Dystopia is an ancient Greek word meaning ‘bad place’. Whilst ‘bad’ is a broad term, we could agree, ‘bad’ is not an environment one would thrive or find joy and comfort in.
Societies, countries, and the world overall are often viewed as a ‘bad place’ filled with environmental issues, inequality, elitism, racism, and heavy enforcement of conformity. A place where freedom of expression and thought feel denied and where hopes and dreams are abandoned. A place where we do not feel safe.
However, whilst our environment can be a persistently annoying influence, how bad we feel internally has nothing to do with how bad we believe it is out there. Therefore, what goes on in our minds supersedes what is going on externally. Primarily because everything encompasses perspective.
Mental dystopia is not a head cold that can be remedied with chicken soup and ginger tea. It is not a medical condition or disorder. The chemical imbalances many refer to are the physical responses to our thoughts. It is the physical body mimicking the imbalance of our mind. Therefore, the fundamental disorder is imbalance of thought. It is an inclination to focus heavily on negative aspects of ourselves, others, and the world which keep us stuck in a state of fear, doubt, and sadness.
Regardless of how much we feel victim of our current situations, mental dystopia is our ability to come to the worst conclusions, holding ourselves hostage to these beliefs and then feeling paralyzed by them. As thinking beings, it is inevitable to get wrapped up in mental drama.
Unfortunately, we spend an excessive amount of our ‘mind time’ in a bad place. Between news and social media’s heavy negative influencing, rage igniting, panic-inducing stories, it is hard to escape the buffet of chaos, instability, and fear-driven madness. This kind of mental jargon can be emotionally debilitating.
However, our minds are far more valuable than we realize. Our minds are like tentacles that connect us to every person, place, thing and beyond. They allow us to journey to the furthest reaches of creation and exploration. Our wish is its every command. It is our place of analyzation, inspiration and sometimes even solace. It sifts through, sorts, and gathers information, opinions, and beliefs harvested through our senses. It helps categorize and compartmentalize memories and ideas. More importantly, it is the initiator of energy, also known as emotion.
Energy charged from emotion is the force that generates movement that results in what we call life experience. All stories, beliefs, ideas, opinions are felt and expressed through emotion first before they become what we know as reality.
So, what does it mean to have mental dystopia? And why are so many vulnerable to it?
With the rise of anxiety and depression, the world and our environment are quickly becoming our foe.
Fear of the unknown and the unfamiliar is considered a normal emotion. Everyone has felt nervous, anxious, and even panicked at some time. It is when we remain there for long periods of time that it can become crippling. Trying to be happy or look for the light in something you no longer recognize is tiresome. A place where you no longer have dreams nor care for them. There is no motivation to be, do or have anything. A loss of faith, belief, and zest for life. A sort of flat lining of emotions where there are no significant highs, or lows – just a yearning for rest and relief.
However, not a single negative emotion is normal. Not one. Not even a little bit. They are physical human characteristics felt when we disconnect from our highest self. It is internal conflict when our minds are not in alignment with the harmony, balance, and divinity of our inner being. It shows up when we search for validation, inclusion, and acceptance from others. When we allow our environment to define us. When we remain stagnant and artificial for the appeasement of those around us. It is abandoning our power where all the marvel and magic happens.
Our normal state of being is joy and when we linger in the emotional energy that disconnects us from joy, it feels bad. When we think in opposition to the brilliance that we are, and we believe things in opposition to the light and love that abounds, it will always feel ‘bad’. It is one of our greatest senses. It is our best indicator that we are behaving, thinking, and believing adversely to our greater knowing. It is resisting the flow of pure exhilaration and positive energy.
When we study the causes of mental dystopia, we tend to blame it on genetics, or external and environmental factors such as psychological trauma, abuse, or inherited susceptibility. And whilst they do play a role in how we view our world; they can often become our crutch for what is going on up in our noggin, for the way we feel, and for our behavior and choices in life.
It is typically easier to fall on blame. Partially because we do not want to be responsible for our misgivings. Partially because we enjoy the positive attention we receive from negative circumstances. But mostly because we are genuinely unaware of our own creative control.
When our internal compass has been tampered with and stuffed with doubt, we forget how to use it. We fight hard to be the best we can be for everyone but ourselves. We do this by making it more important to be liked/loved by ‘them’. More important to be accepted, embraced, and appreciated by ‘them’. More important to soothe ‘their’ fears than to experience our greatest heights. More important to be all that ‘they’ want us to be than to revel in our own authenticity.
Unfortunately, all these merely aim to mute the extraordinaire within us. Such silencing and self-suppression is felt as deep sadness. Consequently, prolonged denial of self induces depression.
Regardless of our upbringing or privileged lifestyles, none of us are immune to it. Though not always to our advantage, we do find alternative routes which allow us to temporarily escape, silence, or alter our minds. We tend to believe it is our way of escaping the world’s problems. However, the world’s problems only exist to the extent we allow our minds to marinate in them.
In our desperate attempt to find escapism we typically turn to alcohol, drugs and even suicide. Ultimately, we are finding the path of least resistance. The shortcut to fast soothing. Due to this, we realize many alternate paths are only temporary before developing toxic addictive behavior. However, never truly feeling ‘safe’ in our environment is not relative to physical security. It is the search for emotional balance and psychological refuge.
Whilst pills may temporarily numb our focus or ability to think about anything intensely, it cannot prevent creativity. It cannot stop our thinking. It cannot change the way we perceive the world.
We may believe our choice of escapism is a relief from this physical world deprived of good. However, in truth, we are retracting from self-sabotage. We are releasing negative dialogues and letting go of thoughts that cause dehydration of joy. When our minds suppress and deny the physical body of a heightened best quality of life, it will crave relief.
