Positions & Discomfort
I talked with a friend on the phone this morning, and noticed that whenever I took a (temporarily fixed) position, there was a good deal of discomfort associated with it. The discomfort was actually stronger, more in the foreground, than anything else.
Exploring the discomfort, I see that it comes from taking a particular position, and in particular from justifying and defending it, making it appear right and other positions wrong. It all comes from belief in a story, including the story of my identity.
And there are several ways this brings up discomfort...
- It creates a sense of I and Other.
- It creates a sense of separation from others.
- It creates a sense of separation from myself, from those perspectives and qualities in me placed in the Other category.
- I become more rigid, less fluid. I paint myself into a corner.
- I experience a need to protect and defend a particular position, even if some part of me know that other positions are as valid.
Of course, I do need to take a variety of positions throughout my daily life. I couldn't function without it. And if I know they are just temporary and functional positions and do not reflect any absolute truth, then I am free from having to stick to and defend them. There is more fluidity, more easy, more sense of intimacy with ourselves, others and life.