How to Draw
The Last Psychiatrist just released an article that beautifully articulates a point I’ve made weakly several times in my writing.
The point is essentially that we project so much of our own meaning onto the world that we forget to see what’s actually there.
… Edwards calls this the “tyranny of the symbol system” because it dictates to us, forces our hand to draw symbols rather than what we see.
But it isn’t simply that we draw using these symbols; we perceive using them as well. I don’t bother to see the actual shape of a head because it was never important to; in order to see it for what it really is, I need to practice my perception. It is easy for me to see a news story as a manufactured construct, but it never occurred to me I was seeing every day objects wrong. My tilted computer monitor isn’t a rectangle; it’s a trapezoid.
You’ll never make the huge breakthroughs you want in your life if you don’t teach yourself to see what’s really there.
Other Essays
Say Hello 2 Heaven
There's a creeping bitterness that nips at my heels. I think I do a good job of keeping it at bay, but everyone knows the cliche of the bitter old person, and I can see how the gray get there. Not everyone can keep it at bay. They get disillusioned after being broken one too many times. It's hard to blame them for becoming cynical. There are only so many times you can [die under your Dad's car tire][1], [grow up with a broken face][2], sink good years of your life into an abusive relationship, [lose your father, your mother,...
Life is a Sunset
Earlier this week I wrote about the [importance of being unattached to outcomes][1] and someone commented that it was a very Buddhist philosophy. Buddhist see everything in this world as temporary and encourage people to disengage from temporary things to break the cycle of rebirth. I don't consider myself Buddhist, because I think disengagement isn't the right answer. I think we're here having a human experience, and we should revel in it and soak it up. I'd feel better jumping off Samsara if I knew what it was for. Buddhists are right that your experiences as a human being are...