Consciousness: Not Taking Things for Granted
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about all the things that we just take for granted. We act, think, and speak without really considering whether any of this is a good idea. We get used to the status quo, even when it doesn’t necessarily make sense.
Consciousness is a state of awake, alert openness; we choose to see the truth about ourselves, others and the world and question what’s in front of us, what we’re doing and what’s happening around us.
If we want to be conscious- and consciousness won’t happen unless we choose to pursue it- we must start questioning our habits and assumptions. Here are a few things that I’ve been questioning, lately:
In the grocery store the other day, I walked past the cleaning supply aisle. My sense of smell was assaulted by the powerful and disturbing chemical smell coming off of these products.
Everything I’ve read about artificial scents and toxic cleaning chemicals, including their contribution to cancer and birth defects, made me wonder why we continue to use such products.
In my home, we choose to use only non-toxic, environmentally friendly cleaning products. They’re just as effective as the name brands and now our home carries that much less of a toxic load. The cost of these products is equivalent, so why are so few of us aware of the need to switch to non-toxic cleaning products?
Another thing I’ve been thinking about lately is high heels. It’s true that women are emotionally attached to their high heels. We think they make us look more powerful and attractive. I’ve never been able to wear high heels because my back goes out as soon as I try to stand in them.
I wonder, though, why most women willingly choose to cause themselves back and foot problems for the sake of fashion. If we were to ask any orthopedist or podiatrist, they’d insist that we steer clear of high heels.
The 12-step program is another thing we take for granted. It’s the gold standard for the treatment of addiction, but if we examine the real rates of recovery attributable to this modality, they’re perhaps 15%, at best. Still, because we’ve been using the 12-step program for so long, it continues to be employed unquestioningly, and many many people continue to fail at recovery.
Another thing we do unconsciously involves our eating habits. Between unhealthy fats, sugars and food additives and toxic pesticides, we’re poisoning our bodies instead of nourishing them.
Instead of seeing the act of eating as the way we fuel our engine, we see it as a source of pleasure, soothing, stimulation against boredom, or numbing against emotional pain.
We’d never put bad fuel into our luxury cars, but we’re more than willing to put junk food into our precious bodies.
Pesticides are looking more and more like the culprits in the rising rates of conditions such as Attention-Deficit Disorder and Autism-Spectrum Disorders; they’re also responsible for the high rates of cancer we’re experiencing, and yet we don’t consider buying organic.
We’ve decided in advance that organic food is “weird tasting” or “too expensive,” not considering the cost to us as individuals and as a society for all the sick days we take or the medication and treatment we require when we end up with pesticide-related diseases.
We gladly indulge in junk food, not considering its proven relationship to heart disease, diabetes, strokes and cancer. Even when there’s so much information available to us in every form of media, we persist in eating badly.
We choose the pleasure and stimulation of processed foods over the nutritional value of natural foods, not recognizing that pleasure is fleeting and has nothing to do with health or happiness.
Another thing I’ve been noticing is how easily we take for granted casual cruelty. We look at the nice warm parkas that are popular in the winter and don’t question why the hoods have fur trim.
Do these parkas need the fur trim – from beautiful, harmless wolves, by the way- for any purpose? No. The fur is purely decorative, not there for warmth; it just indicates that the parka is a “luxury” product.
The thing is, for every few fur-lined hoods, another wolf is killed. There’s no need for innocent animals to die in order for these parkas to be warm (or beautiful- synthetic fur trim can look just as attractive) but again, we take for granted that these parkas have fur trim and don’t associate the suffering of innocent creatures with our own shallow desire to look affluent.
These are just some of the things that I’ve been thinking about, lately. Do you see things that we take for granted and that you feel we should be more conscious about? I’d love to hear from you.
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About the Author
Marcia Sirota MD FRCP(C) is a board-certified psychiatrist, that does not ascribe to any one theoretical school. Rather, she has integrated her education and life experiences into a unique approach to the practice of psychotherapy. She considers herself a realist with a healthy measure of optimism. Sign up here for her free monthly wellness newsletter. Listen here to her latest podcast. marciasirotamd.com
