Are You Plugged In or Battery Powered?
I find myself studying all sorts of things: photography, biology, physics, tea, yoga, Buddhism, writing, publishing, Hinduism, food, natural remedies, psychology, neurology, animals, plants, words, meditation, and the list goes on and grows every single day. There is SO much to learn and experience. This is truly the spice of life, learning and basking in new things, all the time.
Pluged In: Surfing on the Cosmic Current
And this is perfectly okay; in fact, it’s our nature to do so. It�s our nature to study everything that life has to offer. Note, I use the word �study� in the most playful and casual manner, meaning to �play� with and �have fun� with something that you are getting into. Something that you dig. Something that fascinates you and awakens your inner joy.
Better, it�s more of a �plugging-in� to the universe. Think of the universe as one large electrical socket with infinite amounts of energy. And every time you have a new experience, learn something, and open your mind up to more ways of thinking, you are totally plugged into this cosmic current of information.
You are having a blast, charging up and surfing this cosmic wave. You aren�t tied down to anything and you continue to coast through all sorts of people, books, experiences, events, talks, parks, beaches, all sort of places that totally electrocutes your mind to the world and all the beauties it has to offer. What an amazing ride when you�re plugged in. Such a charge never ends � you�re just powered up and surfing away, full speed ahead.
The Battery Charged Automaton
Or maybe you�re an automaton that isn�t plugged-in at all. And you energy is supplied by a few double AA batteries that were inserted into the back of your neck when you popped out of your parents. Yup, that day in the hospital your giddy daddy was so excited to pop those batteries in and flip the ON switch. And there you were, a perfect robot that looked and functioned just like a human.
This is what I�ll call the �Battery Charged Person.� Let�s see how it differs from the aforementioned �Plugged-In Person.�
When you�re running on batteries, you aren�t surfing the cosmic current at all. No sir. Instead, you are carrying out a specific set of parameters and functions that have been programmed and installed into your brain from childhood. You go to school like everyone else, graduate, and then your software randomly chooses one of the preset professions that have been programmed into you (doctor, lawyer, accountant, programmer, whatever it may be… doesn’t matter) � and there you go! You are now an engineer and that�s all you do because, as far as you know, your batteries will run out one day so you need to dedicate your life to one thing and one thing only.
And what do robots do…?
Since you�re essentially a robot, your software tells you that focusing on one thing is the most efficient route to happiness and success (to best use your battery supply). So life passes you by. You stake out a profession and stick with it forever. And 40 years later, there you are, battery weakened, body malfunctioning, and your retirement program now kicks in. You�re 65 years old and have a few select memories of two or three things that you experience in your lifetime � school, college, work, retirement. And in a few years, that�s it, your batteries will run out and you�ll be discarded in the scrap metal box.
I use these purposefully dramatic examples to underscore these two very different mindsets, yet very ubiquitous mindsets. On one hand, the minority, we have those that are plugged-in this world. In fact, they�ve always been plugged-in and they know that. They surf through life with such a vigor and moxie, learning new things, meeting new people, and going on all sorts of adventures. For them, it�s all about the journey � never about the start or end. Those things really don�t matter to those plugged-in.
Then we have the robots who treat life as a drag. Trudging along waiting for their battery pack to expire. They want to adhere to protocol (the status quo, parents, peers, society perhaps) and have no desire to get involved in all sorts of things such as nature, science, philosophy. Why? Because as far as they are concerned, it�s not a part of their software. Not something that they are �supposed to do.�
But what are you supposed to do, exactly?
�Supposed to do.� That is exactly the fundamental difference between the two mindsets. Those plugged-in realize that they aren�t �supposed� to do anything at all. They aren�t supposed to be anyone. Aren�t supposed to go anywhere. Aren�t supposed to claim a certain stake. They just do what they do and that�s it. The automatons feel that they are supposed to do such and such and only such and such. Such as a program is supposed to carry out a specific set of functions and that�s it.
We need to examine what’s outside in order to see what’s inside
Sadly, the robot can never truly understand who he/she really is because they have nothing to compare themselves to � nothing to cross-reference. And that�s precisely how we grow, by examining others. In the same way that we pinpoint two other locations to define ours � triangulation � we are able to discover ourselves by immersing ourselves in other cultures, books, societies, sciences, nature� heck, even technologies. You can discover yourself from (better, “in”) ANYTHING. Even the ant walking across the floor.
A rather cursory example would be that of the psychiatrist whose job is to diagnose, examine, and study various conditions of the mind. Now what if the doctor only had one patient ever, and he diagnoses him with bipolar disease? Well this wouldn�t be possible at all. Because wouldn�t the doctor need to know what bipolar was �not� in order to understand what it �was.� He would need more information � need more minds to study in order to validate and truly know what bipolar was.
And in the same way, we should (but needn�t if you are playing the battery charged game) examine all sorts of things in life. That�s right! Get into everything you can. Learn new things, talk to new people, and have a blast. Seriously, go �nuts� and study all those things that you�ve always wanted to. That “wanting” is your true nature. The only time is NOW.
A wise man once said: �I am because we are.�
Leave a Comment