I have experienced a place in which I think that I have moved outside the box, only to find myself in a different box. In a way, this validates my theory that the box exists nowhere but within our minds and is designed to keep us from becoming who we really are.
So, say you are in the box, you have become aware of your surroundings, and decide that you want to get out. You yearn for a mechanism to free you from the repressive, restrictive, suffocating, disempowering experience that you are living practically everyday. As you look about, you see opportunities to earn a good income, and perhaps become financially independent, with multiple streams of passive or residual income. So, you decide to take advantage of one of them.
You have jumped out of a nine-to-five box and into something new. To someone who is unaware, this is new opportunity, this freedom does not appear to be a box at all. I would like to submit that, indeed, this is another box. It is one that is more insidious than the nine-to-five type, because most people who see it will not recognize it as a box. Certainly those within it will tell you that they are not in the box at all, rather, they are outside the box, enjoying freedoms that they did not have in their previous experience. However, if you allow yourself to be open enough, and you are able to be who you really are, it eventually becomes clear that this non-nine-to-five arrangement is indeed a box, only it has more flexible walls. This new container offers a very nice, unobstructed, front-row view of the box you previously inhabited so, you know that you have escaped the first box. What is not clear is that you are viewing the old box from the comfort of a new one.
The fact that this box is not as rigid as the previous one is, without doubt, a positive thing. For example: you are your own boss, your schedule is as flexible as you create it to be, and there are opportunities to create passive income streams. However, you still have to “fit in” to the norms of this culture and society that is new to you.
Truly being free of the box – all boxes – means being who one is, and not allowing oneself to be influenced by either the norms acceptable to society, or cultural restrictions and constraints. One must be open to positive opportunities that are not yet visible and may not yet be imaginable. This way of being requires a certain gentleness, patience, and confidence that events are being orchestrated on levels that one is neither in control of, nor is privy to. Some call this presence or a state of “being”.
An example of the embodiment of this way of being is Mother Theresa, who created positive change, and whose accomplishments far exceeded anyone’s expectations, even her own. Albert Einstein is another example of a person who didn’t fit into any box whatsoever, and who forever changed our experience of the world around us. Opportunities opened for these two people because, to a great degree, they did not deny or repress themselves. Were these two beings perfect? Not any more than you or I. They were human, had trauma, and each may have made some questionable choices, but, overall, they lived in ways that were unique and which allowed them to positively affect the way future generations perceive reality.
A question that has been challenging me here in Gotham in relation to being is: “how does one be, but not do?” As my time here has passed, it has occurred to me that there is a distinction to be made between ‘doing’ and ‘conscious action’, which is a facet of being. There is a felt sense that can be used to distinguish between the two. In this context, ‘doing’ is clearly driven by, and is a reaction to fear and trauma. For example, “I am looking for a job because I’m afraid that I’ll run out of money and then I don’t know what I’ll do”. ‘Conscious action’ is not driven at all, but rather is created, informed, and supported by being: “I know my calling is to work with creating viable solutions to disease and poverty in the third world. So, I feel I should check Jeffery Sach’s Earth Institute’s website. If I search other sites, I am only going to look at any sites that support who I am here”.
One can see that the first example above is more linear and rigid; in essence, it has a more masculine quality. The second example is more creative and flexible; it is more feminine in nature. I should point out here that, in some cases, the most creative, conscious action may be something entirely removed from looking at websites, job listings or the organizations of big name players in a particular field. It is the supple nature of being and conscious action that allows them to create and allow solutions that are beyond convention.
It is important to be cognizant of the fact that if one is not present, the box is. If I am not present, if I am in reaction to fear and trauma, and if I am ‘doing’, chances are that I will end up in one box or another. If, however, I am present, gentle and patient, and choose ‘conscious action’, I will allow experiences to unfold that are unique, surprising, extraordinary and highly rewarding on many levels.