Freedom of The Mind

“I know but one freedom and that is the freedom of the mind.” ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The mind is an amazing thing – different from the brain, the mind is that seat of consciousness that can either contain our individual sense of ego-self, or the collective experience of all of us. Or both. Simultaneously

In his book Wisdom 2.0: Ancient Secrets for the Creative and Constantly Connected, Soren Gordhamer explores a concept he calls cup/ocean mind.

The mind, he explains, can be like a cup or the ocean. When you place a drop of blue dye in a cup, the entire contents may change color, whereas when you place that same drop in the ocean, it barely has an impact.

If we focus on the cup model – a whole lot of things can affect us. A story on the Today Show can set the tone for the whole day. Or dwelling on something said or did to us previously in the week – any of those things can color our experience and create a negative filter through which all new experience is viewed. Like tea, it takes a while refilling the cup for the coloring to become dissipated enough that it no longer effects us.

In the Ocean model, we have the possibility of letting the same experience in, but rather than identifying how whatever it is just effects me, we can step back and look at the whole of things – recognizing that whatever has happened is just a drop of food coloring in the ocean of experience. It won’t change the nature of the sea.

Many of us spend much of our time at the cup level – what’s in it for me? Or, “it’s all about me…” and we really don’t recognize the power of mind to connect us with everyone and everything else. Many people are in pain and anxiety and the ocean level allows us to share in that – to be empathetic to a powerful degree, but many people are also filled with joy – and the ocean level allows us to access that joy and enthusiasm – to make it a part of ourselves, and again to empathize in wonderful ways.

Our own thoughts and feelings affect our minds in similar ways. These challenges can completely consume us and alter our entire experience of a given day; or, if we create an ocean of mental space, they can be a part of our experience that we can notice, sit with, and then release. No one is suggesting we deny our feelings, but we can take much more control in how we manage them so that we don’t feel so overwhelmed.

We can allow anger from the morning to snowball in the afternoon and evening, or we can recognize it, feel it, then let it go. We can obsess over everything we think we did wrong or want to do differently, or we can recognize the stress and worry, move beyond them, and then decide to see things from a different angle.

Today if your mind gets overwhelming, ask yourself: What can I do to create some space? Then do it: Take a walk, practice deep breathing, or simply sit in stillness.

We are always going to think and feel. There is no escape from the mind. Whether or not it’s a prison is entirely up to us. The keys to our freedom are within. There's no need to check under the couch cushions.

I’ve always loved the quote, “Prison is a state of mind, not an address…”