Mar 19, 2009

Red Pill Moment

The Matrix
To anyone who watched The Matrix, taking the red pill is the defining moment when Neo shed-off the layer of false perception to reveal the truth about himself and the universe around him...and there was no turning back. Since that movie, I've referred to the red pill if at a crossroad between status quo and a higher truth (not to be confused with absolute truth. Honestly, I don't think such a thing exists. To the extent it exists, it's probably unknowable, or if knowable, it's incomprehensible...but I'm digressing here).

Life-Altering Moments
While the red pill started out as something that made for a good movie, further mindful dabbling into the concept resulted in far reaching ramifications. Initially, I reserved it for life-altering moments where a difficult choice has to be made - choice to forfeit the impending change and keep things they way they are, or take the red pill and plunge into a free fall in full surrender to a resolve that making the right decision is its own imperative...or lets call it a higher truth for simplicity. That was proven true after my Burning Man experience when I chose to get fired instead of succumbing to a system I deemed inefficient and thus unacceptable. I can only say that good things happened after that.

Everyday Red Pill
Lately however, as I get more familiar with this thought (as I can't contain my mind from wandering), more of it becomes clear. Red Pill moments are not exclusive to life-altering junctions. Actually, they happen many times within the day, in ways too familiar to be noticeable. Interestingly enough, they also define how high or how low our ceiling is.

Redefinition of Self
So, what are these red pill moments? It could be as mundane as deciding what to do with a piece of small trash. It's tempting to just litter it away specially when nobody's looking (like what's normally done). Or take the red pill and keep the trash with you until you can dispose of it properly. On the surface, it's about carrying the piece of trash. But if I look at my own insignificance in the backdrop of a bigger picture, it really is a redefining moment. How?

A Package Deal
If I choose to litter, then I stay where I am...keeping the status quo. Whatever ceiling I have, remains there. If I don't do anything else by way of self improvement, it's where I spend the rest of my life in. However, by mindfully keeping the trash until I can dispose of it properly, that's choosing to be decent. If I used to be a litterbug but chose decency this time, I essentially break through my lowest ceiling. That's big. And decency doesn't come as a piecemeal item, but as a package. With that experiential memory, it becomes easier to swallow the next red pill.

More Red Pill Moments
If I look around deliberately enough, I get inundated by red pill moments - not to counter-flow in traffic, not to cheat on an exam, pay a debt, being on time, delivering what I promised, etc. The good act cascades and produces its own domino effect. Keep doing that and over time, a person morphs into an improved version of his old self. It's not readily noticeable, but other people somehow get a sense of the positive change.

Water Finding Its Own Level
With new paradigm, changes inevitably happen in compliance to the new resonance. The changes may even be uncomfortable or downright nasty, but these things need to happen first to accommodate the better things already lined up. You may find the need to change jobs, move to a new home, break up with a loved one, increasingly be drawn to a new crowd, take interest in new endeavors, etc. What used to work before may no longer work now. This is what I call the clutter clearing process because you have to give up a few things that no longer resonate, to make room for new things. This is perhaps the more difficult part...giving up what's already comfortable to something unknown and untested. You're like water finding its new level....and every time you take the red pill, you consequently define a new level. Little by little, life reveals more of itself. And little by little, you get it...as in, YOU GET IT.

Dropping the Ball
Of course, during moments of weakness, it's easy to fall off the wagon. Hey, shit happens. But it gets easier to get back on course...no biggie.

Ending Thoughts
We generally respond to what's around us...being reactive. But it doesn't always have to be that way. By mindfully taking the red pill, we redefine our reality as well. We become better versions of our old selves and we invite the better things in life within our space. Consciousness creates our reality (and not the other way around).

--- Gigit (TheLoneRider)
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