The Spiritual Life: A Column by Jacques Fleury, The Haitian Firefly
[Jacques Fleury is a local writer and author living in Cambridge. For story ideas or comments, contact him at: haitianfirefly@gmail.com!]
In my previous article, I talked about New Year resolutions and how that they are sometimes unrealistic. The particular resolution I addressed was taking better care of our bodies by learning to accept our bodies in its present condition before we can aspire to make it better. I know that in America the phrase “I am trying to loose weight” is quite literally an American mantra. However, our bodies are just one of the sums of our parts. It is imperative that we also focus on the other components like our mind. In an age when we are drowning in neo-technological novelties like the cell phone, the ipod and the internet, we often find ourselves completely distracted and overwhelmed by things supposedly designed to make our lives easier. However, we often find that these supposed “must haves” tend to complicate matters, not simplify them. One of the other intrusive and persistent distractions our mind must also contend with is mind-numbing reality TV. Now I won’t be a hypocrite and tell you that I have miraculously prevailed over these things and have been able to nurture my mind with more productive and intellectually interactive pursuits like reading and writing. I too struggle with the age of over abundance of technology and reality TV. I too have found myself watching way too many episodes of “American Idol” or “America’s Next Top Model.” So I know first hand of which I speak, as usual.
It is not enough to acknowledge these great hinderers of mindful adventures, we must find a way to overcome our tendencies to succumb to technological fads and resort back, to some extent, the way things were before all the aforementioned technological pandemonium.
Remember back in the day when families used to talk to each other during family dinners? Also listening to the radio before the invention of Television? Or dare I say it, read a book before seeing the movie?
Nowadays, because of the influx of books being translated on the big screen, it seems like some people, whom were once avid readers, have succumbed to going to the movies or just renting the DVD and this HAS to stop!
We must be “mindful” of what we are feeding our minds. It has been said that we are only using ten percent of our brain capacity. I find this particular fact utterly astounding. We as human beings apparently have more productive potential then we actually realize. We live in a country where freethinking is encouraged and nurtured. I use the word “free” here in a relative sense because as we all probably know by now, in this our America, freedom often co-exists with oppression.
In America freedom often co-exists with limitation. But essentially, we have less repercussions for exercising our freedom here than any where else in the entire world and for that I am grateful. The freedom to think freely in this country is often taken for granted. For example, I come from Haiti; a country known for its fervent opposition to free thinking; a country that often douse the sparks of critical thinking before they have time to bloom to a full pledged fire.
In school, I was never thought to exercise my mind using the ideology of critical thinking. I was thought to regurgitate what was dictated to me. I was assigned lessons that commended blatant memorization of pages and pages of text to recite in front of my teacher the next day. I was never encouraged to analyze or conceptualize the ideas of the author using my own thought process. I was simply expected to accept them as the truth of which I had to build my life around. I never learned about critical thinking until I attended college here in America. As a matter of fact, critical thinking was a graduation requirement and I took to it like a thirsty man to water. This brings me back to my point regarding making more use of our minds as freethinking Americans.
There are so many ways to enrich our minds other than strictly acquiescing to technological worship; things that will promote more critical thinking through active learning instead of yielding to passive learning through the mind numbing garbage we are often fed while scrutinizing the tube.
We still have the theatre, book clubs, sports clubs, activism, visiting friends, discussing current events, reading the paper, going for walks, escaping the city to explore and meditate in the wonders of nature, attending live performances of poetry, spoken word and music, talking to each other during family dinners, learning to enjoy each other’s company without the use of technology or reality TV.
You must diligently try to learn to enjoy the freedom to think you have been privileged to have in this our America. Take some time to think versus having someone else do the thinking for you. Your mind will thank you for it!
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