The current energy around the world can be likened to a gumball machine where all the gumballs are falling out of it. Hitting one after the other. They are not big enough to do great destruction, but they are sizable enough to hurt.Think of them as just pellets hitting the top of the head one after the other. And there seems to be an unlimited supply for the near future.
So, of course, the action is to move away from standing under the gumball machine. But first, an individual would need to recognize something is hitting them. And then they would need to choose to look up to see where it’s coming from so they know where to move.
It means detaching emotionally and just observing. You can’t stop the gumballs from falling but they don’t have to fall on you. It requires a presence of awareness to choose not to react.
You [Student A] experienced this today. Sudden bursts of anger over what you no longer want to do but must continue to do. The same is true for [Student B]. You also know what you want to do. But you believe you are not being given the chance.
This energy is an excitation of molecules in the air. This coincides with active solar flares and high electromagnetic fields.
<>Q: These gumballs and the sense of being bombarded. How do we get better at detaching and observing and not getting caught up in it?
It requires the practice of determining that you no longer wish to respond to the gumballs in the ways that you have previously allowed yourself to respond.
To remember to breathe. To recenter and focus on clarity. To realize that what you are annoyed by is in fact not worth being annoyed by. The annoyance does not change the gumball machine. It does not stop the gumball from falling.
It is very clear when you look up, “Oh, there are many gumballs. I do not wish to waste my energy being annoyed.” So I step aside and breathe slowly to recenter. To acknowledge that the gumball, in fact, doesn’t matter.
It is not worth giving energy to. Because it is what it is, and it will not be changed by whatever emotional state you throw back at it.
Q: But that means changing the set of emotions that we carry with us in our normal ways of reacting to things.
It just requires practice. It is not hard to do. The steps are easy. Breathe deeply. Hold the in-breath for four counts. Hold the out-breath for four counts. And center on the breath. As you center around the breath, that reminds you that you wish to remain centered. You do not wish to be pulled willy-nilly by silly gumballs. Then you can even acquire humor because the gumballs in fact are quite colorful.
Q: In my case [Student C], it’s a sense that the gumballs are preventing me from spending time the way I want to spend it. I understand the concept but they’re keeping me from doing what I feel I need to do.
They occupy a certain amount of time each day. This is true.
You need to make the choice to carve out a part of each day where you do not open your email. You do not open a web browser to do work. You do not pay a bill or look at mail. Give yourself two hours at the start of every day dedicated to writing.
You have a habit of being pulled off-center by whatever shows up in your inbox. You feel you must get to it immediately. Otherwise, the to-do list piles up.
You almost grasp that the To-Do list never ends. But you find that discouraging. So you must carve out a time at the start of the day when nothing is turned on except the Word document you are working on. Then you will make progress. You need to make this a new habit.
You are making the classic mistake of seeing the mountain in the distance and wanting to race to it, not realizing the distortion of distance. Not accepting the distortion of distance. So you continually frustrate and disappoint yourself that you cannot bring the mountain closer, faster. But the mountain is not going anywhere. The mountain will wait for you. But you always feel you are running out of time.
The discipline of starting two hours of writing each day is the requirement to bring you to the mountain.
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