“It never even occurred to me to take Gorkon at his word.”
I’ve really been digging that expression, “it never even occurred to me,” of late. There’s lots of insight packed behind it’s familiarity. It is such an acute, apt, and accurate description of how our mind and, more importantly, our experience works inside of our worlds and worldviews.
It’s not “I couldn’t figure it out,” or “I didn’t choose to do that,” or “I missed it,” or anything similar… it is, literally, “This did not exist for me in any way, shape, or form, within my reality.”
It just doesn’t come up. And so in the same way that it doesn’t even occur to us to step off a ledge over a gorge to walk to the other side (because we live in a world where gravity exists and ow), so too do we not attempt, or even think of, muse about, or have an inkling to do things that do not exist outside of [our; personal] reality. Nothing hits our consciousness, nor do we take any unconscious decision/action in that vein.
It’s as though it completely doesn’t exist in the entire universe.
It could be about taking someone at their word, like Kirk. Or a multitude of other things. Asking a particular question. Trying something new. Pursuing an opportunity we’d be fulfilled with. Approaching someone to talk to them. Speaking to our kids/friends/lovers/parents/boss/clients/etc in certain more productive, ways. Trying out for a team. Ending something that is detrimental to us. Wearing certain clothes. Letting someone else “win”. Starting a hobby.
From the myriad of possibilities out there we get narrowed down to a paltry few that may hit our consciousness. Like touching (or more aptly no longer touching) the hot stove, we live completely inside of that we see to be real.
This is where mindfulness can be such a boon, to delve into our stories and worldviews and open them up. To create a larger sandbox to play inside of, to give ourselves freedom. To let those possibilities and options show up.
And, next time, we get to choose. Really choose. Granting us power, self-expression, and a myriad of pathways towards the relatedness, peacefulness, creativity, and the fulfillment we all want.
Lynx Thoughts 