We Are Never Truly Ourselves Until We Are At Pause

At Pause.mp3
1 Minute 31 Seconds. Read by Elizabeth, my UK robot friend.

by Aaron Matlen

We are never truly ourselves until we are at pause. All too often we get caught up in the pace of emotional moments and forget who and what we are about. Of course we then act irrationally. It is only when one sits down and truly reflects that one reaches their true self, their clarity, their character.

When it comes down to it, we all get caught up in emotional moments and it seems to make what we discover 'at pause' silly. We spend all this time in reflection coming to what rationally we would have ourselves believe and be, but inevitably are brought back into the reality of drama, emotion, and irrationality.

Life is full of tense moments that cloud reason, and we do not always think before we speak or act -- do we always mean every word, do we always mean every action? No, because life is not so cool and calm and reasonable.

It is only when one is at pause and considers their actions and thoughts that they find who and what they are about. This is a state of reflection and requires deeper thought that sometimes gets lost in the moment, but its value does not disappear. For when one reflects on an irrational action and finds, "Hey, this is really not me," they have shown their reflective self is one deeper than their self-of-the-moment.

It is easy to get caught up in the moment, to speak before thinking, to share an incomplete thought -- but it is not the real you. The real you is at the core of a deep reflection, reason, and love. The world would be a different place if we all put ourselves together 'at pause' and realized 'it is only then that I truly find myself, it is only then may I be judged.'

Metamorphosis of Self

Metamorphosis of Self.mp3
5 Minutes 39 Seconds. Read by UK robot Elizabeth.

by Aaron Matlen

Metamorphosis takes place all around us. Molecules are constantly interacting and transforming; things are turning into other things.

The four stages of transformation all things go through are birth, growth, flourishing or maturation, and death.

The most important stage to focus on is growth to maturation (or flourishing). What is the goal or most flourishing period of a thing? I often ask this question. When applied to human beings, what is our growth to maturation within consciousness?

Consciousness can rapidly alter its structure and perception. There are sudden and transformative changes within consciousness. There is an art to metamorphosis of self.

Consciousness is not solid like a physical object, but made up of dynamically moving information systems which are "alive" in a sense.

Dynamically moving information systems (DIS) are perspectives from which you view the world, in essence, personalities that depend on certain “information systems” you have developed in your mind since childhood.

We have many dynamic information systems, such as how we are among friends, compared to family, compared to the rest of society.

Often the immature dynamic systems that developed during childhood or traumatic experiences continue to influence a person greatly and are never matured.

Within every immature dynamic is its potential, its "lesson to be learned" -- and will always exist until fulfilled.

Most people don't ever take the time to mature thought processes or emotions. Beliefs and immature emotional expressions carry on into adulthood and affect thinking.

What Are Some Solutions?

Talking to your self. You can track the dynamic information systems within your mind by communicating with them. Ask questions that discover why this information system "feels or acts" the way it does -- what is its deepest desire, and when has it expressed itself in your life?

You can go on a voyage along the shores of your most potent memories and track where perspectives or ways of dealing with things began.

When you have an outburst that you'd call childish, reflect, and trace your history to when thoughts like that happened before, and where they started.

Finding the source is the key. Then ask questions of that source and ultimately try to find what it really wants. What is its true intention?

Often irrational perspectives of anger, apathy, and so forth are not ends in themselves, but immature ways of dealing with an unfulfilled need for love or attention, for example.

It is easier to communicate with these dynamic systems if you imagine them as your self, in some state of mind, perhaps you in the past in a strong memory when you felt that way. "My ten year old crying self.."

By speaking with love to immature perspectives, or past memory selves, we can guide the process of unfolding their potential lesson.

It takes asking the intention and discovering what is the positive need or want.

Tracking where it came about and finding specific memories that affect you.

Asking if it has been effective in getting what it wants and untying the knots with communication.

Then find another guide, another dynamic system of the mind that wants to teach and mature this one... something will naturally arise, some figure or person you respect perhaps. Just focus your attention on bringing this about and your subconscious will deliver.

Through this guide you create a new perspective that satisfies what the immature perspective's true intention was.

By now you should have an image or memory where this dynamic system was very alive.

Now create a concrete image of a guide to help with this problem. Next, create the concrete imagery for the new perspective, such as a flower.

These mental exercises greatly facilitate maturation, for consciousness is naturally self-organizing, you just must give it direction and metaphor.

Introduce the flower to the old perspective and ask if it would like to become this new form, and if there is understanding of what this change means.

At first you may feel rejection, but with explanation, acceptance, and love the old perspective is absorbed, transformed into the new one, and people often feel a rush of relief.

A real physical change has occurred in the dynamic interaction of systems within the mind. The work is not over though, for follow up is required.

The guide you imagined must promise to help mature this perspective and be there every time it comes about to keep it in check.

Immature or "growth" stages within human consciousness are what I call our negative and irrational instincts and thought patterns. These form within childhood and are not rational or necessary, but perpetuated anyway by society. These include shame, guilt, apathy, grief, fear, desire, anger, and pride.

A matured consciousness is one that unfolds the lessons of these perspectives and emotions by transforming them with love, joy, reason, and acceptance. This is what is natural to consciousness, this is what our flourishing is. Problem-solving exists in the peaceful awareness with your greatest conception of self, the self beyond what you are, your Full Potential.

