Colonel of Wisdom - part 20: Obsession
Today’s topic: O B S E S S I O N!!!
Face It
Baboons are obsessed with bright red, swollen rear ends. Good thing we have evolved beyond such primitive behavior. Our obsession with pretty faces is far more sophisticated.
Like rewinding and re-watching the same confusing section of a DVD, our psyche loops over and over the places where it is perplexed, the places where it is in pain - to try to understand, to try to find relief. So routine is this repeated viewing, it becomes a forgotten presence. A numbing trance descends. Thus, obsession is born. What section of your life do you keep replaying?
Obsession evolved as a learning technique to help animals understand a complex and, at times, overwhelming world. That crude method is obsolete. We have better learning technology.
Want to know how much obsession there is in this world? Go to the ocean and look at the water. That’s how much.
Make peace with obsession. For God’s sake, it’s everywhere - sex, money, addiction, appearance, accomplishment, status, etc., etc., etc. OK, now expel it from your life.
Art is the opposite of obsession - creative, not habitual action. The former flows from inspiration, the latter, predictability.
Obsession simulates companionship. Even if it is a sham, some prefer it to the sharp icicles of loneliness.
Obsession leads to arrogance. Assuming an attitude of superiority protects the ego when it can’t obtain the object of its obsession.
Copyright 2/06, Mystic Pete
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