Page 20 - NAMAH-Apr-2016

Namah Vol. 25, Issue 1, 24th April 2017

and so little compassion, for my struggling Feeding the fire of fear
self?’ Frightening, unnerving thoughts to
ponder. No wonder we try to stuff them Fear is one of our basic touchstones, and one
down, smother them with our daily thousand that is stoked vigorously by technology. The
tasks, but... bar for what constitutes “basic necessities”
is constantly inched up via media and social
Turning away media insinuations and mandates that target
our psycho-social-emotional vulnerabilities.
Why? Why do we feel so compelled to fill the The subtext of most advertising (and a
space with white noise rather than turn to face good majority of social-media site posts
the technicolour spectacle of our existence? — essentially the same thing) is: ‘This
When we know that continuing to turn away manufactured image of perfection is what
does nothing to relieve our bewilderment you should aspire to, even though everyone
and pain? Why do we feign ignorance when knows you’re not worthy and never will be.’
if we’re quiet and honest for even a moment,
we can see, feel, know, or at least have an In the current milieu, where most of us
inkling of what we truly want and who we have been conditioned to think in terms
truly are? Why do we choose to forget? of lack, this zeroes in on our deepest fears
like a guided missile: ‘I’m not good enough.
Filling the space There’s something wrong with me. People
will think I’m stupid. They’ll laugh. I’ll be
We fill the space, in part, because life goes too rejected by my friends, my peers, my family.
fast, and we just instinctively and doggedly I’ll be alone. I’ll die.’ It’s mystifying that after
try to keep up, panting and sweating all so many decades of being manipulated by
the while. We fill the space by fulfilling our media, we’re well aware of how it works, yet
responsibilities to others, which inevitably it still succeeds. Time and again we fall for
takes priority over our responsibilities to the same insane subliminal messages stoking
ourselves, pushing us further still from our our fears and self-doubt. This relentless
internal world. We fill the space because of fever, combined with the constant sensory
abundance, privilege, and luxury (relative, of assault of every day, generates and sustains
course), which insidiously provide us with a collective societal energy characterised by
more consumer options with which to fill the post-traumatic stress, paranoia and chronic
space. We fill the space because our planet fatigue.
is jam-packed with human beings and the
kinetic energy onslaught alone keeps us in Breaking the cycle
autonomic system overdrive. The physical
and mental cacophony by which we’re How then, can we break the cycle, become
unrelentingly besieged makes it challenging the radical advocates for our wearied and
to even think straight, let alone be devoted disenfranchised souls? How do we find our
to honouring our true nature. Last and most way back to remembrance of the beautiful,
sadly, perhaps we fill the space to block out talented, loving, worthy human beings that
fear. we are? How can we replace competing with

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