Prisonview, Imprisoning You

Day of 6 White Rhythmic World-Bridger

Tone 6 (Rhythmic): Creative power to Organize Equality, action of Balance

White World-Bridger Seal (CIMI): Equalizes and emphasizes Death (Span Dimensions)

In the midst of a very engaging conversation with one of my oldest male friends, I came to a realization about our general perspective as a species.

The realization is this: Most people are socialized to limit and imprison themselves within themselves.

So it is that we are instructed, by one another, to live as prisoners (regardless of actual prison bars). Each of us is confined to our own cell (our body/worldview/consciousness), only viewing life through our self-constructed prison. Each of us looks through the prison bars of our self-constructed cell taking our vantage point for all of existence. 

Collectively speaking, we each do this actively first to ourselves and then to all things.

This conversation came about as a result of both of us discussing what we believe our life "contract" to be in simple terms. (I talked about this a few posts back in "Before Time"). Ultimately, I know my contract to involve "releasing the prisoner" as a central focus. I want to work with imprisoned populations (amongst other things). Specifically, I want to see prison populations engaged with one-on-one while they are in prison. I would like to know how each prisoner constructs their worldview and determine, along with them, what must be done in order to reconstruct that worldview. 

That being said, I am very much aware that imprisonment doesn't require a state sanctioned prison cell or even prison bars in order to be the reality of someone's situation. Even those of us who do not "break the law" tend to criminalize ourselves.

We each are our own walking courtroom; with a built in judge, jury and criminal. We each play all roles for ourself and we each decide the outcome of our existence based upon this evolving courtroom. (The 4 Agreements speaks about this in a way that I find is helpful). 

In my last post I wrote about form and function. Form and function are incredibly relevant to each of our prison experiences because it is our attachment to form that allows for our imprisonment. When our existence doesn't look the way we attempt to force it to look, we punish ourselves for it. We determine that our inability to fit the form we have prematurely chosen for ourself is equivalent to our inability to be worthy of being as we actually exist.

So, rather than exist in the ways that we dream to exist in--in a functional way that involves doing the work and participating in the things we each are genuinely interested in--we berate ourselves constantly for not existing in the form which we incorrectly assess as the only way we can live our desired existence. 

Therein lies the prisoner complex. From behind the prison bars of our prematurely chosen forms, we view the world as a hostile environment. We see others, in their own self-constructed prison cells determined by their own un-enlivened desires, and we judge them based on the forms that have assisted us in constructing our own cells.

Interestingly enough, we do not often see the prisons formed around these individuals because their prisons are not built from the same forms as our own--their minds. It is from this vantage point (or lack thereof) that we perceive all of existence and the entirety of its meaning.

This makes functioning as a collective and a species rather difficult as it makes the basis of our existence limitation. It makes us form societies and social constructs around an impoverished view of existence and the world we live in. By approaching life from an impoverished view of existence, we determine that our interactions come from a place of withholding and stagnation as opposed to a place of sharing and expansion. 

This day-by-day, person-by-person decision has a lot of consequences. Particularly when individuals with enough perspective to encourage freeing ourselves speak out. These individuals are, at least historically, always ostracized. Usually they are also killed.

A nasty side effect of the prisoner complex is that seeing people free is antithetical to the prisoner complex worldview. From inside our self-constructed prison cells, we see people who claim that we can be free as charlatans (or gods). That is because within an imprisoned existence, one looks through prison bars and perceives them to exist on all sides.

This closed in worldview makes it easy to compartmentalize people who free themselves, to categorize them in a way we are comfortable with and, ultimately, to explain away their freedom. In other words, we "other them," we "idiot them," or we oppress such people. Collectively as a species, we do this out of fear. Fear to honestly engage people, fear of being ourselves and fear of the power of free individuals throughout the ages.  

The freedom-encourager (or "free individual") comes into this imprisoned world, struggles through their own imprisoning formations and, having come through their personal struggles through practice, effort and diligence, is able to perceive other peoples prison cells for what they are: self-constructed formations that are ultimately unlockable, though only at the will of the person who formed the prison. 

That's the catch of the prisoner complex: the cell is only "locked" by our own willpower and consent. 

The prison cell only remains closed on account of our own inability to realize that function is a more reliable tool to perceive existence with than form is. When we become locked-in by form, we forget the importance of function. When things begin to seem too concrete, we forget that it has all been created.

By this process, stagnation is guaranteed. Following stagnation is depression, self-loathing, hatefulness, inertia and resignation (not necessarily in that order). Below, I provide some examples.

An Example: A child is told that dancers only have one body type; this body type is not the body type that the child has; so the child decides not to dance even though dance is an integral desire of this child's consciousness. Life becomes less enjoyable because a core desire of their nature is denied as possible.

Further, the idea that the body they have (the form) determines that they are unable to dance (the function) makes them forget that DANCING was their primary interest. Their primary interest has now been diverted to their body, which they now believe determines all that they can do and which they are now unsatisfied or disappointed with.

Yet, the body is largely a form, not a function. And form serves function. Make the body dance and it will do so in the way that it is capable of doing so. Put dance in your body and it will move--but only if you dance. 

This kind of limitation (form before function) makes life a labor rather than a love. Further, it creates a world society where only certain forms are considered valuable, which further limits the functionality of everyone within the shared societal experience. This creates stagnant, labor-intensive societies with little love to share amongst everybody and little love held within each individual.

Inside your prison cell, function tells you, "DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT," "GO SOMEWHERE ELSE," "PARTICIPATE IN WHAT YOU DESIRE TO DO," etc. 

Inside your prison cell, form tells you, "PEOPLE THAT LOOK LIKE YOU DON'T DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY," "PEOPLE WITH YOUR HISTORY DON'T GO PLACES OTHER THAN THIS," "PEOPLE WITH YOUR ABILITIES CAN'T PARTICIPATE IN THE THINGS THEY DESIRE TO DO,"  etc.

The difference should be clear: one approach to existence is limiting, the other is expanding.

This isn't to say that function is "good" and form is "bad." There is only efficient action and inefficient action. Efficient action pays forward into infinity and continues on in varying and evolving forms. Inefficient action pays forward into infinity but has to deconstruct in order to build up new varying and evolving forms.

It's all existence, "good, bad or both;" form or function. Existence, after all, allows for everything, including the freedom to loathe yourself. Only, one path takes longer than the other and causes stagnancy that requires constant reconstruction. Doing things inefficiently is very laborious and it expends a lot of energy with little to show for it as well as creates frustration.

Our perspectives are what our lives revolve around. At best, our perspective can become our focus. At worst, our perspective can become our fixation. It's all about choice at this stage in our conscious evolution. 

Do you choose to filter your perspective through form or function? Which, to you, has had more bearing? And, how content are you with your existence as it currently stands?

Both form and function have their place and purpose. Function creates form and form provides function. 

Your existence is the function, what you do with it during every second is the form. So you may notice that form is only static if you allow yourself to remain stagnant, and that prison cells don't provide much room to move or to expand.

Why not unlock your willpower and step out of your self-constructed cell into the functionality of your existence? Why not actually try and do things with your existence that your mind would have you believe are impossible?

The mind doesn't walk around itself. It cannot know everything you are capable of. Truth is, where your functionality is directed, your form is guaranteed to follow. Mind included.