In summation, The self is not solid. It is holographic and dynamic, made of systems where one change of structure can affect and alter the whole. We can always seek wisdom by communicating with our self in ways that project our greatest intelligence or values or virtues, in guides on the holodynamic plane of consciousness -- the thought world. Transformations are happening all around and even inside us. What does it mean for consciousness to transform? Where are you in your growth to maturation? By simply focusing awareness on immature dynamics we can take advantage of the universal nature of birth of new ideas, death of old ones, growth from new experience, and maturation of experience to wisdom. One should always ask the question, "is this thought in its matured form? is this world? is this emotion? what is the true potential?"

Negative Judgments

Negative Judgments.mp3
2 Minutes 58 Seconds. Read by Elizabeth the UK Robot

by Aaron Matlen

As a symptomologist of society, I see a lot of negativity created in the judgments people make against each other. We must respect individuals, and most of our judgments don't. We constantly make instant judgments about people based solely on tiny impressions we have about a person we don't know. The truth is, we don't know anyone else perfectly, their reasons or influences why, and our attempt at judging them based on our evaluation, our impression of them, is very naive and ego-centric to say the least.

Our judgments about a person may be bad or good, but this does not need to devalue them, and we must not include just devaluations in our value system. They are not a bad person because we have a negative view towards them -- that is respecting ourselves in having an opinion -- but in that opinion we have, need we really devalue this person? It is ego-centric to say we truly know this person, and can we hardly empathize with his or her condition? We cannot, and from our humble viewpoint, should we not give the benefit of the doubt, if at least to promote the ideal of hope? And why not, in the spirit of understanding and good will, spread love towards those in a tough, negative condition, instead of perpetuate the system with more hate? I realize this is all advanced thinking, Morals 303, but it really is a simple way of being. One that doesn't include the negative, that uses conscious force and effort to curb our desires into a state of love and understanding, towards ourselves and others, in the hope that the changes we inspire in others are positive.

Going backwards to society-as-it-is-now: What kind of system is it that condemns and keeps down, spreading negativity, compared to one that inspires and encourages without feeding negativity?

Judgments can be good, but often they are used to condemn, to look down upon, to spread negativity wherever truth must be slapped across one's face. There is a line that judgment cannot cross, and that is respect of the individual.

What are these judgments based on? Ego-centric viewpoints; "I believe this, and you don't," or ignorance claims, "How could you not know that?" as if it is avoidable and makes you stupid not to know, or value judgments, "You believe differently, you are wrong, I am right," and what does all this accomplish?

We all can agree it is good to have values and to stand by them, but what values are those that devalue others? This kind of negativity has nothing to do with your personal values, but your desire to control or negate others. It is a shame that so many value systems have within them the desire and will to devalue others, instead of lead them into their goodness. Why all this talk of negation? It seems I must necessarily dig out the positive held within each value system, for itself is too preoccupied with the negatives.

haha, it seems like a negative note about the struggle of the positive. but really there is just so much good out there, it may seem like I am frustrated trying to convey it.. it's the effect of too much good intention condensing into a tiny funnel, that funnel being reality.

I Am Not A Rock!

I Am Not A Rock.mp3
2 Minutes 54 Seconds. As read by my lovely UK robot friend "Elizabeth"

by Aaron Matlen

It really is amazing how one simple change in thought can accomplish so much. Yesterday I realized how busy I was, and how this has been affecting the way I live. My place became a little unorganized, and several simple tasks lay incomplete. It's not like I didn't have the time, but my larger tasks cast a shadow of inaction over my smaller tasks -- I would catch myself wasting time; procrastinating, focusing on unimportant details, social lifestyle, or rethinking/trying for one task even though I'd done all I could at the time, and just had to wait. I felt plagued by a feeling of inaction, as if I was a rock thrown in the wrong direction, trying to counteract its momentum.

Then, I realized... I am not a rock! I can change my direction. My mental direction. And poof, with one simple change in thought, I realized what control I have over my momentum of actions, thought a little smarter, got past mental blocks, and just did what I needed to do. It reminded me of my favorite quote from Amelia Earhart, "The best way to do it, is to do it." I got all my tasks done easily, and clearly laid out certain values, goals, and ways of living that I should be following. So it was done, and I feel better.

Over time we can accomplish so damn much. I mean think about it, given time and a certain amount of effort or thinking within that time, say even just one year, we can do so many things! With our bodies, say -- you want to change by working out -- what could you do with one consistent year of it? My god, a lot. More than we realize. It's the same way for our intelligence, our skills, our work situation, our life itself. We can change things around because each moment in life matters -- each second really does work to create us, to create something that influences us. A moment. Right now. Time passing. Each experience connects you to the overall picture we should imagine ourselves as. Our 'self across the dimensions of time' as felt and experienced by consciousness.. this is influenced and created by every single moment we exist.

It's funny. When you think about it, we waste SO much time inbetween everything we do. We waste so much potential energy by not being at our full potential, or at least not striving towards that direction. We have little conception of how we are being influenced in every moment, and hardly feel up to taking the reigns on the totality of our lives... I understand, to a degree -- we enjoy spontaneity, adventure, and things happening to us -- it excites us, stimulates us, and lets us believe in another power at works guiding things to happen to us... haha, but you are the greatest power of all. Why waste so much time on unproductive, meaningless ends -- the ends life often throws at us -- and choose to follow the path that you want to, to better yourself, instead of letting the chips fall where they may. There is so much spontaneity, adventure, and unexpected turns within your own mind, your own choices on how to live your life, on how you want to be -- so explore yourself! Let your hand guide the artistic strokes of your life, influenced, inspired by, or reinforced by your beliefs -- your god -- nature -- or the way things must be: necessity and chance.