Taking your Projections On a Ride, part 1

June 3, 2014

“There is no coming to consciousness without pain. People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own soul. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” – Carl Jung

Florida Keys sunsets full of color

Magic path through the pine trees

I remember visiting Florida Keys once and falling in love with the beauty, peace and quiet of its small and uninhabited islands. I stayed in a small port, a favorite spot of local fishermen and a few boat owners who would stop by for fuel and friendly chats. There was only one bakery, a bike ride away, through a narrow path surrounded by very tall wonderfully scented pine trees. They were hiding the presence of the mischievous little tree fairies who, if you are not careful, could transport you and trap you into some ages old memories. But I would shake the memories off eagerly focused on the yummy smell of the fresh baked bagels of my bakery (which looked like it came straight out of an indie movie from the 70s). Every morning I enjoyed every bite of my favorite cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese. And a simple black coffee. My days would start with the most stunning sunrise and end with the sunsets full of color. Pure magic 🙂 .

The Mallory Square crowd

Then one day we decided to visit Key West. We came right in for the famous sunset celebration at the Mallory Square. I was somewhat bothered by the huge crowd gathered at the dock for sunset watching, thinking how much more I enjoyed my sunsets from my little port… I did like watching the street artists and the fun crowd who danced away at the local bar. When the night descended upon us, we decided to move on and take a stroll on the streets of Key West. It was Presidents Day, so thousands of visitors and party goers were descending upon the streets of Key West as well. We stopped at a bar to people watch. A fairly common activity all of us humans, all around the world, occasionally enjoy (have you ever noticed how Parisians neatly align their bar chairs in several rows all facing the street 🙂 ). Yet, this was the only place I had ever seen put up an official sign: ‘a perfect place to people watch’. Ha!  Who could resist that?!

The Mallory Square dancers

So there I was, sipping my drink, people watching. And I was thinking to myself, wow it’s interesting how many people are crooked around here. Hmmm crooked hit me as an uncommon word for me to use, yet somehow it described perfectly what I was observing. At the same time, that’s some serious judging going on, so I kept looking to see if my eyes were deceiving me. But no. They really were crooked. Everywhere I looked I kept seeing crooked noses, crooked hair, crooked teeth, crooked smiles, crooked shoulders, crooked ways of standing and walking, crooked ways of talking, crooked thoughts and crooked hearts. It was the longest list of crookedness I could ever come up with. What a sad place, I thought, full of crooked unhappy people.

Then I looked at myself and I went like, OMG I AM CROOKED. I am so totally crooked. And I am so totally sad and unhappy. Only unhappy people could make such unhappy judgements. About the way people look, about the way people behave, about the way they think, and even about the way they feel… Then I remembered how happy I was in my little port. And how I found everything beautiful there. And I realized that when I give myself what I need, I feel happy and loving. And I see the world with a different set of eyes!

But I needed to take my projections for a ride to realize that. From the little port, through the pine wood, by the mischievous little tree fairies, to the bakery, to Key West sunset watching, to people watching, to watching myself, back to the little port – it’s just that this one is my inner little port. My inner piece of heaven 🙂 .

How often do you people watch? Dare taking your projections for a ride. Imagine sitting in a bar, with your favorite gossip person, people watching from above, sitting comfortably in your tall bar chair. What kind of conversation is likely to be going on? Say your projections out loud, using ‘they’, ‘he’ and ‘she’ (ex. this is how I used the word ‘crooked’: She has such crooked hair. This guy looks weird, it seems like he has some crooked thoughts on his mind. Look at this couple, they are so awkward together, he holds her in a totally crooked way.). Feel free to express your feelings and emotions, use your typical language, but do restrain from using abusive words and aggressive tone – loud doesn’t equal aggressive. Be loud! You need to hear your own thoughts and projections.

Now imagine looking down, deep into yourself. What do you see? Hint: we are usually projecting on others what we cannot see in ourselves… What are those deep limiting beliefs that you project on to the world? How is that creating your reality now?

Ours is the world of projections. We are all projecting and we are all caught in the web of projections. Our reality is our projections. The point is, find that little port, that inner piece of heaven. And observe how the world and people around you change. Help dissolve the web!

For those of you who are interested in deeper spiritual work with projections, check out the part 2 of this post: using the medicine wheel to take your projections on a ride.

My inner piece of heaven