sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.
it’s a lie!
words can and often do hurt.
the words we say. the words we hear, and the thoughts, images, and emotions that they incubate.
even worse, are the actions and interactions they, not uncommonly, inspire.
it’s been said, that “what bleeds leads”
right now, i believe that we are hemorrhaging and at risk of bleeding out.
we are hemorrhaging our sense of peace, contentment, joy, and satisfaction.
in exchange for this, we seem to be moving towards what distresses, divides, and angers us or leaves us feeling inadequate because of what someone else has and what we are being told we lack.
is this “bleeding” getting us to where we want to go?
i think not!
we are being drained of our essence.
we are at risk of allowing the best of ourselves, our altruistic, caring tendencies, and our satisfaction with life to leak away… drip by drip.
it is my belief that some of those who consider themselves to be thought leaders (especially the ones that cause us to be “bleeders”) are taking us down a dark road with the potential to transform us into someone that we are not and never intended ourselves to be.
to a certain extent, our current collective emotional ecosystem reminds me of one of the scariest movies I have ever seen.
that movie was “invasion of the body snatchers.”
this flick, re-released in 1978 focuses on aliens infiltrating earth by disguising themselves as plants with small pods and beautiful flowers.
an outward appearance that concealed what/who they were and obscured their true, self-serving, and malicious, intent.
the people who saw the flowers couldn’t help but be captivated by, and drawn to, their magnificence.
but those unfortunate ones, who welcomed them into their home and nurtured them, were transformed, being assimilated into an alternate, alien existence.
here’s one example.
in an early scene a female scientist falls prey to the plant’s splendid allure. she brings it to her house, places it on her bedside table, and awakens the next morning to discover that her live-in boyfriend’s demeanor has abruptly changed, having become cold, distant, and angry.
despite his physical body remaining unaffected, his mind, and soul had been hijacked by those extrinsic forces, whose goal it was, to capture, control, and dominate.
he looked the same…. sounded the same…. walked the same…
hell, he probably even peed and pooed the same!
but his cornerstone, the internal substance of what she had always known him to be, was different.
despite his, and the other victim’s unchanged outward appearance, their psyches were irreparably altered, resulting in a corrupted reality where they became dependent on, and subservient to, their “master’s” whims and desires.
perhaps more interesting, if not alarming, is that all of this happened outside of the victim’s conscious awareness, while they were asleep.
so, what does this have to do with the here and now?
in thinking about this movie, the thought came to me that it could have just as aptly been titled “invasion of the mind snatchers.”
and that’s what brings me to the “here and now”
daily, it seems, our psyches are being bombarded by various “influencer-types” who are not what they appear or present themselves to be.
the up-front image that they convey, is nothing but camouflage, akin to the beautiful plants (alien pods) mentioned above, designed to conceal their true intentions and motives.
their veiled portrayal could easily lead us believe that they exist for our betterment and that of society.
but, at the bare-naked level, once the camouflage is stripped away, it seems clear that their fundamental objective is to conquer and control our minds in a way that renders us pawns in their own self-serving games of ratings, recognition, fame, fortune and/or power.
these influencers have and assortment of facades and here are but just a few of them:
there is the religious authority, often trying to get us to believe that their religion, their interpretation of biblical facts, and their tribe is the only deified way to peace and everlasting life.
then on the opposite side, is the cult leader, who will prey on those of us who feel disenfranchised by cultivating a “we against them” mentality, then offer the type of healing and acceptance that the “outside world” has failed to provide.
no doubt you have seen or heard the “we know what’s really going on pundits” they exist across all lines of race, creed, color, ethnicity, geography, and political affiliation. their common theme is to goad us into believing that their version of the truth is the true version of the truth and the sole truth that any of us should consider accurate and worthy.
the final type to mention here are those who are ready and willing to disclose their secret formula, showing us how we can do and have it all. (just like them) the two subcategories within this group are the “motivators” and the “freedom and flashy lifestyle promoters”
the 4 categories depicted above (knowing that there are probably more), are featured because it is my opinion (and yours may be different) that they share some commonalities.
they all seek to capitalize on our fear, insecurity, desire for acceptance and validation, as well as our sense of lack or self-perceived inadequacies.
in other words, they have a way, often a very charismatic way, of making us feel less about ourselves and our surroundings, along with the subtle (often not so subtle) implication that adopting their way of thinking or living and becoming a part of their “flock” will magically make everything better.
it is not my intent to use a broad brush and paint each entity or individual within the categories noted above as being avaricious.
we need individuals who offer solace through their spiritual teaching. and there are many, if not most, who do this well and with clear, benevolent intent.
we need the opinionators who provide alternative views challenging our own personal biases. we all have them, as noted by sir frances bacon in 1620 when he poignantly stated, “the human understanding, when it has once adopted an opinion, draws all things else to support and agree with it.”
such confirmation bias exists, to some degree, in most of us as evidenced by a recent study of 376 million users on facebook which found that most people preferred to get their news from a small number of sources they already agreed with.
we do love our “tribes”, don’t we?
the motivators and lifestyle influencers also serve a role. they can open our eyes to the possibility of personal growth when we decide to think differently, identify, and let go of the limiting preconceptions and thought processes that many, if not most, of us have and that can hold us back from a life that we could otherwise achieve without such confining beliefs.
perhaps contemplation should also be given to the feasibility that cults exist and grow because of something that our current society fails to provide those who feel powerless and marginalized.
it is not my desire to universally chastise these leaders of influence and suggest that they are collectively malignant with solely sinister ulterior motives.
it is rather to propose the importance of us remaining vigilant in our discernment and at least consider the possibility that what we choose to hear or read (regardless of the source we choose to hear or read it from) is neither always what it is portrayed to be nor the ONLY way it is depicted to be.
it has been said that “all that is truth remains open to inquisition…especially when it is given to me by another, ostensibly for my own benefit.”
this isn’t meant to be overtly cynical (although I know that it can sound like it) but rather to advance the idea of our need to remain cognizant of our own frailties, vulnerabilities, and biases and realize how easily they can be exploited in ways that neither benefit us, nor our relationship to those around us.
furthermore, it is to suggest that, unlike the victims noted above, whose true minds were emasculated by the alien masqueraders as they slept, we remain “awake” to what is most important to us, rather than what the “opinionators” and “influencers” would otherwise lead us to believe.
in other words, it is our responsibility to make sure that we do not allow our “thought leaders” to melt us down into angry and vengeful “bleeders”
ron fudala
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