Explore
Gaia Soulmates
 Advertising keeps Gaia free! Interested in sponsoring us?

Enlightening the Passions - Experiment: Day 8 (Wild Realities)

Posted on Nov 24th, 2008 by Mushin : We-full Mushin

inthewaterEven though this morning I sat with "a sense of insecurity" it was next to impossible to get to the core of it.
Insecurity's cousin, Shyness, is well known to me and I've long ago come to know it's presencing qualities and its connective character, so I meandered a bit around shyness, giving myself an easy time.
I also was wondering if after 7 days I shouldn't go back over all the things I've written so far to see from the traces of the posts of this blog if a pattern that I haven't been aware of is emerging. But somehow doing that didn't appeal to me much. And I fear that my bright mind would spin a story that doesn't come from the material itself but is much more made-up than I would want it to be. And also I fear that it would make me more prone again to go with the stories instead of with the feelings. And that is what is really required, because being unconditionally present with my feeling is at the core of this experiment, not the stories I come up with or even the blog posts I write. So instead of going over the last 7 days I took a look at what wants to emerge, and also kept an eye on my sense of insecurity as a kind of focus for my awareness that has the tendency to wander far and wide...

And there is also the consideration that now I have been sensitize to my feeling-sensing so very much that my 20 minutes in the morning dedicated for some day to bring up "the feeling of the day" can now be general to just be with raw feeling in itself and let me be taken by that.
Which is, of course the ideal, and it's not really true. It seems to be true for all feelings except for jealousy: It is an immense challenge at times to just be with it; the stories connected with it, the imaginings which I now find are so deeply ingrained in the partner-relationship are now in doubt very much, in particular the feeling of having a real future together that is light and free and unencumbered by "hard feelings." I guess I simply have to decide if I want to keep to what this experiment is about, even under the present circumstances that cause so much havoc in my throat-heart-solar plexus area so often.

 

jealous2y

 

Well, when I wasn't caught up in the kinds of thoughts that accompany my greatest challenge at the moment, and when I felt calm and open and free I saw that overall the first 7 days were really very much dedicated to myself and my feelings, and that now maybe I can also focus a bit more on the feelings of those I live with. And strangely enough today more than ever I heard comments on the way I looked at them and what my expression told them about my feeling-state.
kimura_ryokoSo far you've read - if you've read through all of these "reports" so far - quite a few times that some person triggered this or that feeling. And this is very true indeed. I think my experience this first week has taught me with quite some force and clarity that I can and do own all these 'negative' feelings. This also means that I can more easily "catch" a reaction before it jumps out into the "wilds" (out of everybody's control, really, and self-determined by everybody involved and all they are and are connected with; I mean it's really in nobody's hands: wild) of ordinary life and becomes the trigger of more and more reactions. But it's also quite clear that whatever I do, if I blindly react, if I respond with my eyes half open, or if in clarity I am with what goes on, it always also influences the people close to me. So going through all the feelings I'm going through, and going through them in the way I do - openly, owning them, feeling the connectedness, "yessing" them - doing this experiment with all that it means most likely is not only a blessing but also a stressor to those around me.

In general feeling the other is, for me, outside actually giving these feelings a name - it is most definitely different from being triggered by what they say or don't say but implicate or do. The feeling-field has a different quality to it that seems to be beyond that. Looking closely I notice that it is as if people's movement happen as if inside my body, I experience their moving as if the visual impression gets translated into... if my body would consist of entirely water it would be as if I would feel the water inside me move in synchrony with people's movements outside. warrensmith_abbeyreef_posterAnd these very movements are at the same time feelings in a language that has, right now, just a very few syllables.

I guess in this second week of my experiment I want to look more into this aspect of "presencing with feeling". Now that I have somewhat honed my instrument of feeling a bit, this might be a next step in this education that happens upon me and that I co-create; trusting my senses, feelings and experiences to reveal what needs revelation, be with what needs good company, and learn what needs to be learnt - making the mistakes I need to make in this unknown process emerging as I enter into it.

One remark that touched me today was hearing, "There is so much love in your eyes." From my perspective I was merely being with that person unconditionally, feeling the field, somewhat (but not invasively) curious about her feeling and being.


Starting up the experiment
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4 (Powerlessness)
Day 5 (Tired)
Day 6 (Jealousy)
Day 7 (Guilt & Jealousy)
Day 9 (Shame)
Day 10 (Interlude)
Day 11 (Under Pressure)
Day 12 (Sound of the Heart)

Day 13 (Clear Delight)
Day 14
Day 15 & 16
Day 17
Day 18 (Madam J. Visits)
Day 19 (Dark Waves)
Day 20 & 21 (Splash)
Day 22 (Understanding)
Day 23 (Fear & Imagination)
Day 24 (Vulnerable)
Day 25 & 26 (The Presence of The Past)
Ending the Experiment - Day 27 (Intentional Vulnerability)
  
Access_public Access: Public 6 Comments Print views (108)  
yeshe : imaginal cell
about 12 hours later
yeshe said

So interesting, how fast this learning is going in you, Mu.

I love your analogy of the water inside you moving in synchrony with people's movements outside. We are such huge sensory fields, we humans, and we really don't understand that. So when we awaken to the reality of it, what will become possible?

