Ten months ago I began a journey of practicing mindfulness every day and we've reached day 321. Yesterday, I talked about the path to adulthood. Today is a new day.
It's because I just can't seem to figure people out that I ended up studying psychology. Reading people is both the most challenging and most interesting thing for me to do. Yet the more I've learned the more I've realized how much I still didn't know. Even as a teacher, there are times where I'm trying to figure out how to best find what helps the students learn and when I try something things go completely wrong.
I started watching a recently aired anime called Violet Evergreen, which is based on the light novel series and the main character, Violet, is someone who also is out of touch with emotions and human nature. In a scene where Violet is contemplating her inability to understand human emotion, her mentor says to her in reminiscence:
I've always thought that being honest and straightforward would be the easiest for everyone. Not doing so just seems to create headaches and misunderstandings. Yet despite this being obvious it seems like the simple act of doing that is more difficult than the different lines of logic and societal expectations that influence them. I can't help but chuckle at the irony. At the same time, life is full of contrasts, so maybe I'm trying to rationalize something that can't be fully understood because maybe there are some things that simply aren't meant to be understood.
Or perhaps it's a reflection of how me not fully understanding myself is represented in my inability to fully understand others. This train of thought is what led me to this path of daily mindfulness practice. As I continue down this path, only time will tell. For the time being, it's as if the study of the self is also the study of the vast cosmos and what lies beyond our comprehension.
Peace
"When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion." - Dale CarnegieGrowing up, understanding people has always been something I've been curious about. I felt like I understood what was going on around me but before I knew it there'd always be something that'd sneak it's way in front of me and take me by surprise. I felt like an observer from the outside. I saw things but didn't understand them almost as if I lacked true emotion myself. At least that's how I felt sometimes and I think all of us go through this at some point in our lives because emotions are so complex.
It's because I just can't seem to figure people out that I ended up studying psychology. Reading people is both the most challenging and most interesting thing for me to do. Yet the more I've learned the more I've realized how much I still didn't know. Even as a teacher, there are times where I'm trying to figure out how to best find what helps the students learn and when I try something things go completely wrong.
I started watching a recently aired anime called Violet Evergreen, which is based on the light novel series and the main character, Violet, is someone who also is out of touch with emotions and human nature. In a scene where Violet is contemplating her inability to understand human emotion, her mentor says to her in reminiscence:
This moment reminded me a lot about how people tend to only disclose the bare minimum. We are afraid of getting hurt so we tend to not let ourselves be open and vulnerable to others. It's almost second-nature to some people and so it makes it difficult to really get to know people when they don't show who they really are. You have to learn to read between the lines, which can be really hard. Things start to get really meta and the next thing you know you're reading everything from the context, body language, the words being spoken, the tone and intonation of said words, and a million other things in order to get a better picture of what's actually going on. What. A. Clusterfuck."Words have multiple sides to them. What one says is only a part of the whole truth. It's a human weakness. We test others to confirm their own existence. What a contradiction, right?"
I've always thought that being honest and straightforward would be the easiest for everyone. Not doing so just seems to create headaches and misunderstandings. Yet despite this being obvious it seems like the simple act of doing that is more difficult than the different lines of logic and societal expectations that influence them. I can't help but chuckle at the irony. At the same time, life is full of contrasts, so maybe I'm trying to rationalize something that can't be fully understood because maybe there are some things that simply aren't meant to be understood.
Or perhaps it's a reflection of how me not fully understanding myself is represented in my inability to fully understand others. This train of thought is what led me to this path of daily mindfulness practice. As I continue down this path, only time will tell. For the time being, it's as if the study of the self is also the study of the vast cosmos and what lies beyond our comprehension.
Peace
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| Like the layers of an onion, our true thoughts are hidden under layers of different emotions, intentions, and fears. Figuring out where they all come from is likely the most challenging thing I've ever done. Yet that challenge is also something that's also enticing. |
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