Motus Mentis

Commenter “Landroll” asks, in response to my previous post about the incremental militarization of the New York City subway system:

Like the line from the song says, “Whatcha gonna do about it?”

I don’t know what song that is, but:

So far, what I’ve done about it has been to move out of New York, to secure my own position, and to do what I can each day to sound the alarm and wake people up.

We should all, however, be doing a great many other things as well:

We should be connecting with groups of capable and dependable people in our communities, and to the extent that we can, we should try to make a difference in local government. We should help our neighbors.

We should be preserving knowledge that may soon be lost, especially physical books. Teach others what you have learned.

We should notice the extent of our dependence on complex and brittle systems, and try to reduce it.

We should be doing what we can to take good care of ourselves, physically and mentally. We should build and sustain normal, healthy families. We should reconnect ourselves with nature, including human nature. Get outside. Take walks. Fight laziness.

If you are the sort of person who can fight, if necessary, to defend what must be defended, learn to do so. Strengthen and train your body. Understand that you have a duty to do your part if things really fall apart, and acquire the equipment and skills to do so.

Don’t consume rubbish, of either the cultural or alimentary variety. (Be careful with the impressions you allow in: they are a kind of food, and can be just as unhealthy.)

Stay curious. Never stop learning.

Seek truth.

Stop lying.

Learn to get out of your own way so as to open yourself to the higher influences that are always trying to reach you. Remember that the best way to improve your life, and the lives of those around you, is to improve yourself.

Be civil to others.

Cultivate gratitude, every day. Cherish the people you love, and the blessings of this astonishing civilization you’ve inherited: built by ancestors long dead, working for the future, working for you.

Play. Have fun. Listen to music. Get together with friends. Laugh. Expose yourself to beauty, and drink it in. Remember that this life is short, and don’t waste it.

Do what needs doing.

Take responsibility for your actions, and your situation. Someone said that “if you make yourself small enough, you can externalize everything.” Don’t do that.

My mother, whose maiden name was Calder, grew up in Scotland. The motto of her clan, Campbell of Cawdor, is short and good:

Be Mindful.

Work on living more consciously. Whenever you can manage to do it, remember yourself. Stop for a moment and examine your present state. Notice your posture, your point of tension, the rhythm of your breathing, the contents of your thoughts. Feel yourself inhabiting your body, here, now. Sense your feet on the floor, or the weight of your body in your seat. Do this as often as you can remember — which won’t be often, until you manage to make a habit of it.

A saying I recall from an esoteric school is “your being attracts your life.” Think about what that might mean.

I could go on and on; really, instead of a blog post, I could make this a book. But that’s enough for now.

Thanks for asking.