Reality is really a broad term. As an individual you might use it to mean the the opposite of dreams or fantasy. That's not far off from what Webster's Dictionary uses for a definition, "Something that actually exists, or happens" so in a matter of speaking we all use Webster's definition. But my research and sources took it a step further, far enough to say that reality is what you choose to make it each and every day of your life.
I already shared some of the views I wrote about, such as the article about the playwright who became her character, I've seen people become so involved with their character that they are their character. But I loved the information that I learned from Thich Nhat Hanh on being aware of our feelings and emotions, not fighting them but not allowing them either. It's a really interesting topic to me. Do we create our reality? Yes, that was my initial question and I believe that the answer to that question is absolutely. Personally I was just searching for more information on this topic, and I found out a lot that has really opened my mind to new ways of thinking.
Don't run when you get scared of what you can create. Embrace it and nourish it, let it be all it can be! You won't experience what it's like to run in the sun if you live your life in the shadows in fear of what might happen. Live, laugh, love, and love yourself.
Anxiety, Depression, addiction, despair, suicide. All negative terms that people usually don't like discussing. Well, unless you're a psychiatrist who is trying to find out HOW you're feeling instead of WHY you're feeling. Personally, I have huge anxiety issues, I've struggled with depression and have had my own suicidal wishes in the past. I would like to make it understood right now that I do share personal stories every now and then, not to gain sympathy or empathy, but I feel it helps tell the truth of the matter, and makes it helps present my own knowledge on the matter based off personal experience. I had several therapists who were more concerned with HOW I was acting and what I was doing to cause myself to feel the way I felt. I ended up getting out of therapy and never going back because I wasn't being helped. I never thought that an answer could be so simple. Life.
Logotherapy, derived from Greek "logos" which translates to "meaning" and "therapy" meaning treatment of an illness.
Existentialism, is a philosophical theory or approach which emphasizes the existence of an individual person through their act of free will.
Viktor Frankl, a psychologist and neurologist, founded logotherapy and existentialism analysis. Frankl had 29 honorary doctorates from different universities, published 32 books in 32 languages, was married twice, fathered one child, was a grandfather to two, and great-grandfather to one. He was born in Vienna in March of 1905 and died in Vienna in September of 1997. He followed teachings of Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler. Frankl's theory includes 3 views, Freedom of Will, Will to Meaning, and Meaning in Life. I will be taking a closer look at his second view, Will to Meaning.
Viktor Frankl explains that we are autonomous people who seek characteristic ways of expressing and shaping our worlds. Frankl believes we also constantly seek the meaning of life, and too often are over concerned with finding it so much that it consumes us and leads to our unhappiness. An article found on franklzentrum.org tells us who Frankl is and also says, "Any existential frustration of the need for meaning may lead to aggression, addiction, depression, despair and suicidality; it may also trigger or aggravate psychosomatic illnesses and neurotic disorders" (Zentrum Wien, 2). So when we think too much about what life means and what we are meant for, it could have such negative affects that it could cause our mental health to deteriorate. When I look back at my life and why I struggled with so much sadness and despair, I realized that at least 50% of the time I was confused about what the meaning of life was, I was worried that my life had no meaning and that it never would. I convinced myself life was terrible and there was no point to it. But Frankl offers hope, "Logotherapy helps patients identify, remove or cope with inhibitions and blockades hampering them in the search for meaning. It sensitizes them, making them perceive potential meaning. In this context, logotherapy does not offer meaning, it merely supports patients in translating into reality the potential for meaning they discover for themselves" (Wien, 2). So if we are willing to look at this theory and are willing to look at what he's telling us, then we will receive support to find a potential meaning for our reality. Our reality being what we create, the potential is great and often limitless, it's just a matter of what we believe.
