It's amusing to watch ignorance in its natural habitat....
Its a line from my friend, Tom. I knew it was great as soon as I read it on his IM (instant messenger). I have witnessed several situations that embody this statement. Truth be told, I have probably been guilty of it myself a time or two (ONLY :D). Pressure, stress, fatigue and deadlines tend to bring out the best of the worst in us. Occassionally we can recapture the animal once it escapes; but seldom can we erase the deep scars left by unfettered tallons across the lifeless body of the tiny rabbit cold and motionless before us. (How's that for an image; but I know, some of them have it coming...agreed).
Even free minds are captive to their perceptions...
I remember as a kid doing the experiment with the homemade volcano. You build up this large hill with a hole in the center. At the bottom of that hole you have baking soda. Everyone's anticipation is high as you approach with the last ingredient responsible for your supreme entertainment, vinegar. Interesting that the addition of this bitter acidic to this quiet pure powder would create such an "eruption." The same is not untrue for the souls of men. What is the acidic? Its anything from unforgiveness to ego; the list is endless. The only difference is that we try to keep the hole covered, to keep ourselves true to our projections, to suppress our flaws and wounds....but that takes you to another experiment. Blow up a thin balloon and tie it off. Heat the exterior by any means and as the gasses expand, what happens in the absence of a release....POP! Yes, I too enjoy being a spectator to someone "else's" moment. It would be a moment of supreme bliss if not for the reflections that come shortly afterwards; arent we "selfish?" Glad that wasnt "me" "if that had happened to me, I would have..." "I hope "I" never..." and the list goes on. We dont want to be seen at our limits, beyond our controls, beyond our senses and yet in contradiction, it is precisely what we crave. Certain situations we want nothing more than to be emptied or fully vent; or be so ravaged by a moment that "it wasnt our fault," "we couldnt help it" yada yada yada...u know exactly what I mean.
Our lives, like the butterflies are a labyrinth that take us from one understanding to a new level over the coarse of time. We struggle to keep hope, magic, innocence, faith and love alive in our veins. We want to blindly believe as we did like children and love always like the first time. The problem with mazes; you have very little idea where you are going. You cant see the path; only where u are; but you do get a great rearview mirror. Someone once said "we must begin with the end in mind." I believe our perceptions limit the true potiential of our minds. The universe is hidden right before our eyes.
I define "sheepwalking" as the outcome of hiring people who have been raised to be obedient and giving them a braindead job and enough fear to keep them in line. The TSA 'screener' who forces a mom to drink from a bottle of breast milk because any other action is not in the manual. A 'customer service' rep who will happily reread a company policy six or seven times but never stop to actually consider what the policy means. A marketing executive who buys millions of dollars of TV time even though she knows it's not working--she does it because her boss told her to.