Covert Metaphor

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You still there?

I seem to have been born a mutant: that small percentage of the planet who has an aversion to groupthink (God did it!). I am consistently amazed how unaware people are, and their lack of critical thinking skills is bordering on mystical.

Of course, I’m not talking about you my readers. Obviously, anyone interested in the topics written about on this site are thinking outside the box. Because you are attracted to the content of this site and you QUESTION society’s consensus of reality, you are the few with real potential. YOU, my dear readers understand and have knowledge which the masses do not (Actually this probably mostly true. Our average American Idol texting, Bud Lite/Diet Coke guzzling, junk consumer will most likely never come across these words, but is my feeding of your unconscious desires too transparent?). Just don’ t let them know who you really are or they’ll destroy you. Buy an iPhone, get a Facebook, and go to the mall every once in a while to let them know you’re a member of their tribe.

While we’re on the topic of unconscious desires let’s talk about HOPE. That’s an excellent tool used by master manipulators. I hope you’re feeling relaxed as you read this because IT is all about tension. Hope gives a person that brief respite from inner conflict that they’re looking for. Keep the tension high and then give them hope in the direction you want them to go. Hmmm…I can’t think of any prominent and powerful people who are using this technique to manipulate the unwashed masses at the moment. I’m sure something will come to me eventually. How about you?

Since I tend to overwhelm my head with useless information and noise, endless streams of crap like mathematics, psychology, philosophy, and technical subjects, I force myself to take a break every so often. It gives me a chance to become more in tune with my body and the earth, and realize how fragile we humans really are. I tend to forget at times all of this is really made up.

This time I went on a 9 day primitive skills course with Cody Lundin. He wrote the best seller on survival skills titled When All Hell Breaks Loose. Naturally you’ll never need such information because our tranced-out lives of mindless consumption will last forever. Go buy an ice cream. Anyways, it was a good experience but I can’t say it was all that fun and relaxing. Real survival is hard and I have a renewed respect for the Native Americans to say the least. Survival is a full time job. Walking into to a grocery store and being able to buy whatever you want from around the world is a miracle. Damn, I’ll never look at a cooking pot the same way again. What a fantastic tool! I’ll see if I can put up a few pictures soon of my outdoor adventures.

So in addition to my days of starting fire with sticks I’ve had a whole lot of other crazy experiences. It’s great to actually live life and not just sit behind a screen and pretend. A few months ago I decided to move out of the city and enjoy some mountain scenery. Houses are private and spread out. I drink my morning coffee on the porch under the watch of a glorious mountain filled with pine trees. Occasionally I find myself going into town to meditate, contemplate, and read in an outside cafe. People come and go and strangers often strike up conversations with each other. I can’t say I usually talk to anyone that comes along for any length of time but my conversations with strangers can be very interesting from time to time.

I was drinking a cup of coffee and reading a book on personality disorders when this guy woke me from my book trance. He was clean, had on nice clothes, but was obviously traveling and living out of his backpack. He asked me what kind of people lived in the town I’d just moved to. He was sick of wandering around and wanted to find a job.

Not an unusual question I thought. Every town and city seems to have it’s own peculiar vibe to it, so I answered him with a question.

“What kind of people were there where you last lived?”

He frowned and told me they sucked. They were unfriendly, acted like complete selfish zombies most of the time, and were soulless. Ouch. So I told him that sounds exactly like the people in this place. I recommended he keep traveling and I told him I’d planned on moving soon because I couldn’t take it much more in this miserable town. He asked for some change and left.

A few weeks later I was reading again at the same cafe. Oddly another guy interrupted my thoughts with the same question. I looked up to find another man traveling the roads of America with not a pot to piss in. Only this time this guy looked a bit more weathered, like he needed a shower and some new clothes. He asked me what kind of people lived in this town because he was looking for a new home. I answered him again with the same question I asked last time.

“What kind of people were there where you last lived?”

He surprised me with his answer. He told me his hometown was full of great people. They were friendly and would do anything to help anyone out if they had the means. These people sounded so wonderful I began to think I might want to move there! He appeared to be genuinely sad to have left his hometown.

So I told him that’s exactly the type of people he’d find in this town. That he’d love his new life here. I gave him $20 and told him I’d see him around for sure.

How are the people in your town or city?

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Allen :: Jan.05.2010 :: metaphor, persuasion :: 1 Comment »

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