Also in my research I found an article on Rogerian Theory. A theory created by a man named Carl Rogers, this theory also called Person-Centered Therapy. Rogers created the theory in the 1940's, it does not focus on people as flawed, who have problematic behavior, instead each person's desire for growth and change. Rogers is quoted for saying, "Individuals have within themselves vast resources for self-understanding and for altering their self-concepts, basic attitudes, and self-directed behavior; these resources can be tapped if a definable climate of facilitative psychological attitudes can be provided" (Goodtherapy.org, 1) Again if we are willing, we are capable of self-understanding, changing our attitudes and behavior if we want it enough. Rogers doesn't say anything about our outlook on life having anything to do with it, but he does say that a person has to be willing.
http://www.goodtherapy.org/person-centered.html#
If we are willing to see it, we will. If we are willing to have the desire we are capable of much more than we think, and our potential meaning will start to make sense. So be willing to do what you feel is right for your growth.
What did I do? How did I do that? This is all my fault! Everything is against me today! I can't do anything right! Words and phrases that go through all our minds at some point for some reason or another. But what few fail to realize is that if this is what you really think, then no nothing will go right for you.
Before I go on, I'd like to explain this picture to the left. In several ways it stuck out to me, and seemed perfect for todays post. Notice, the fire, fire fighters, and the little girl, and a couple random people just staring. I wondered at this picture, where are the parents looking for their kid? Why does this child not show emotion? What was going on in that house that caused a little girl to want to catch it on fire? What I have learned so far on this topic tells me that for some reason or other this little girl wanted to create that fire, to wreck her home, I don't know what reason, but she wanted it and created it.
I found an article in The Atlantic, by Judith Ohikuare, on March 10, 2014, that tells the story of a young woman, a playwright, who viewed herself as her character so much so that she practically became the character.
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/how-actors-create-emotions-a-problematic-psychology/284291/
""It was depressing," Margolin recalls. "My character would cry, and I would cry. She was miserable, and I was miserable. She was a frustrated, ignorant person trapped in a narrow life, and I felt like that. Once, while I was on stage, my purse was robbed in the dressing room, and I felt like everybody backed away from me, thinking I would infect them with tragedy. These were lovely people-I loved them dearly-but my character was unattractive and somehow, so was I. Something about that infused the community of theater actors that I was in"" (Judith).
While this is a quote of a quote it describes what I'm trying to say. This woman chose to be like her character, and so she ultimately became her character. She chose her reality, she wanted to be her character because she felt like she wasn't meant to be who everyone else saw her as. She explains earlier in the article that she doesn't like who she is, that she wants to be a different woman. So she set her intent, she set her desire to become someone else, and she became someone else.
I failed to find a video on the suggested video cite, I looked on Youtube and also made sure to research the author of the video I did find. I found a video by David Icke, a man known for referring to several political figures as reptilian aliens who are basically evil and want to enslave mankind. I will not be referring to any of that in my blog, rather a video that talks about what I am trying to convey. You can read more of David Icke here: https://thrivedebunked.wordpress.com/2012/02/25/who-is-david-icke/
Now for the video:
Icke tells us that if you truly believe something, then that's your truth, your reality. I fully believe that, and I fully believe his view on if you're surrounded by people dragging you down, then you will convince yourself that you are a victim and you bring yourself down.
I hope I have answered some of my classmates questions in today's blog. Happy 4th!
As my blog is about creating our reality and or how we affect our reality, I found it may be helpful to talk about consciousness and it's meaning. Because the research I am doing explains that to be able to create our reality we have to be present, or conscious. So "conscious", as defined by Dictionary.com, is "the state of being conscious; awareness of one's own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc." So my understanding of this definition is, not just knowing what's going on around you, but feeling it, being aware of every sound and smell, knowing how your life is going and thinking about how you are affecting others. By being so aware that we can make decisions quicker by feeling what we want, feeling what we need, and being able to name the emotion and where it's hitting us the most. "I'm scared" ok, where do you feel it? Is your heart skipping? Or your mind racing? Are you twitching or your belly nauseous? Feel your body and know what it's doing.
