I had some fun Spirit Mind insights today.
This morning I was watching the ad for Apple's new provision. It's like a headset that you can wear and then see the 3-D version of your computer and apps around you. And as I was watching it, my Material Mind was noticing, "Wow, that person is in this beautiful living room, relaxed on their couch while they're working," and "This person's in their office and it's so big and bright and beautiful." And I just thought "I'm jealous," but not in a heavy way. More like, "Oh, I'm jealous. I wanna have a beautiful room like that and an office like that." And I was really enjoying it, and I was noticing from Spirit Mind, "Oh, my Material Mind's really enjoying the comparison, comparing that I have a small living room to their big living room. I have a small office to their big office." And I was really having fun, noticing the comparison there.
And then also noticing from Spirit Mind that these aren't real scenarios. This is marketing, of course, they're in beautiful environments. It's an Apple commercial, and it's not real. They're selling an experience rather than a real thing. I'm not buying a house and an office, they're trying to sell me a pair of augmented reality headsets next year. Anyway, this is kind of a preview video, so really fun. Later I was watching TV after work. Sometimes I like to tune in and watch the Queer Eye makeovers. It's just really fun. In the end, the person they did the makeover for, was kind of feeling down on themselves and having low self-esteem, afterward, they showed a slow-motion video of them dancing and just partying and smiling and super confident looking.
The Material Mind was like, "Wow, oh, I'm not out dancing, living up life with my friends, having that amazing moment." I was just kind of laughing from a Spirit Mind perspective - how seductive these ads are to the Material Mind. They are in slow motion, and people look like they're having a fantastic time, and that's very exciting for the Material Mind to say, "Oh, I don't have that right now. I want to have that experience." And then to look for whatever it is you're supposed to buy or have to make that experience.
But as I was laughing about it, I was thinking about the experience that I'm seeing. What's really exciting that I see in these people in these ads is they're present at the moment, and they're enjoying life. They're not worried about the future or thinking about some past. They're free and they're really free and in the moment. And that's the excitement there. And, right away, I flashed onto just last week when I and a friend were up in Crews Awa, which is a little mountain town, and it's just these small roads back in this beautiful forest. And we were walking our dogs. Every time we go there and we're out on those roads, I just feel so expanded and free. I just feel totally present in the moment. All my worries go away, and any thoughts for the future or work or anything, it's all gone. I really love walking in those forests. And I thought I had that experience - the one I see on TV as a beautiful object or room or with these friends and so on in my life that shows up as beautiful moments with my family or by myself. And that's okay. That's great that I have it my way.
I remembered that it wasn't that long ago when a few years ago, I would see something like that, and then my Material Mind would get worked up, get excited about something and about the comparison and wanting to motivate me to create more or make more money so I can have these beautiful experiences that they're advertising. And I would have both. I'd have the motivation, the Material Mind motivation to go make more, but I also have this kind of recurring sense that I didn't have enough. I haven't created that multimillion-dollar house yet, or I haven't, I don't have that group of close friends where we go out and laugh and have this joyous time all the time. And that would kind of get under my skin or get into my Material Mind and circulate. There's some sort of lack from this comparison.
Although at any of those times that I was experiencing that if I could really step back from Spirit Mind and look at my life, my life's fantastic. I've done a great job of creating the things that I actually enjoy, and I've been very blessed in life. But when the Material Mind gets into comparison mode and sees these beautiful ads, it's easy to forget that and lose that space. So I just wanted to share how exciting the Material Mind is and how easy it is for smart marketing people to get our Material Mind excited and wanting more. And of course, when our Spirit Mind is active, how easy it can be for us to notice when that's happening. Notice it just from joy and amusement and a fun space. And to also realize, "oh, I have those amazing experiences or that kind of emotion that they're selling, but I have it in my own way. And that is great."
