Estimated reading time: 4 min.
Dear reader,
Welcome back to Guiding Words.
In the previous lesson, we defined the nature of freedom as an unbounded curiosity to explore the territories beyond our chains and concluded that true freedom is achieved when one has freed itself even from the desire of being free.
In a world sold on meritocracy, it’s increasingly easy to feel our own mediocrity. That’s the reason why, in this lesson, we will talk about the dangers of being impressionable.
What does it mean to be impressionable, and why is it dangerous?
The Oxford Dictionary defines impressionable as:
A person easily influenced or affected by somebody or something.
Let’s hear some Words of Art on the reason why letting oneself be impressed is, at the very least, unreasonable:
Don’t be amazed by what you have not achieved or acquired.
Don’t let yourself be impressed so easily.
Who you are not and what you have not are paths of life that you have not walked. To become something you are not, you must be willing to let go of everything that you are. But even if you do, your new self will be as familiar to itself as your current self is to you, thus you will not have gained anything.
It is only something which is not that can be impressed by something which it’s not, but as soon as it becomes, the feeling disappears.
Recognize the beauty in the world but do not stain it with the judgment of the ego.
In our modern age, social media has blurred the line between reality and fiction. People seem to have forgotten that everything that is seen through a screen can be, at worse, completely fake, at best only partially true. Even the best camera in the world can never take a picture of the entire context behind a story. The ability to edit the reality that is projected on a screen is much greater than the ability to edit the reality that is lived behind it.
Humans are inherently social creatures and the network that holds social systems together is communication. However, since we cannot read each other’s minds, our communication will always be limited and flawed. In the words of the author Bernard Werber:
Between what I think, what I want to say,
What I believe I say, what I say,
What you want to hear, what you believe to hear, what you hear,
What you want to understand, what you think you understand, what you understand...
There are ten possibilities that we might have some problem communicating.
But let's try anyway...
Therefore, every time you look at something whose purpose is to entertain you or provide information, basically communicate something – and that is pretty much everything these days –, always put on your skeptic hat so you can insulate your brain from outside influences, interference, manipulation, and mind control.
When the ego is impressionable, it is easily influenced, shaped, molded, swayed by the world around it. It is more than the average, prone to comparison, envy, self-criticism, self-doubt etc. Being impressionable is like being the captain of a ship and surrendering the helm to the movements of the wind and the waves. It is the most dangerous way of letting go.
Thus, learn to take everything with a grain of salt because you never know if the grass on the other side is greener because it is natural or artificial.
This concludes our lesson on the dangers of being impressionable. In the next lesson, we will learn why letting go is the only way to keep going.
See you in three days and until then, may Serenity be upon you.
Didi
Question: After reading this lesson, can you think of something that impressed you in the past and that doesn’t impress you anymore and why?
Reply with a yes or no and feel free to go beyond two or three characters.
P.S.: I am trying to find the right words to convey my thoughts in a language that is not mine, so please pardon my mistakes and feel free to reply with any suggestions and/or corrections that can make this reading experience more enjoyable.
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