In my research I found a couple books on my topic, although while I say "conscious", other authors call it "mindful" or "mindfulness". I found a book called The Miracle of Mindfulness, it's by a man named Thich Nhat Hanh, a man who published letters from a Vietnamese man named Brother Quang in 1974. In this book Quang talks about meditating and owning our feelings and reactions, and being awake or fully aware of ourselves and our minds. A paragraph stuck out to me, he is talking about a guard we create for ourselves, he refers to it as "the monkey's shadow". He calls it this because he refers to us as the monkey and our minds as the shadow, if we move it moves it cannot be detached (well, unless we die) but it's always there watching over us. Quang says,
"While practicing mindfulness, don't be dominated by the distinction between good and evil, thus creating a battle within oneself. Whenever a wholesome thought arises, acknowledge it: 'A wholesome thought has just arisen." And if an unwholesome thought arises, acknowledge it as well: 'an unwholesome thought has just arisen." Don't dwell on it or try to get rid of it, however much you don't like it. To acknowledge it is enough. If you have departed, then you must know that you have departed, and if you are still there, know that you are still there. Once you have reached such an awareness, there will be nothing you need to fear anymore." (Hanh 39)
So be conscious by being aware of your thoughts, not by constantly thinking about them, just being aware that they are there. Once you are aware of your thoughts there isn't anything you need to be afraid of because it's your thoughts that hold you back when you replay them in your head. So it's enough to just be aware of them.
I also found another book, You Are Here, by Thich Nhat Hanh, although by the same author, this book focuses more on Hanh's own journey and what he has learned from his own searching, instead of sharing letters from another man. My favorite quote from this book is talking about how a man who is a garbage man is still doing something wonderful. He learns how to use garbage and compost it and that compost turns into a beautiful flower. Hanh explains
"The same thing is true of your happiness and your sorrow. Sorrow, fear, and depression are all a kind of garbage. These bits of garbage are part of real life, and we must look deeply into their nature. You can practice in order to turn these bits of garbage into flowers. It is not only your love that is organic; your hate is, too. So you should not throw anything out. All you have to do is learn how to transform your garbage into flowers."
So again, by being mindful, or conscious, we can take our "garbage" and turn them into flowers. We choose by being conscious about our feelings.
So to sum up this post, if we can learn to be conscious, or mindful, we can do great things. If we can learn to be aware of our own feelings and emotions and own them, we can create flowers and turn all the negative to good. It's all up to us to be conscious enough to let it happen.
My main question with, The Consciousness Project, is "do we create our own reality?" Several of the articles that I will be researching suggest that we need to be conscious, to be aware that we affect our reality. There are articles about the theories of Viktor Frankl and research on Rogerian Theory that will help me present each of my questions.
I didn't always agree with the belief that we create our own reality due to lack of knowledge and understanding. I work for a company, that uses a therapeutic approach which is founded in existentialism, and trauma theory. I started asking questions and became involved and truly interested in the practices. I have come to think differently and to be open to an awareness about myself and my own consciousness.
I think my question affects a variety of people. On a daily basis an individual is caught up in so much chaos, hurt, and love. I often wonder how much of it I really caused, or in a better word, created. I think it's important for us to understand just how much we really do create or how we choose to create in any given situation, so we can better ourselves in our daily decisions.
So my current questions for this continuing blog will be related to: What is consciousness? How do other peoples realities affect our own? More to come as I continue my ongoing research into quantum physics.
Hi readers!
Just a quick hi and introduction from me.
I'm Adriene, I grew up in southeast Wyoming, then moved to Texas for a few months, then on to Oklahoma where I graduated high school and started college, then moved to Colorado for a change in "scenery". I have always had an interest in being a therapist, I had a bad experience with several when I was growing up, so I wanted to become that therapist who actual listened and actually helped. I started taking college classes around a psychology degree and always payed close attention to any therapists I came in contact with to take notes on what I should and shouldn't do. Then once I moved to Colorado I started working for a therapist office that takes the therapy to a whole new level. The office combines yoga, meditation, and personal therapy to bring alignment back to your mind and body. I became intrigued with it all and created my question and fell in love with the topic and am ecstatic to do the research on this project. I am excited to know everyone's questions and opinions on each idea I post. I hope you enjoy reading!
Adriene
