Labels

i woke up this morning with that word running through my mind. "labels".

we as a society, as a world, have labels for just about everything, don't we. we most especially like to use labels when defining people and behavior.

"hey, he cut me off in traffic. he's an idiot!"

"she cheated on me. she's a liar!"

"my landlord raised my rent. he's a greedy bastard!" (used that one yesterday myself.)

yep, it's something we all do. however, accepting that isn't good enough for me. i want to know WHY we label people. at the very least, i want to know why i do it.

i think i have the answer. or at least an answer. i'll take my own example above--the comment about my landlord. it is true, he recently raised our rent. and as a result, i walked around yesterday, fuming, calling him a greedy bastard (and other choice words) both to myself and to others.

as i thought about this, i thought ok is he really a greedy bastard? i don't know why he raised the rent. while i find it unfair and am understandably frustrated that my income isn't going up to match the cost of other rising life expenses, is there something else going on inside of me that keeps me in this state of anger, labeling people whose behaviors i don't like?

the more i thought about this, the deeper i dove into the depths of my heart and my feeling place, i realized that i simply feel sad. overwhelmingly sad. i know life can be different. i know there is no need for greed. no need for poverty or suffering. i know there is no need for housing to be too expensive for so many. i know there is "enough" for everyone.

when you know life can be different...when you know it in your bones...when you no longer buy into the mantra "that's just how things are", something happens to you. you wake up to the illusion you've been living. that is when disillusionment sets in. and it's not a pleasant place. it feels heavy. the energies of despair and apathy permeate. some days it seems as though all i am capable of doing is watching the sky, my heart feeling so very heavy, while shaking my head now and then as i wonder "why?" over and over again.

maybe it's time we begin to explore our anger and the labels we so quickly slap onto people and situations when we are angry. there's something deeper beneath. there's a truth waiting to be explored. your own unique truth. my own unique truth. it's a scary place to venture to and i cannot guarantee it won't be without pain. a lot of pain. but there's also a sense of empowerment when you awaken to a truth. and awake, we can accomplish a lot more than if we were to remain asleep.

your anger is telling you something. take the time and listen to it.

nina