Everyday is another chance to get it right this time. Lauryn Hill begins by repeating “I gotta find peace of mind, see that’s what that voice in your head says when you try to get peace of mind”.
It took me a long time to understand just how powerful I am. It was my body that made this discovery for me. (LoL wait.. I’ll explain). Our body is an amazing organism. If all we did was listen to it our bodies will give us peace of mind. It provides us with the blueprint to survive. When functioning at its peak it will breathe for us, fight infections, access danger, and alert us when we should eat, sleep, and drink… so yes, as humans we are inherently lazy.
I now understand when we listen to our bodies our peace of mind will find us. The peace of mind in Lauryn Hill song is eluding to this constant need for our bodies to reach equilibrium. Our bodies are so amazingly resilient that it still functions when we neglect to listen to it. To feed it the proper nutrients to fuel it; to rest when it needs to cool down; to shed excess baggage when it’s overwhelmed. If we start listening to these things we will hear our bodies encouraging us to do these things so it can function as its best self, smoothly at equilibrium. Once we reach this state of health of bodies will change our lives.
Our minds will function and flourish doing the things that we love, our passions that come natural to us, which are unique to us. I’m beginning to understand that life is less about making it or surviving based on a capitalistic perspective but living out our passions. It’s interesting to think that our bodies can thrive off all of the elements found in the earth. The fruits and vegetables from trees, the water from the springs and literally needs little beyond that. So why are we so adamant that we need so much more?
Of course we want the best for our off-spring, in fact we are biologically wired with the desire to procreate to prolong our lives. I just want us to think critically about what we have been socialized to want and the basic necessities we need to survive. Using other mammals as an example, we understand that our young mimic everything that we do. What is the number one thing you want to pass to your off-spring? I’m going to guess its not material. All the more reason that time, not material things are the most critical factor in their success as functional human beings. If we work as a community to stop glorifying goods that are not conducive to our survival we can change the social standard of what raising successful human beings look like.
I know some of these ideas may sound fantastical but I can’t help but think critically about how we can all be the agent for change. I use myself as an example because the things I once I thought I needed to be happy was nothing more than material lust. I am fascinated with this idea of extracting social standards to gauge my personal standard of happiness and freedom. The further I get away from social lust, the closer I get to ridding myself of excess expectations. This process is my bodies way of finding that piece of mind Lauryn Hill is searching for. What’s yours?
Diva Over-Night 