Rabbit-Hole People

The thing about people is that we do seem to contradict ourselves. Here’s a few examples. Progressive policies can be very popular, but when it comes to actually voting people vote for the opposite of what they claim to believe. People say we must do something about climate change, but when it comes to changing their own lifestyles they don’t want to do it. People say that kindness, intelligence and a good sense of humour are more important in a relationship than physical attraction, but then they marry for looks. Well, what do we make of all this? It doesn’t mean that people are bad, or deliberately dishonest. No. Just fickle! Because to know our own minds is a lot more difficult than it may seem. Try digging down into what you REALLY want out of life. Perhaps you find that straight-forward? But, wait up. You might not like what I’m about to say here, dear reader, but how do you know that you’re not deceiving yourself? How do you know that what you think you want is what you REALLY want? There’s a good deal of benefit, I think, in trying to figure out what our own minds are up to – keeping up that digging process. There are folk, however, who will not dig. Their minds are made up, they have their opinions, their values and their principles and they won’t be swayed. Maybe they’ve simply adopted these from their family, and they somehow got set very early in life. And now, any questioning of their beliefs will be met with either puzzlement or hostility. Are these fortunate folk, given that their minds are made up? Well, in a ‘post-truth’ world, where conspiracy theories abound and experts are no longer held in respect, it’s difficult to hold onto one’s principles. So maybe having one’s mind made up already is a good place to be. But I fear that some life-crisis, that’s bound to happen sooner or later, will shake such folk and they’ll struggle desperately to adjust. A life-crisis could break them, if they are unable to step back and re-consider their values. But of course they may be lucky, and just sail through life completely convinced of their own good sense and moral integrity. Perhaps you have a family member like that. Perhaps you do your best to avoid them! There are other folk though who take a plunge – who go down a rabbit-hole and spend some time thinking about who they are, what their life means and what will be of most benefit to them in the long-term. There was one person I heard of who read a single book (I think it was Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now) and felt that from then on he need never read another book again. That one volume had delivered all he ever needed to know in order to get his life on track. Or it may be that someone has a religious conversion, or decides to ascribe to a certain brand of politics. So, they drop down a rabbit-hole, just briefly, and then feel they have ‘arrived’. No more need to search. No fear of doubts. Well, to be honest, I worry about such folk even more! They’ve actively chosen their beliefs, values and what-have-you, so they’re likely to be even more defensive. They’ve had a little bit of rabbit-hole experience, and they know that queasy feeling of the bottomless pit – they know that one dig could lead to another and another. But they stop – unwilling to continue – they decide instead that they’ve sussed everything out. They’ve arrived. But there’s always a bit of doubt lurking there in the back of their minds, so they will be very defensive, should you ever presume to question them. Well, I expect you’ve guessed by now, I’d like to suggest that we all keep on digging! Because, yes, the rabbit-holes go on down forever! You’ll get used to that queasy feeling and realise that nothing is ever as it seems. There’s always multiple ways of looking at things. There’s always doubt and uncertainty. Confusion as well, perhaps, but also fascination, intrigue and mystery! Adventure. Excitement. Imagination. Enchantment. So why would you ever stop digging? And there’s no end to digging, once you really get started. You don’t need much – just patience, a bit of silence, a bit of calm. So don’t stop. Dig that hole! Follow that rabbit! In digging, of course, we may uncover uncomfortable truths about ourselves. This, I’d suggest, need not be such a bad thing. Perhaps something we had feared or felt ashamed of will suddenly seem no longer as bad. Perhaps what you hate or fear most about yourself might actually be your greatest strength! Or perhaps, it’s just simply that you become aware of problems that you’d not been aware of before, and the digging has helped – not just in uncovering them, but also perhaps in solving them. A couple more possibilities present themselves here. Perhaps there are people whose heart is digging, but whose mind remains unchanged. Until, suddenly, the earth gives way and their brain catches up with where their heart has been for years or even decades. Or perhaps the other way around. The mind seeks out new ideas, but the heart is somehow unfazed, until one day, something tips them down the hole that the mind’s been digging all along. Not so much queasy feelings here – more like sheer terror! But even so, even so, does it not seem worth it? Does it not seem like we should take the plunge, however that may present itself? Paradox is not just an unfortunate feature of the world – the world is built of paradox! It could not really be any other way. So, let me venture to suggest, there will be rabbit holes forever and we are better to embrace this idea, if we possibly can! You dig?