Psychological Gravity

There are the laws of physics, and then there are the laws that bind us psychologically. Akin to a gravitational field, humans operate within psychological forcefields that orchestrate our various internal states. 

We are so accustomed to being enacted upon by our forcefields, that it is impossible to determine where the forcefield ends and reality begins. This whole process eludes us because it FEELS like we are crafting very real thoughts and feelings about the present circumstances. 


In many ways, what I've just described has historically been labeled workings of the unconscious mind. Only now, I hope to distill this nebulous experience into its most basic processes. 

We, of course, have to begin at the ground floor. There are instinctive ways we experience life that are genetic and innately human. I consider this the basic framework for the unconscious mind. 

From here we begin weaving a map of the world centered around how we feel within it. When we experience a distinct emotional state, such as fear and shame, we take a mental snapshot of any observable conditions at that moment. 

Before long, we will have assigned emotional meaning to most of life. We are now presented with a situation and instantaneously collapse into its associated internal state. This includes old thoughts and feelings. 

For survival, this feature of the mind has incomprehensibly aided humanity. It allows adaptation to environments as well as relationships. I just can't do justice to how significant it is.  

The irony is how this same process contributes to so much of human suffering. It is easy to see how the constant recall of a traumatic internal state, when faced with associated conditions, can cause mental debilitation. Even more debilitating, is how often our own bodies become a condition for painful recall.

This function of the human mind is also how we "create our own reality." We are constantly imposing old stories on life, while the truth of that moment evades us. 

Fortunately, we can cultivate an ability to show up for life as it is, and not as it was. I personally untether myself with the simple practice of asking, "Where did this emotion originate?". Once I've localized it in my brain, it is as though it becomes less believable to me. I'm less able to project it onto my current situation.

This process has also provided a new perspective on happiness. I'm beginning to wonder if happiness is just mental freedom from these endless cycles. 

"If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite." 

- William Blake

- Samsara