Distancing

Social (or physical) distancing has been prescribed for the health of all.  I have some other thoughts I would like to share with you. In a sense, this is an experiment. Those of you who choose to embark this journey with me through this blog post can let me know of your experience if you’re so inclined.

You can think of this as a guided meditation. Guided contemplation might be a more accurate description.

Let start right where we are, and I mean this literally. Most of you are likely sitting on a very familiar piece of furniture. Bring your attention to this object. Place your hands on it. Feel the texture of the material. Feel what it feels like to relax into the knowing that this object will support you the same way it has supported you every previous time you sat upon it.

Look around the room. Again, given the prescribed social distancing, most of you are likely at home in one room or another. Even if you are somewhere else, look around the room. Think about all of the objects you see. Think about how many people may have participated in the creating of these objects. Your TV, for example, was designed long before it was assembled. The person or people who designed this particular device likely studied many other similar machines to learn what it takes to display images and emit sounds.

Even those objects made by machines were under the influence of men and women.

As you consider all that went into the creating of these objects, consider for a moment that, here and now, they are yours. Even if you don’t own them, for now they are yours. If you were—say—sitting in a motel room, owning only a fraction of the items it now contains, this room is yours while you occupy it. You get to watch the TV. You get to wash your hands in the sink. You get to look out of the windows.

Again, all of these items have a history as to how they came to be. And here and now, they exist for you!

Some of you may want to pause to really take in what this room holds. In fact, if you can feel appreciation for any or all of it, do that! Spend as much time as you like and come back whenever you want.

Now, let’s look at and through the windows. If you don’t have windows in the room you are in, use your imagination. You came into this room from somewhere, so you can remember what it looks like outside of it. The rest of us can simply look out of the windows.

Where I am, it is very gray outside. We had a lot of rain yesterday and this morning, it has been so foggy, I haven’t been able to see downtown. I still can’t.

Outside, it is chilly. In this room, it is comfortable. It is not my favorite temperature inside, but it is not bad. I am wearing an extra layer for my comfort.

Compare these spaces. There is the room you are in and outside. If you are in a larger building, their might be space outside of your room that is not yet out in the open air.

And, as I hinted at already, there is the space in the room and the space between your skin and the room. Your clothes form a separation between the two, keeping you just a bit warmer.

While you read these words, what do you hear in your mind? If you know me, you might hear my voice. Or you might be hearing a voice you created to represent me. Maybe it is like that radio voice.

Have you been noticing your own thoughts too? Maybe you’ve had some comments or reactions to what you are reading. Think about when you watch TV. Often, you have an inner dialog going. “OMG, I can’t belief he just did that!” “Don’t go through that door you idiot!” “I hope he kisses her. Come on, man. KISS HER! She wants you to kiss her!”

No matter how much we focus on something like text or music or video or someone talking, we still have that inner dialog going on too.

Furthermore, we have both the inner sounds and the external sounds. We actually hear sounds from outside or inside this room. It’s never completely silent. You might not notice the noise: the singing of the birds or the drone of the traffic, but if you pay attention, it’s there.

Right about now, that inner voice might be asking what this is all about. “Come on, David,” you might think, “get to the point.”

This journey so far has simply been to notice the layers of existence you have here and now…and always. There is always the thoughts in your head. There is the interpretation of what you are reading or hearing. There is the room you sit in. And there is outside.

And there are many more layers. You can imagine going out of this room, getting into your car or the subway or an Uber, and then driving or riding to some other place. You can picture the grocery store, the office, a park. Layer upon layer upon layer. Each is separated from the next by something. Your mind is inside your head, you might think. The sound of the TV is in the room. The traffic is outside of your house.

You all have this experience even if you’ve never thought about it in this way before.

Many, these days, are feeling all sorts of feelings ranging from trepidation to panic. You feel like you don’t know what’s happening. You certainly don’t know what the future holds.

Some of you are seeking information. You feel unsettled, so you scan the news or Facebook. You are looking for guidance. You want to prepare yourself for what is happening and what might happen.

And most of you likely feel stronger fear as you take in this data. The fear builds so quickly, I am sure many of you have been either tempering yourself or pulling back from it.

Here and now, the ideas about the virus are worse than the virus itself. Four months ago, none of use knew about this virus. Maybe you’ve read about some prediction somewhere, but no one KNEW for certain. Now, it is very hard to look at anything and not come across some data pertaining to IT.

You have been asked to socially (physically) distance yourself for the health of everyone. Have you considered the distancing I have described above?

There is a distance between your inner reality and your immediate outer reality. That distance is all yours. You can think of it as your skin if you like, but it is not that…it is much greater than that.

Have you ever had the experience where your mind wanders off? Someone is going on and on about something you’re not that interested in, and your mind travels far away. The other person asks you a question and pop…you’re back. You might not even remember where you went or what you were thinking, but you do notice that you were surely somewhere else.

The distance between your inner reality and your outer reality can be small or wide. The room around you (the people in that room) might be demanding your attention, but when they are not, you are free to roam. (You are free nonetheless, it’s just a bit harder.)

My intention here is to remind you that you have this separation. You might not be able to control a single thing that is happening outside of you, but you can (begin to) control what happens inside of you. The more you practice, the easier it is.

In the paragraph above, when I wrote “inside of you” I first meant your mind. But given how wholistic you are, if you start with your mind, you will next experience your influence over your emotions. And even if you never really see it, you’ll also influence what is happening inside of your physical body.

Some number of years ago, I came across a piece of channeled material that discussed viruses. It described them as keys where our cells are like locks. This coronavirus does not affects dogs and cats. It is a key that only fits human locks. But it doesn’t affect everyone. Some people have the virus and have no reaction to it whatsoever. Their locks don’t accept the keys.

You may think them lucky. You may choose to see this as chance. But what if it isn’t? What if you have control over your lock…over your luck.

Even if you don’t, I hope the exercise above helps you have evidence of your ability to shift your own emotion…even if for only a bit. Hopefully you either felt better in the middle of this post, or feel better at the end. If you’ve ever helped yourself feel better, then you have proof that it can be done.

And that’s a bit of magic that is always available and always beneficial.