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What voices do you listen to in your life? No, not the kind you hear if you have a 'condition' but the other ones-the afterimages of the people in your life echoing around your brain like ghosts in the attic... Recently, the ads for a drug free America brought to us by the generation that spent a great deal of time getting high, have been urging the next generation to remain 'Above the Influence'. I'm assuming they are referring to the terrifying suburban housewife drugpushers' influence... or maybe the other little monsters leaping out of dark alleyways in public schools everywhere. Or maybe it's rap music... or MTV vjays... or is it yuppies wearing sweatervests twenty years too late.
The problem is, that claiming to be free from influence of any kind is quite possibly impossible. Unless you are claiming to be an alien, in which case you have larger issues and should consider coming under the influence of a competent mental health care professional. Unless you [i]are[/i] an alien, in which case, who am I to judge? Where was I? Oh yes, influence... those voices in our head that shape our actions either through positive or negative connections to events that we will in all probability never be entirely free of. Biologically, this is a beneficial tool... the one that teaches us fire is hot and food is good. It keeps us alive, when it works and kinda crazy when it's not working that well. To a certain extent we can control how we react to the voices and events that shape us. Sometimes it takes longer to create a positive outcome than others depending on the magnitude of the event or the person's impact on our life.
It can be difficult to wrestle with the spectres of our pasts. to distinguish the soft sound of your own voice, and the voice of God. Some days it's impossible to cut through the static and sift through the things you think you know to find the things that are real. And true. To accept the influences in your life and to turn them into something that benefits you instead of cripples you clutching at every step forward dragging you back. Some days, I catch myself walking in someone else's path, dragging their issues like an anchor. It's the moments when all my shadows are stilled and the world is quiet that I can catch my breath and hear my heart beat.
This started out different. It started out as a musing on society and why humans need influence to maintain coherent social structures and cultural identities. Passing on the values of one generation to the next. What voices do you listen to? Do your parents pester you to sit up straight and eat your vegetables? Is your ex telling you you are worthless? Is the voice that taunts you your own? Are you a more well adjusted being and you hear the praises of your saintly virtue with every step? Do you let them push you around? Do you push them around?
Meh. I've gone all wandering philosophical again.
The problem is, that claiming to be free from influence of any kind is quite possibly impossible. Unless you are claiming to be an alien, in which case you have larger issues and should consider coming under the influence of a competent mental health care professional. Unless you [i]are[/i] an alien, in which case, who am I to judge? Where was I? Oh yes, influence... those voices in our head that shape our actions either through positive or negative connections to events that we will in all probability never be entirely free of. Biologically, this is a beneficial tool... the one that teaches us fire is hot and food is good. It keeps us alive, when it works and kinda crazy when it's not working that well. To a certain extent we can control how we react to the voices and events that shape us. Sometimes it takes longer to create a positive outcome than others depending on the magnitude of the event or the person's impact on our life.
It can be difficult to wrestle with the spectres of our pasts. to distinguish the soft sound of your own voice, and the voice of God. Some days it's impossible to cut through the static and sift through the things you think you know to find the things that are real. And true. To accept the influences in your life and to turn them into something that benefits you instead of cripples you clutching at every step forward dragging you back. Some days, I catch myself walking in someone else's path, dragging their issues like an anchor. It's the moments when all my shadows are stilled and the world is quiet that I can catch my breath and hear my heart beat.
This started out different. It started out as a musing on society and why humans need influence to maintain coherent social structures and cultural identities. Passing on the values of one generation to the next. What voices do you listen to? Do your parents pester you to sit up straight and eat your vegetables? Is your ex telling you you are worthless? Is the voice that taunts you your own? Are you a more well adjusted being and you hear the praises of your saintly virtue with every step? Do you let them push you around? Do you push them around?
Meh. I've gone all wandering philosophical again.
