Receptivity
From this honorable state of acceptance of both sides, we eventually are faced with the decision to act upon one or the other. This is where our receptivity to choosing one over the other is enacted - we pick Side 1 for reason a,b or c and another will choose Side 2 for reason x,y or z. We act upon our own receptivity towards that which we are given opinions on (or even facts).What is this personal receptivity and where does it come from? Why is one person prone to accept one side of a situation while another of us will not accept that side because they are more receptive to the flip side - we vote for one of two parties, we choose one brand over another, we pick one thing over another because of our receptiveness - there is something innate that pulls us in one direction over another. We do not all agree with sameness.
Is receptivity a learned process, an indoctrination from family, relatives, friends... from teachers, from employers or employees... or connecting to advertising? Is receptivity our need to rely upon our intuition? Perhaps a combination of all these things, receptivity is a driving force within us that draws us all towards one thing, one principle, one idea over another when we are given the chance to choose between them. Receptivity appears to be our individuality grasping that which it relates to - we are drawn to another, be it person, thing or idea. Our 'receptors' drawing us towards those that share our own perceptions, those things we feel comfortable with, those places we feel safe in, those mysteries we need to know. Perception in conjunction with reception is a powerful force within us that can be equated with our survival instinct, and survival is what we all do consciously or not.
Survival is not a mind skill for all life survives. The weed growing up thru the asphalt of an alleyway, relying on rain gutters to provide enough water to put on new growth is surviving. No mind required. Our heart continues to beat, our lungs continue to inhale/exhale without our consent, even if we wish we were dead. No mind required.
But when our bodies get enough nourishment, enough to sustain us, receptivity also flourishes. We become... we belong. Belonging through our longing to connect with that which is within us. We no longer live alone and lonely for attachment, our lives take on meaning and direction. It needn't be the physical presence of another for we can draw off the words of another, as we would draw off the energy gained by eating a bowl of rice, a slice of watermelon or even a walk along a park. There is no logical reason why we are receptive to certain things over hundreds of other things, ideas, comments, songs, books, movies, paintings, even destinations we might take in our heads - living on the peaceful shores of a secluded island. Why that one island looms in our mind over a peaceful shore of another island?
These choices aren't really choices, per se, but rather quantities amongst the one that we are. We are receptive to that which we are, even if that 'are' is temporal. We change. But during the process of change, we become one thing then another and another. Mostly subtle but sometimes radical changes. Through becoming all these accumulated things, the experience changes us into but yet something new... but that newness is our own perception. Our family, our friends, our associates see us not so differently, but what is inside us - that is what is new.
Revitalizing our being, we grow as life must. Each change another door opened until, if life provides, all barriers dissolve - absolute receptivity floods our consciousness. We have returned to that which we have always been.
Cecil
16 July 2006
and my friend brought over a bottle of Absolut vodka and I had some vermouth and we were gonna make martinis so guess what we used? .... cherries! Fresh cherries! The martini's were delicious! Cherry martinis! who woulda thought!
