I too, have been dumbed down.

I shudder at how unbelievably dumbed down I have gotten over the past few years. The sad part is, I know better. But still how disappointing to a guy who has prided himself on his mental intelligence, and his ability to effectively and objectively discern situations, customs, and ideals even when they go against the general grain of masses and conventional wisdom.

I used to have a love affair with knowledge and wisdom. Understanding was my pot of gold. I searched for it. I mined for it. I looked at my life experiences and the experiences of others. I sought to learn from them. I sought to understand the world so that I can understand myself and others. I prided myself on being a free spirit and a free thinker; detached from social, political biases and able to critically and objectively think. Being in touch with myself emotionally and mentally, taking care of my physical being.. I was a happy guy because I didn't care about certain things that the rest of society does.Through it all, I would learn to make informed decisions and encourage others. I valued natural inner peace and wellness. And I believed that in this contemporary world, these values were achievable and once achieved, very valuable.

Lately however, I've gotten caught up in the external, vain matters of living such as elements of pop culture, sports fanaticism, pointless arguments, political banter, and what I consider to be the poison of ideology. Whether its watching too much TV, or spending too much time being unproductive on the internet, as a result I am less open, less creative, less expressive and thus have become more deficient in my ability to critically think, explore and discover. All of this had led to an overall lack of production, inner peace and production. Those of you who have read my blog for some time have probably noticed that I don't post nearly as much as I used to (And if you haven't, look at the number or posts by the year on the right side of the screen). Its not that I have neglected my blog, or posting. But I have been lacking in ideas, in inspiration, in experience. This has all been a direct affect of my decreasing awareness and understanding.

I have this week discovered that its easy to slip. You slip when you think you have it. You slip when you think you have achieved consciousness, and when you think you know automatically what and how to go about things. For me, all things in life need the due diligence of processing, discerning, and openness to what is. I enjoy life that way, and I feel I grow much more as my own man that way.

That's not to say that sports, mainstream entertainment and pop culture, small talk, and the like don't have its place. To me, this vanity is no more or less harmful than a soda or a doughnut.. or since I'm eating a cookie right now, a cookie. Not so bad as long as its in perspective and moderation. But when I overindulge on it, then its poison that can really adverse affect my health. I enjoy certain aspects of those things and its only right that I remain open to them just as anything else. When kept in proper perspective, they add a lot. The problem becomes when I find myself to be less productive because my time, my mind, my body, and my energy has settled into a place where I rely on these things to sustain me.

So the time is now to replenish myself. I've taken steps to remove or severely limit certain things that I was allowing to take my time and energy. Time to refocus on wellness, creativity, critical thinking, solution finding, and overall general production. Its what I do best. And if you read my post from a couple weeks ago, I believe in playing to my strengths!