ABOUT THIS BLOG
We observe life and from our perceptions, we form beliefs. For example, we look outside and see that it's raining, so we decide to grab an umbrella as we leave. Perception is the basis of our beliefs, and beliefs form the foundation of our decisions and actions; this is as true for the simple act of taking an umbrella as it is for more complex decisions like choosing a mate or raising children. We rely on external perceptions to make our life decisions.
What if the decision is more serious and we include analysis or introspection to increase our understanding? What if we create a list of pros and cons? Or engage friends, relatives, therapists, or spiritual counselors to help us explore an issue before making an important decision. While others’ perspective may add a deeper dimension to our thinking, we are still viewing ourselves and our situation as an external experience. Metaphorically, we are still checking to see if it is raining to decide if we need an umbrella. We are still looking outside of ourselves to see if our potential partner likes to dance or not, wants to have children or not, is appropriately religious or not, and so on. In this case, we are inviting others to help us by adding their external perceptions to our own.
Understanding Human Perception
When we perceive life exclusively from the outside in, we are taking into account only half of who we are—the seen or conscious part of our identity—while inadvertently overlooking the hidden, unconscious part of our identity. This is like feeding dinner to only one of our twins because we cannot see the other child. In our mind he isn’t there; we do not hear, see, or perceive him, yet he exists. This is the typical relationship that we maintain with our hidden self. We do not perceive it, so it may as well not exist. We spend time considering only the seen or conscious half of who we are, while unintentionally starving, overlooking, and invalidating the other half—our hidden self—on a regular basis.
The inverse, seeing and including the unconscious part of our identity first and foremost, is the essence of seeing life from the inside out. The Craft of Life teaches you to live your life from the inside out, instead of from the outside in, which is a revolution in perception.
If you consider the potential meaning of what I am suggesting, the ramifications are startling. What if there are not one but two parts of your identity? What if the second part of your identity is actually knowable, fully awake with its own distinct feelings and deep, unfulfilled desires? What if this is true, but you have no conscious awareness of any other part of yourself? Might this profound disconnection explain why you experience repeated patterns of dissatisfaction in parts of your life? Might this explain recurrent stirrings of deep inner conflict? Might it explain the combative voices in your mind, perhaps your depression or anxiety? Might it explain, finally, the lack of clarity and sureness that you experience when making important decisions? The answer to all of these is a resounding “Yes.”
What Does This Mean?
Humanity has lived unaware of its hidden identity since the beginning of history, which has led to imbalances in our world and our lives. In fact, our relationships—both individual and collective--reflect this with great accuracy. I am suggesting that the principle of seeing life from the inside out, of learning to consider the hidden, unconscious part of our identity, is a crucial next step in the evolution of our species. More importantly, living life from the outside in does not work because it fails to consider the entirety of who we are, so it is ineffective, presenting a path where only the blind lead the blind. I believe this concept is as fundamental and significant as the invention of the wheel, which resolved innumerable issues and changed the entire course of human evolution.
These unrecognized beliefs cause us fear, anxiety, and pain, and yet, unaware, we do not realize that they are profoundly influencing our lives and relationships. What if these unconscious beliefs actually generated physical illness? What if they prevented us from creating loving, authentic relationships with ourselves, and others? What if they prevented us from finding a satisfying job? What if these beliefs were causing us tension with our children and families? Or the same tensions collectively with other states, countries, religions? In fact, our unconscious beliefs are doing all of these things and much more.
How Deeply-Rooted Beliefs Affect Our Lives
There is a fundamental collision between seeing life from the outside in versus seeing it from the inside out. For example, you visit your doctor because you are feeling ill. Tests reveal you have diabetes. Your doctor prescribes a new diet, exercise, and medications—all designed to control your illness. The treatment makes sense, but it also represents an incomplete picture. Alternatively, here is what it means to see life from the inside out: Since childhood, you have carried emotional wounds that have caused your identity to be out of balance, which is true for all of us. If you are practicing the craft of life, you are already aware of your story: your childhood beliefs about disapproval, masking behaviors, hidden feelings, and emotional longings. You view your new illness through this filter, and you can see direct connections between some of your wounding childhood beliefs, which you still maintain, and your diabetes.
You follow your doctor's advice, but you also begin to work this issue from the inside out. The difference is you now see the familial origins of your disease, which is rooted in an unhealthy belief system that has infected generations of your family, due to unfulfilled emotional longings, which gave rise to unhealthy habits that over years became diabetes. Your doctor points out that your grandfather and your father had diabetes, so you are genetically predisposed to this illness. However, your doctor misses the fact that beliefs, too, pass from grandfather to father to son, and form a genetic chain. By missing this piece, the doctor cannot recognize the root cause of your illness, which means your treatment is incomplete and will only be partially effective. At worst, it will direct your attention to the wrong place for healing, meaning your external situation, marked by symptoms, which your identity will continue to generate elsewhere in your life. Your doctor, quite unintentionally, is teaching you to be unconscious, which is the very definition of one human being hurting another. This is a remarkable irony. Your doctor is consciously committed to your healing, but she is also unconsciously committed to your ongoing emotional wounding by asking you to participate in a belief system that essentially sees with only one eye.
As someone who has practiced the craft of life for decades, I can say without hesitation that if we are to evolve and become truly healthy—individually and collectively—it is critical that we learn to see and understand the unconscious parts of our identity. This dramatic shift in perspective is what I call the Perception Revolution—seeing life from the inside out. In my blog, I will explore this concept further and answer questions from readers. I hope this material offers meaningful support to those interested in or currently practicing The Craft of Life.