right? Neither are true. Ego is the thing that takes things that aren't about you and makes them about you; and it takes things that are about you and makes them important because they are about you:
You are better. You are worse. You are different. You are the same. You like vanilla. You don't understand. You do understand. You don't get what I'm saying, you just don't get people who take simple things and try to make them complicated. . .wait, what was that? You just noticed something. Like a whisper in your ear during that last thought. . . [you're not one of those people]. . . maybe that was it! Holy shit. Wow, you're having an epiphany. This is great! [now you are one of those people that has epiphanies] . . . wait, was that it again? [you're so observant!] Aw crap. Stop! [you can make it stop]. You're right, it's part of me so I can make it stop. [see? good job!]. Shit, I can't make it stop. [you're right, you're totally fucked].
The good news is, you're not.
posted by taylorsherman at 12:46 PM
5 comments
