Are You Experiencing Reality As A Stick Figure?

Are You Experiencing Reality As A Stick Figure? ©2018 Joan Newcomb

How are you experiencing reality? Does it feel very extreme, very black-and-white, intense drama, reactivity? Or do you have breathing space, clarity, balance, choice?

On a walk this week I mused about reality and manifestation.  When I'm aligned and connected, my surroundings come into sharp focus.  Greens seem greener, trees are more defined.  I get the sense of walking through this physical reality and it's more profoundly 'real' but on a multi-dimensional level.

There's a belief that this reality is a full-immersion video game, that we're walking around in these meat suits, but we're making it all up.  It goes so far as to imply that others in our reality aren't real, we created them to be there.

Are you experiencing your reality as a stick figure?

As an empath, I had difficulty with this, because I can feel other people's feelings, even if they're 3,000 miles away.  They are sharing their emotional reality with me, and I know it's not mine.

Even though I have a higher awareness, I can easily feel entangled in intensity and drama, extreme emotions, if I'm experiencing other's reality. If I resist it, I get more stuck in it. If I can detach, I can feel compassion for their challenges, and send healing.

But the 'I create my own reality, and nothing is real, including other people' didn't work for me, at least in the cartoonish way it was presented.

It also says that there is no free will, we're all going along predetermined scripts, so stop trying to change, fix, or control things.  This didn't quite feel true to me, either.

Technology has advanced in the years since I first heard this idea, and we now have on-line gaming and Wii.

And while I've been musing, two videos came to my attention.  The first one was Bill Nye ("The Science Guy") talking about creationism vs. evolution.  Creationism can be very black and white, very limiting.  God created everything, God put us here, full stop.

It's a one dimensional explanation for a multi-dimensional world.

The second video was Neil deGrasse Tyson saying the most astounding fact is that our molecules and atoms are made up of the same elements from the beginning of the Universe.

As I listened to the second video, which really described evolution from the initial creation of the Universe, I realized that it was taking Creationism's stick figure explanation and giving it width and depth and length.

Sometimes Science, however, leaves out the aspect of Consciousness, which gives their theories color and tone.

When we were collectively operating from a lower level of awareness, we could only understand things from a stick-figure perspective.  What was written in ancient texts was complex ideas put  forth in a simplistic fashion, much like how you would talk to a child about college level subjects.

'I created my reality, nothing is real, including other people, there is no free will, it's all pre-scripted' is too simplistic as well.

Reality is a complex creation of Consciousness, a game with infinite levels of possibilities.  You can play it any way you want.  There is free will, just like a Gamer has choices of taking different actions and it changes the outcome of their playing session.  There are other Gamers in the equation, which makes the whole experience much more interesting.

It's not just you in your own studio composing on a synthesizer, but an orchestra of musicians each contributing their piece.

And yet, on a higher level, it is.  As Consciousness, you've put forth the elements, but you've also created individuals to run around and bang their own symbols.  You are both Consciousness and the symbol-banger.  You are both the Programmer and the Gamer.

However, in your 'meat-suit', there's only so much you can comprehend.  The more immersed you are in the denseness of physical reality, the less you can be attuned to the greater world.

In my early metaphysical training, there was distain for intellectualism.  In many religious belief systems there's an aversion to the Mind.  It's true that the intellect/Mind can distance you from spiritual Truth, but it's the same distortion as *lack* of intelligence saying Creationism is the only reality.

Consciousness in an Intelligence greater than your own brain, greater than your individual mind.  It's the Internet vs. your hard drive.  God is not a jealous or limiting or punishing god.  God is Consciousness.

And it's not all just atoms and molecules and fishes with feet.  The invisible reality beyond that which is measurable, is Consciousness.

Consciousness brings both dichotomies together.  Because Consciousness transcends time and space, so from that perspective you could say there's no evolution, but only because it's all happening at once (no time).

If, while you are walking along a street, you could shift your vibration to a lower speed, you could see what occurred on that street in the past.  If you could raise your vibration to a higher speed, you could see what will be happening on that same sidewalk in the future.

Your meat suit can't do that.  Your Consciousness can.

But don't go there (unless you're on your third espresso of the day).  You are Consciousness manifesting in this meat suit for the fun of experiencing this present moment in these parameters of density and effort.  When you die, you'll realize your lifetime only a blink of an eye, that you always are Consciousness.  If you spend all your time going outside yourself to feel Spirit, you'll miss the point of being here.

However, this Reality game is so big, it encompasses every belief and approach.  Just as there is no one True religion, nor definition of God, there's no one right way to live life.

Go ahead an visualize, go ahead and use manifestation techniques.  Or let go of creating your reality and go with the script.  It's all valid.

If you choose to be a fundamentalist, that's the Game you'll experience.  If you choose to be an atheist, that's the reality you'll have.  From the level of Consciousness, there is no good or bad (ethics only exist in the physical realm).

This week, I invite you to play with whatever works for you.  Just being playful can shift you out of extremes and reactivity. Try it for yourself. And see what happens!



[updated from "It's All Good" published Sept. 2012]

Your Inner GPS

Your Inner GPS ©2015 Joan Newcomb

One of the confusing things about being an empath is that you feel other people's emotions inside you.  Sometimes I'll feel them come from outside, usually moving in from one side or another.  But their emotional communication will pop up inside as well.

It's one thing to hear the neighbor's music coming through the walls of your apartment, it's another to have it playing on your own Ipod!

I had something like this happen yesterday, a burst of anger inside.  There was no external trigger, no thought that preceded it.  If I'd been operating unconsciously, I'd have thought it was me, it could have influenced my actions.  Instead, I noticed it.  I discerned whether it was male or female, and scanned the possible origins.  Was it a response to a Facebook post? An email?  

It's more challenging to identify when I don't know them, or aren't in direct contact with me, but they're thinking of me for some reason.  Sometimes it can take days, weeks, or months for it to become clear who it was.

When you're navigating from Consciousness, you steer by responding, not reacting.  Sometimes the best response is waiting.  Waiting for the truth to be revealed.  Waiting for inspiration.

I've been having fun with the frequency of Consciousness (which doesn't feel like a color or a temperature, but simply the energy of clarity and focus).  It's feels amazing, expansive, and joyous. When strong emotions show up I bring more Consciousness to them, and they dissipate.

There's so many levels to the game of life.  You can walk through it as if everything is real, take everything personally, react as things happen to you.  You can go through it as if nothing is real, take nothing personally, respond when you feel like it, take action when motivated.  And there are many variations in between.

As Consciousness we're all One, but in the physical realm there are many individuals, generating ideas and projecting emotions.  Thoughts and feelings are ping ponging all over.

It's a different way of navigating life. When you operate as Consciousness, there's no one predictable outcome.  Possibilities become endless.  It's shifting from walking to flying.

Regardless of where you are in the moment, or what you think is about to happen, you can completely change your direction, simply by shifting your perspective.  And by bringing in Consciousness, it unlocks more opportunities to choose from.

Here's a couple ways to play with Consciousness.  Start by sitting still, and imagine bringing in Consciousness.  Don't define what it is, just notice what happens when you do.

You can also have Consciousness come from within, and radiate outward.    Notice what that is like.

You may experience this as feelings, or see this as vibrations, or hear this as frequencies.  It may bring things up in your body as physical sensations, or emotions, or in your thoughts.  Keep bringing in Consciousness and notice what changes.

Once you're familiar with doing this, you can play with doing it while driving, while at work, while interacting with others.

Try this for the next week and see what happens!