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S-Says I, The Courage To Be

THE COURAGE TO BE

   There are so many reasons not to just 'be'; so many bumps in the road and each of them can alter our paths. So many distractions, so many choices and distractions.

   Becoming 'centered' means seeking out the essence of our own being. Among the tools used to do this are meditation, prayers for guidance, family genology, psychology and psychiatry, ... and the list goes on. Many tools are available in the search for identity. All of these endeavors, however, have a common element: the need to stop and focus.

   Of course, stopping and thinking are the very antithesis of modern life. Faster and faster spins the pace of life. Excitement addicts all who are exposed to the media available. The use of psychological tools to play on human frailties and active an atavistic fear of being left out of the group abound.

   Note, for instance, a school of fish swimming along a reaf.  The way they move and swirl as if one organism is uncanny. Whether there are a few aor hundreds, their graceful movement are fascinating to the watcher and it is generally not usual for the average predator to attack the intact school. Over there, in the reef, however, a predator lurks; and if it strikes one of them, it is generally one who has strayed from the pattern of the whole school.

The same phenomenon is observed among other species as well. Wolves, seek out the weak moose or caribou and, indeed, work them away from the herd before striking. The limper or laggard invites attack; the loner is vulnerable. This atavistic trait is a part of the instinct for survival and has been transmitted down through the anals of time beyond active memory.

   It is by plying stimiuli and psychological pressures to 'fit in' and, thereby, be in the comfort of the common herd that pushes individuals to make more and more efforts to conform. Advertising professionals know just how to push our 'fit in' buttons and keep us moving too fast to focus on and find our own real essence; our reason for being, which is located in the still, calm place that is really who I am, who i really want to be.