Time for Introspection

Do you save time each day, or most days, for quiet introspection? I am talking about the level of introspection where you look into your mind and you find out what your real desires are. A level of introspection that I would consider “deep” is that level which allows you to come into touch with your values, beliefs, and deepest personal desires that you have in this life. Such a “deep” level of introspection may show you what your true convictions are and as a result, could bring you closer to allowing those convictions to construct and govern the foundation of who you are as a person. If you have attended this sort of introspection, maybe you are in touch with the type of person you want to be. Conversely, maybe you have found that there are certain things about yourself that are bothering you. Maybe you find some behavioral pattern that is not healthy, or there is some deep internal desire that you aren’t sure how to get in touch with until you become honest with yourself and search inside. Also, maybe if you saved time for quiet introspection, you might be able to release stresses that you have in your life that might prevent you from finding fulfilling happiness. There are other ways of releasing stresses in life and oftentimes people turn to alternative methods to bring about an altered mental state to release stresses or to become introspective. I’m not going to say that I am for or against this sort of tactic for achieving the level of introspection that people may be searching for. Indeed, many people, whether they admit it or not, use alcohol just for this purpose. My primary purpose in writing this is to reflect on the importance of saving time in your life for quiet introspection. It is this sort of introspection which will bring you more in touch with the kind of person you are and ultimately lead you toward the kind of person you wish to become.

I believe that without the deep level of introspection that I have described above, we are sure to be distracted from the basic values and convictions that govern our lives. If that is the case, might we say that we are only puppets of someone else’s agenda? So often in life we find ourselves rushing here or there to squeeze something extra into each day. These things, we justify, are productive in accomplishing some end result that we have in mind. Maybe they do help us accomplish one more task at work, but what if they actually distract us from being more in control of ourselves? They might prevent us from becoming the type of person that we want to become or from having the kind of thoughts we wish to prevail in our mind. Also, in western culture it is easy to find ourselves plugged into the media through internet and TV which, if left unchecked, can lead us into varying directions before we realize the change that has occurred. Of course, this is the point of advertising and political propaganda which dominates our media and internet. That is to say, the point of advertising and political propaganda is to ultimately get you to act in a certain way. In effect, they are bringing you further from the deep introspection that will help ensure that you are actually in control of your own life. To digress just for a second, this may bring up another biological AND philosophical debate. That is, can you ever be entirely in control of your own life. Richard Dawkins, evolutionary biologist, would say that we, as specimens of life, are only bags of genes walking about with little to no control over our collective actions (behavior) because those constituent genes govern our thoughts, activities, and desires and are the result of millions of years of tinkering which has been done by Mother Nature. In short, we are slaves to our genes because the humble gene governs EVERYTHING. Of course, this gene centered view of life falls apart somewhat with humans because of the complex societies that we have built. These complex societies and cultures have such a strong influence on how we behave that they have necessitated the formation of an entirely new branch of science – sociology. This, my noble and faithful readers, brings me around full circle to the original intention of this post and to the end of my digression. My apologies.

Excessive TV and internet consumption, as a result of advertising, distractions, or political propaganda may prevent you from finding the thoughts you wish to find. If you are aware of the deleterious effect that internet and TV can have on your introspection, you will be motivated to turn them off for a few minutes. Now, you can have your thoughts to yourself. You can scratch any itch that you may have that is a stressor from the day, you can work closer toward the kind of person you wish to be, and most importantly you can figure out what your deepest desires, feelings, values, and satisfactions are. Perhaps for me, this is why I love camping, listening to music which supports my current mood, running and cycling, sitting outside on a dark night gazing up at the stars, or just simply sitting in nature or in a quiet place. All of these things allow me to come more in contact with my own thoughts. I have the chance to see what they tell me and to interact with them by shaping them how I wish. I fear that if I never allowed myself the time to do this, it would never happen. I think this is also important in relationships and marriages. Further, I think that engaging in a serious relationship before allowing yourself to come closely in touch with your values and basic foundation of what drives your existence may preclude a successful marriage. Although it should be obvious from my previous posts about love and life, this is something I spend a lot of time thinking about. I find myself wondering what leads to successful relationships and marriages. Different people may have different answers based on religious views or sociological influences, but regardless, I think that a good understanding of the basic foundation of what you regard as key to your existence is important. The basis of this foundation includes your values, your partner’s values, and your moral compass, among other things.  If it were not for trial and error through introspection, you may not be able to find the basis of this foundation.

As with the other blog posts I have made, this is a central theme in my Peace Corps experience. I have A LOT of time. Sure, I have lessons to prepare for my students, a foreign language to learn, and locals to interact with, but that only consumes a small percentage of my time. Outside of that, I have my thoughts. I stop watching the movie or TV show which is preoccupying me on my laptop, usually turn on some music and think about things. I think about thinking. I think about life, love, and finding fulfillment in what I do. One thing I have been absolutely convinced of is that at the end of the day if you can say that you love yourself, then you have already made progress along the path toward living a fulfilling life. It’s true that having a person or people that you love in varying degrees to share your life with is essential, but I feel as if that will be much more likely if you love and understand yourself first. I think you can become closer to finding that sort of love and understanding if you save some time for deep introspection. Give it a shot and see what you find. It could lead to fulfilling and beautiful things.