It can at times be easier said than done. As creative beings, the smorgasbord of creative choices in conjunction with external influences can be distracting. We love to dip our feet into challenges and contrasts as much as we relish our blessings. We enjoy pushing our own limits and boundaries because they bring us purpose and fresh ideas.
However, it really is as simple as deciding on a thought that feels better over a thought that feels bad. We have the power and control to view the world in any way we desire. We have the choice to focus on our blessings or misgivings. We have the option to dwell in appreciation or animosity. We can approach things with humor or haste. We can fixate on abundance or lack. In fact, we are so free in choosing our thoughts, we could choose to be imprisoned by the worst of them.
Ultimately, nothing is real. All of it is make-believe. We make it up as we go along choice by choice by choice. We practice it to perfection. We make up the rules, the rights and wrongs, the parameters and the chorological order in which things should transpire. We decide what, when and how personally, professionally, culturally, religiously, and even universally. We create the labels, and the rules and then live within the confinements of them. We practice, share, and live by these fantasies until they become our norm. Or, until a new generation comes along and mixes it all up.
The irony is we are our minds. We are the imaginers and creators of our experiences. We are the visionaries, artists, architects, sculptors, authors, and inventors in this matrix we refer to as life. We are the thinkers of our thoughts. We are the creators of our ideas and stories through a perpetual engineering of opinions that are filtered through our senses. We decide how to interpret and manipulate every detail in life. Through this we are thereby weaving our own masterpieces whilst collectively stimulating emotional energy.
We are the summoners of life. We attract like thoughts by where we give our undivided attention to. Thus, we extract specific people, places, and things that simulate and reinforce our beliefs.
Everything yearns for our attention. Attention to anything gives it more energy, more life. The only question is, does it serve our interest?
This physical life is the vessel that creates matter. It is through our stories that we decide what is important to us. Without stories, opinions, and beliefs there is no friction, passion, or desire. Without this energized force generated through emotions there is no movement, or expansion.
The fun of this is we are all in this together. We are all a little or a lot insane, but nevertheless, insane. If we could hold ourselves physically, mentally, and emotionally in a place that causes anxiety, fear, angst, and depression, then we are in fact a little crazy. The belief that there is already a fixed future out there and we need to hope it is a good one or prepare for a rough journey is also a little foolish. However, no matter what wild ride we have individually chosen to be on, we are all going to be okay.
To maintain a balanced and more positive life experience with a little less nutty and a lot more sugar and spicy, here are some suggestions.
Allowing
Being mindful of what and who we allow into our lives is important. A large part of our experiences is by virtue of allowing. Nothing can insert itself, its ideologies, and opinions upon us without our approval of them. There is nothing that can offend, hurt, or manipulate any part of our life unless we permit it. Allowing is agreeing with. It is also believing in and more importantly, inviting and expecting.
Meditation
This assists in slowing down thought by reducing external stimulation. It is reconnecting with self where all the truth lies. The truth about our brilliance. The truth about our complexities and resiliency. Unifying the mind, body, and spirit frequently raises a powerful awareness of self that when awakened evokes alchemy.
Nature
It is no new news to encourage you to go outside. Go for a walk, swim, or bike. Roam through meadows or hike into the mountains. Go barefoot along a beach or lie on the grass and look up at the sky. Whatever your preference nature absorbs much of our roaming thoughts. It soothes our erratic energy. It connects us to balance and fluidity. It assists in letting go of resistance.
Focus
Be careful with where you give your undivided attention to. That which you focus on intently will become that which you believe and know to be true. And then so it must be. You will always receive more of that which you continue to generate energy on. Therefore, devote your thinking time to things that bring you peace and joy. Focus intently on what you want. Daydream about how good it would feel when your dreams come to fruition. Imagine your path easy until you practice it so much you cannot recognize your life without ease.
Letting go
Releasing resistance, trusting the flow, and enjoying the ride is not an easy task. Trust is an issue for us, but it will never be worse than the torture we put ourselves through. Nothing is ever conspiring against us. Letting go of past experiences, burdens, personal judgments, and criticisms will only make room for new seeds to flourish. Letting go of negative beliefs, self-doubts, and even our need to be validated by others will liberate our inner being.
Gratitude
Pointing out the things that bring you joy, fulfilment, peace, love etc. is a way of bringing those things to the forefront of your life. It is also a way of spotlighting and being attentive to things that matter and those things that essentially benefit you. Appreciating is the supreme antidote or kryptonite for mental sabotage. Because, when you can even appreciate the ability to create disorder, you have inadvertently disempowered the disorder.
Joy in creation
When you can hold yourself in alignment with your own inner power and know that at any time you can turn on or switch off whatever pleases or displeases you, then you understand the art of creation. And you will no longer be held hostage by your mind. For you will come to a revelation that your mind is not separate from you or even part of you.
Your mind IS you.
It is the construction, deconstruction and experience of self. You are the masterful creator and receiver of your experiences. You are the decider of how you will feel moment by moment. You are the perceiver that influences how you absorb your world. You are the deliberate chooser and instigator of your thoughts.
And it is ok to feel bad at times for when we finally feel good, it feels really, really, good! Because even a cloudy day helps us appreciate the sun a little more. The darkness helps us appreciate the light. Chaos makes us crave more peace. Division makes us yearn for unity.
And that which we view as ‘bad’ only serves to make us seek out the good.
It is the ebb and flow of life that brings an extraordinary, inconceivable expansion.
It is magic. And all created through an unfathomable human capacity called the mind. That which carries an insurmountable force to take us on a wild, high adrenaline ride of dysfunction and yet just as swiftly, transports us into the climactic adventure of utopia.