Each of us is a reflection of what the world provides for us. None of us are an island; we all depend and interact with a plethora of people and things in order to survive. It is impossible to not be affected by the world. Even in a much simpler time without constantly being bombarded with information, we would still be subject to the influence our daily lives produced for us.
Humans are considered tubes within a tube. We're a type of lifeform which digests our needed nutrition by stuffing it into a tube, where it eventually falls out the other end. We really are what we eat; our temples can only be built with the bricks we provide them. Similarly, we are what we consume. Whatever light hits out eyes, or sound hits our ears impacts us. It may not always be an immediate, life changing impact, but we are nudged as a result of everything in our environment.
The brain is just a container in which very complex water does very complex things. Put a single drop of dye in a cup of water and see what effect a single input can do to you. When we let ourselves be surrounded by media that is constantly blaring advertisements, people that always shove their opinions down our throats, and a living space full of distractions, how much of our mind is us?
What color is a mirror? It will show whatever is put in front of it, but what is under all those layers of reflected light? Likewise, who are you once you remove yourself from all of the influences in your life? Some philosophers and writers escape to go live the life of a hermit to understand this answer. It is vitally important to know who we are if we ever hope to live authentically.
Who are you? Can you answer that question? Many people think they can, but then give a shallow definition. They have not examined themselves to know their own depth. Imagine if you've never seen the color blue, like you were raised as part of some sadistic experiment that kept you away from anything blue. Could you imagine the color blue in this scenario? How could you if you've never experienced it? It would be like knowing what pizza tastes like when never having tried cheese, sauce, or bread. We can't know our true selves unless we directly experience who we are through a sufficient range of experiences.
As it stands, the common culture keeps people locked in the socially accepted status quo of experiences. The vast majority of people are born and raised in a system which conditions them to live within a set range of behaviors. Yet, because they have not experienced the full range of the human experience, they live their lives believing that it has been painted with a full pallet. Think again about a person who has never seen the color blue. Would they even realize that something was missing from their lives? No, they would consider their world complete. Thus, a shallow world gets upheld by shallow people.
What would the color-starved person experience when they encounter blue for the first time? That would be an amazing experience, to open up that range of color. This is what it is like to look within and realize the true color of our mirror. When we can remove ourselves from regular influences, we get to experience our true selves. At our core is our default operating system: the pure human soul. Looking within and understanding this is the key to understanding the human condition.
This is vitally important, not only to our well being and personal happiness, but also for our survival. It is not natural for human beings to create a garbage island in the Pacific; this is a consequence of layers and layers of reflective behavior. This is just a single example, but we could create a long list of unconscious behaviors humans exhibit as a collective that are directly harmful to us. We are being distracted by a culture we hypnotizes us into occupying an alternate reality. When we fill our heads with the bullshit that is out in the world, we functionally enter into a bubble, which acts as a membrane dividing us from the objective reality.
When we do not choose what we consume, we are letting others dictate how we perceive the world. Marshall Mcluhan coined the phrase “the medium is the message.” What we let enter our eyeballs determines how we think. By not taking responsibility over what we consume, we are also not taking responsibility over what we think. Given enough people acting unconsciously, the world becomes unconscious as a result.
This is why I choose to reflect the light of love and shine the flashing light of the angler for everyone to see. I'm yelling “wake up!” to a train full of sleeping people as we hurl ourselves off a cliff. There are many major problems in this world, but so few of them can be solved by pointing fingers. Instead, the solutions we seek lie within. Change yourself, and you can change your world. It starts at our feet, in our own garden. If each of us makes a minor change in our lives, that gets reflected back to the whole, creating a chain reaction. The world is going to wake up in a flash, but it requires us to be willing to shoulder some of that responsibility ourselves. We have to be the change we want to see in the world. We must make the effort to understand our own truth and reflect that. Because in each of us beats a driving force that compels all life to act, and that core force is love. If we choose to acknowledge this, we break the cycle that our culture currently creates.
Wake yourself up. No one can do it for you. You are the only one who can access the truth within. No matter how enlightened you think you are, there is always a deeper level. The wise know that enlightenment is a journey, not a destination. The work is never done. Each day we make choices that take us closer or further away from who we are. Find your truth: be willing to break free from the influences in your life and be brave enough to find the most important answers you seek.