Mushin : We-full
about 20 hours later
Mushin said

One of the ingredients might be 'unrestricted feeling' which, as is becoming increasingly clear, is something that a man like me must obviously parctise for a while to have it become 2nd nature.

And I believe that 2nd tier (to use the Spiral Dynamics lingo) only really IS a real next phase in life and understanding when the feeling-field is part of it.

And what might happen is
a melting of the madness into ferile realities

yeshe : imaginal cell
1 day later
yeshe said

Funny, as a woman, I guess I find it hard to imagine that men have such a different relationship to their feelings. It makes me think of what Eckhart Tolle calls 'the pain body', which he says that women can transcend much faster than men, simply because men first have to learn to feel it and relate to it.

The longer I live, the more pleasure I get out of those moments when my body is drenched with the chemicals released by intense, unexpected feelings. My all-time favourite is when I'm unexpectedly being given a piece of really tough 'feedback' by someone who has been triggered by something I've said or done… There's this vast heatwave that washes over me - the next phase of my experiment is to try to catch it at the moment it starts, and observe where it actually comes from…

So you see, you're not the only one conducting first person research here… I just don't have the patience and foresight (or the exhibitionist philanthropy) to blog about it!

Mushin : We-full
1 day later
Mushin said

It is indeed funny, and sad at the same time, this difference of how we relate to feelings. I wouldn't generalize as fast as ET though that because of this different relationship women can trancend it much faster - and you know me, I think this whole transcend through ascent game is not too much of my taste anymore.

My take on this is that if it is indeed a natural movement - this: diffuse being part of your subjectivity, getting to discern and observe 'it', and finally having it as an 'object' in front of you; to use Kegan's model - then we don't need to do anything about it. Transcendence is a secondary phenomenon, the by-product of a life deeply lived. (And isn't it an amazingly consistent pattern across many traditions new and old, that most of these enlightened men talk about how women are much further then men? Don't wanna get side-tracked here, just notice it in passing)

And yes, in our culture it is “natural” for women to be the queens of feeling-land whereas men ar the kings of mental mania ;-)
And yes, I think that women are much more skillful in also using feelings in navigating relationship (the daughter of my girlfriend has proven to be very skillful recently in recognizing and using feeling-understanding in all kinds of relationships to get what she wants, and I admire her skillfullness and emotional intelligence). And now that my 'pain-body' (only a man could come up with that name for the emotional realm) is becoming more a part of me I can discern eddies and streamings and many 'irrational' movements in the feeling-field that obviously are very present to the women around me (haven't been in situations where I could 'test the waters' in a larger context).

And interesting, the way you deal with “the vast heatwave” washing over you. If you find where it comes from, might I ask you to do some exhibitionist philantropy? (what a lovely concept)

yeshe : imaginal cell
2 days later
yeshe said

I'm with you on wanting off the 'transcend-through-ascent' escalator, Mu.

I keep coming up with analogies, though - the other one that springs to mind this morning - as I should be preparing to go to the office - is Wilber's 3-2-1 model, for use dealing with 'shadow' material. To the extent that we are unaware of our emotional life, our emotions qualify for this treatment. It starts, strangely enough, where you leave off when you say ”diffuse being part of your subjectivity, getting to discern and observe 'it', and finally having it as an 'object' in front of you; to use Kegan's model - then we don't need to do anything about it.” So you start by talking about it (3rd person perspective), then you talk to it (2nd person perspective), then you talk as it (1st person perspective). This is a very nice way of reintegrating bits that you had 'transcended and repressed' on the developmental journey up the chakras, so to speak.

All this stereotyping of men and women is tiresome, I agree. There are still more similarities than differences between us, and we have a lot to learn from each other - and can learn a lot from each other.

Mushin : We-full
2 days later
Mushin said

Interesting this 3-2-1 process, reflecting the basic premises of that stream of thought.  You see I don't start out by talking about it; I start out by not knowing about it, then getting to know it by opening up to the feeling of it, and listening to the headlines of the main stories around it which help me 'turn up the volume', if that is necessary, which with some feelings it surely isn't ;-)
I actually refrain from talking to it but most of all listen to “you my guest that I haven't been welcoming for such a long time.” Also the metaphor of talking as it doesn't seem like a respectful approach :-)
Wouldn't want to talk as rage or whatever. Just allowing it to 'use my space for whatever it needs' seems to be more like it.

But most likely I don't really understand that process too much and my experiment is not really about integrating any of the guests that come and knock at my door. They are increasingly welcome, and maybe they'll become a member of my household…

I very much appreciate you giving me some of these models to play around with and see if they fit. That helps me clarify what I see happening…

Yes, us men and women are wonderful strangers and very similar at the same time. It's amazing, and I think I also learn to really appreciate both. I guess like you I find the whole generalization game not very fruitful on a personal level - where it, of course, is on a larger scale and when we enter the field of culture and society. And right now I guess I'm also getting purged of where the hiding behind understanding (of all kinds) really keeps me away from being with, hosting the unfolding reality-flow and living…

You have to be a Gaia member to post comments.
Login or Join now!