Whenever a human being becomes a battleground for the instincts, there can be no peace.
We’re going to do a bit of a double-take on the same concept here. First, I will share this passage from a meditation book a friend sent to me.
On Opposites:
Before emptying, there must be fullness. Before shrinking, there must be expanding. Before falling, there must be ascent.
To destroy something, lead it to its extreme. To preserve something, keep to the middle.
Although we speak of opposites, they are not truly antagonistic elements. All opposites are part of the same entity. Like a two-headed snake, opposites are two parts of the same whole. They define one another, as black defines white. They alternate one another, as war alternates with peace.
Whenever any phenomenon reaches its extreme, it will change toward its opposite, just as the darkest night begins to change toward dawn, and the coldest winter is followed by glorious spring. Therefore, anything that one wishes to destroy need only be led to its extreme or crushed while it is just appearing. For example, the two easiest times to destroy a tree are when it is so tall that it is about to topple or so young that it can be easily uprooted.
The same principle holds if one wishes to nurture something. You can prevent its destruction by bringing it close to, but not over, its apex. You can take a branch from an old tree and graft it. This is the wisdom of the middle ground. Followers of Tao change a situation when it reaches its apex. By joining their efforts to a new situation that is just budding, they attain perpetuity.
-Deng Ming-Dao
The other take
..is a bit more personalized.
I was having a discussion with some people around “warped instincts” or rather, the basic human instincts all humans have, gone awry. We were looking at how they have caused wreckage in our lives and what we have learned from examining our behavior when it takes that turn, which it often does.
An ironic example would be the basic human instinct for safety and security. When I myself am out of balance, I am driven by impulse and emotion— usually fear. Although it wears many masks.
I reflected on a somewhat recent situation where I could identify that my instinct toward feeling secure and safe wound up creating a scenario where, not only was any shred of security or safety tossed into a dumpster-fire / tornado hybrid, but I almost lost my life completely.
So much for safety and security if you’re dead, right? I mean death is not so bad, but survival is an instinct you’d think would trump them all.
This may seem an extreme example to some, and of course it didn’t happen overnight, but it happened.
The power and healing come from being able to see my part in situations that manifest into a level of brutality and chaos I can’t describe. This is not to say anyone deserves to be harmed, but it is beneficial (in my experience) to inventory just what got me there in the first place, because the only thing I can control is my behavior— as long as I am aware of it.
The new awareness then becomes a tool to not create dumpster-fire / tornado hybrid scenarios in my life.
*Note to people who read an article and project a life experience that has nothing to do with what I’m talking about and get offended:
Keep in mind this is my journey and how I operate. I also did not disclose the situation mentioned, so do not take this as me victim-shaming anybody, and do not assume you know what it is. I’m not talking about you.
Yes, this is what the internet has come to, you have to explain what you don’t mean almost as much as what you do mean. We now have safety warnings on Substack articles.
Sorry yall, had to get that out. I realize it’s Eclipse Season and we have some pretty gnarly astrology on top of that, plus the comet and CERN and all that other shit, but DAMN I am losing patience for nonsensical outbursts myself. We’re all a tad on edge.
We’re all a little mad down here.
Anyways, extremes.
Looking within liberates if we are able to do so without fear, and just as importantly, without judgment. No one is an anomaly when they make mistakes or act in ways that go against their more sound reasoning.
This is something we all do. What matters is what we do with it: Learn, or repeat.
This can also be applied with our ambitions in life. We do live in a pretty “extreme” society, it is encouraged to “GO HARD AF BRO” or however the people around you word it, encouraged to sacrifice things like health, sleep, basic self-care, family, friends, relationships, to achieve our goals as hard and fast as possible.
And we wonder why people are burnt out and feel like they can’t keep up. It’s not a natural way of living.
I can’t think of anything in Nature that requires tons of caffeine and in many cases other stimulants to rush toward whateverthefuck. It gets there on its own time, and unless it gets taken out, it always gets there, in time.
We tend to fear that we wont get there though, wherever “there” is to the mind at the moment. So, when we jump in and try to control or rush, things get fucked up and instincts go awry.
Dumpster fire tornado hybrid.
Same can be applied to ideas and our creative projects, some of the most precious things, these creative gifts we are all given.
This is why I stopped exposing or sharing mine before they are at their maturation. I used to do that too fast and it would kill the idea or project. At the very least it would taint it.
Successful artists (meaning those who have made their entire lives art and are able to operate in flow state on the regular) often warn against doing that.
I see why now. That would be like being pregnant and trying to induce labor before the child was fully developed just because you were excited to have a child. That’s absolute insanity, no one does that ever. So why would we do that with the other creative things we give birth to?
Just a few thoughts. Not going to give anyone a conclusion. Don’t really have one anyway. Do with this what you will, and I hope it is helpful to somebody.
Much love.
Hey! What you describe about your experiences and what came of them is very important. In my opinion, this is called emotional maturity. Fantastic! Every step we take towards our balance on an ongoing basis is valid. Especially when we talk about instincts, something we can only understand when we go through them. I completely agree with your comments.
Great article.👏 I had to hit rock bottom before I realized money wasn't everything. When I used to make tons of it, I thought it was all that mattered and that it would solve all my problems. It didn't, in fact made my life much worse. Now, I get by with little money and am happier than I ever was making tons of money. 🙏