EPISODE 714: SEARCHING FOR THE GROUND
POP CULTURE SPIRIT WOW
I don’t know how to write this episode. This isn’t a political newsletter. But at the same time this last week was like suddenly discovering the bus you were on was actually the first stage of a roller coaster, and one that seems like to get so much worse.
I’m so angry that I continue to live in a country where a party that is not even in power right now continues to find ways to cheat the system and call the shots. It’s like they’re not even interested in democracy, or the lives of anyone that doesn’t think like them. I don’t know. I find it so bleak. How do I write about, I don’t know, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, in the face of that?
So I don’t think I will. It just seems disrespectful of the pain so many people are in right now.
Instead, I’m going to offer a tiny semi-spiritual exercise that you might try. (It’s really simple.) Then I’ll put a couple pop culture article links at the bottom that you might find interesting, and we’ll leave it there.
Here’s the exercise.
Pick a place that brings you pleasure, and go there. If you have a garden, or a screened in porch, someplace connected to the broader world, I highly recommend that.
Sit yourself down. Get comfortable.
Close your eyes and take some long, deep breaths. This isn’t about how long you can hold your breath, though. It’s just about savoring that sensation of breathing. The rise and fall of your chest. The sense of drinking in some oxygen. Just give yourself a little time to enjoy that.
You might even put the palms of your hands together and place them over your heart as you do this. Sometimes I find that helps me focus.
After you’ve done that for a good three to five minutes—set a timer if you want—start to pay attention to the sounds of the world around you. And drink them in, just like you did the breath. Maybe some of the sounds will not initially be to your liking; I live in New York, it’s always construction season here. This is not what Heaven is going to sound like, hopefully. But if there are sounds like that, try not to fight them off. See if you can just allow them some space in your existence. They’re a part of the world that you’re savoring.
And then, when you’ve done that for another 3-5 minutes, slowly open your eyes and just take in the world around you. If you can, try not to put too much effort in. This isn’t Where’s Waldo? It’s more like going to an art museum and stumbling across Orange and Yellow by Mark Rothko, the painting above. The world is the painting, and you’re just trying to let it affect you.
When you’ve done that 3-5 minutes, slowly close your eyes and go back to just listening for a while. And then go back to just breathing. And really take your time with that last bit. Savor your breath.
It might happen that as you’re doing some part of this exercise you start to have thoughts about various things—things you need to get done, things that you’re feeling. You might think you need to bat those things away, they’re a distraction. But I want to suggest instead that you consider those moments part of the experience, maybe even the gift that you’re being given, God or your inmost self allowing more of you to come to the surface.
You don’t have to do anything with those feelings or thoughts. Just see if you can make a little space for them with you as you continue the exercise. Think of them like a child or friend who has shown up while you’re doing this exercise. You give them a space to sit down beside you and share in the experience with them.
I feel like I’m living so much on the surface of myself right now, which is where things are most likely to be volatile and unclear. The point of this exercise is to try and reconnect with our deeper self and the world that’s all around us. Â
Hope that helps. I’ll be back next week with lots on Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Strange and other nerd stuff.
Here’s a taste:
Tobey Maguire talks about almost suffocating while doing the upside-down kiss in Spider-Man 2. (Yeesh.)
Polygon wonders about the future of Star Wars.
And I write about Wesley Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation and why Star Trek is so important right now. (If you like my normal nerdery here, this is pretty much peak that.)
And if you’re looking for something more meaty, Mayor Ed Koch’s friends and staffers finally tell the story of him hiding his homosexuality.