Zoom Out

 

Chances are if I asked you what you see on the picture on the left, your answer would be 'a little black dot'. Which is kind of interesting, because there isn't just a little black dot - there is empty white space WITH a little black dot in one spot.

Consciousness does that.

Zooming in on stuff.

I find that very interesting.

You know how it's almost impossible to NOT glance at the TV when it's running? And, on the other hand, how you sometimes are so caught up in reading a book, that you literally don't hear what's going on around you? (even if a TV is running...)

Consciousness can zoom in and out. It can be focused on a tiny little thing and literally forget about everything else that's going on. And it can 'zoom out' and become very wide and open, noticing all the tiny things that are happening, but from an awareness of the space, in which they are happening.

To me this image of zooming in and out is very helpful in understanding what happens when I get caught up in stressful thinking.

When my personal busy mind comes up with a 'problem' my tendency always was to 'zoom in' - to look very closely at all the details of the problem, hoping in doing this I would find a solution. Unfortunately from this 'zoomed in' state of consciousness it's pretty hard to come up with something new or fresh or creative, since all I'm seeing from there is... the problem.

In learning about the 3P I have discovered that there is another way. Instead of 'zooming in' there is the possibility of 'zooming out'. Of letting myself fall back into a wider, more open space, from which I can not only see the bigger picture, but am actually aware that I am the space. Not the dot.

Learning that when I feel tension or stress, this is an indicator of me 'zooming in' and narrowing down my consciousness and getting caught up in the stories my mind makes up, makes all the difference. It always felt to me like there was no other option. And even when I tried to stop thinking about something it felt almost impossible or at least like really hard work.

But what I realize now is that it was so hard because I didn't really see that there is no sense in doing it. Deep down I still believed I had to figure it out. It was only after getting little glimpses here and there, again and again, of the peace and wisdom that comes with hanging out in the quiet open space, and after seeing problems literally dropping away without me thinking about them, that I started to see the truth and simplicity of this.

And now suddenly it doesn't feel impossible or hard to drop out of the thinking. It simply happens.

Of course not all the time, I definitely have my hang-ups But it's like I'm finding peace with them too, because I know there is nothing I (my personal mind) can do about it. It will change on its own, in Syds words 'by listening to truth and looking for a nice feeling'.