CHAINS

The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.

There's an interesting phenomenon that I meditate on, at times when what heals also is what wounds...because we, we need habit. We need routine...it is the thing in which, when one is suffering, a structure gives life purpose. A structure, a ceremony, a place, a thing brings comfort. It is in the routine, in the habit, that one can find healing.

And yet when the habit, when the structure, when the organization, religion, politics, when the things that you believe in and you habitually engage with become the thing that rips you apart, I return to this quote.

Because we can do mental gymnastics when the thing that hurts us is the thing that once healed us.

And so, whether it be your religion, politics, friend group, the habit, whatever the habit is, becomes hurtful...rather than healing, one must question it...

That takes a strong mind and the woeful will of someone who desires knowledge.

That's the interesting thing about knowledge is it breaks habits.

Knowledge is something; when you seek it, you will continue to find and learn.

As someone who believes in academia, believes in using the mind to seek knowledge, whether it be my deep spiritual practice or my genuine curiosity.

Knowledge will make you break a habit. Knowledge will make you question. And if you are truly seeking answers, it is a daily practice to let go of what you thought in an effort to learn something new.

The knowledge we gain from “learning where accounts were based” and how things can be bought... Learning that key piece of knowledge. We are now watching those who wish to lay under the chains of their habitual thinking, and those who are strong enough to question what they know because of facts presented.

When presented with evidence, you can either accept it and update your understanding or rely on your habits.

As someone who in their lived experience, knows that, it is up to you to update your information. We can take the evidence of what we are seeing as a “scandal”... another “breaking news”.

Or we can begin the larger conversation needed about where our society is... where we're headed, and who we want to be.

That's just what I've been meditating on