‘You hit me back first.
My predictions always come true.
Don’t dare to invalidate my reality.’
Nuances of paranoia affect all of us.
We may be well-balanced and trusting
folks, but out bodies still hold the
fears and traumas our parents experienced,
and the generations before them.
When safety fears are triggered, we tend
to slide from anxiety to paranoia.
In today’s culture this has become a normal
disposition, a challenge to be alert and patient
with the love and hate conflicts inside us.
Yet when fear splits the heart from the head
our bodies go numb to feelings, and empathy.
the spiritual potential of our being is arrested, and
one’s world turns into a hostile and lonely place to be.
Collective paranoia spreads like a virus,
flowing into already anxious minds,
feeding on irrational fears of danger
and the need to blame somebody.
When public figures act out their paranoia,
they become super-spreaders of fear.
Does this virus have a remedy? Depth Analysis?
Listening to Bach? Wilderness retreats?
The occasional pinch of hemp oil, known
to free blocked wires in the brain that
channel superior cosmic insights?
Sadly, when magnified fear has eroded trust
in fellow humans and silenced the whispers
of affection from our hearts, truth is walled in,
and seeds of hope fall on barren ground.
While paranoia can carry a kernel of truth,
suspicious hunches are easily twisted and
inflated to surreal proportion. I grade my own
paranoia from anxious overload – to irrelevant –
to useful. The latter protects me from harm.
There is a Sufi saying …
Trust in God but tie your camel at night.
Night also holds the hidden content of our neglected
unconscious, where fears and desires entwine
as archetypal forces that can take us over when
entitlement and apathy have made us careless.
Clearly, our inner narrative needs witnessing with
constant re-adjustment, so we remain grounded and
balanced in human values – among them – integrity,
humility, friendship, humour, and reverence for life.
Course of Mirrors 
spot on! LOVE that image!!!
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Thanks, dear friend. Had to find some words, not that they ease the pain I feel about what is happening in the world. Re: the image, I was impressed by this installation displayed at a sculpture park near where I live.
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Greetings… thank you … so true … and as always so beautifully expressed… I found your view helpful in putting my own anxiety into perspective…
😌 Ahh Perspective… that healing element in consciousness…
The other morning I woke from actually praying for peace & understanding in this sad , tear stained world of ours …
all Best Wishes …
Luck Grace Blessings…
Only from the Heart can you touch the sky …
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Thank you, Kamran. Between rage and sadness, I feel deep empathy for all who suffer from this act of aggression, as do people around the globe who witness events through the media.
I wish for ordinary Russian people will wake up.
In that sense I respect and admire the journalists, who ignore danger in order to report the truth of what’s happening, a truth which will eventually filter through to the Russian people
Praying ♥ offering loving attention to ALL victims of this conflict, I’m certain, will help open ways for a transformation of this situation.
I’m with you there ☼ ☼ ☼
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Thank you Ashen, so beautifully expressed. Let’s hope that the values you say, are truly grounded.
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Yes … integrity, humility, friendship, humour, and reverence for life … and many more qualities that make us human beings. ♥
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Thanks, once again an inspiring mirror
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Thank you Doranne ♥
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This writing hits hard!
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My goodness, Ashen, such beautiful insight into the world we’re living. Just wish we can change the way it’s heading.
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Thank you, Luciana. I try to hold on to a wish for balance and transformation. ♥
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