Blush-Painted Shades

Opening myself to reality takes real effort.

The problem is that just behind the scenes, my ego’s always waiting to tell me how great I am, and how right my view of the world is. And how offended I should be at any intimation otherwise. And that I should reject such impropriety outright, whether from myself or someone else.

Together, my ego works diligently to convince me that my ideals and my personality are one and the same. That my very sense of self—my being—is formed around a handful of hotbed topics.

Why not just sit back and let my ego do its thing? After all, this mindfulness shit is tough work.

Well fuck, we’re living the reason why.

Whether it’s vaccinations, flat earth, election results, or a slew of other important issues, as a nation, we’ve cumulatively given up our critical thinking skills in favor of opinions, or ‘alternate facts,’ as the previous administration led us to believe.

These days, anyone with a Facebook page and a loud enough voice can convince tens of thousands of people that they’re right, in spite of invalidating evidence. “If we just stick to our guns and gain enough followers, reality will shift.”

The net result is that we live in a dream world; a self-destructive lie.

Faced with the choice, we can either wake up, or we can die.

Remember: mindfulness flows, ego slows.