Feng Shui from the Inside, Out – Day 5
Feng Shui from the Inside, Out? Day 5
By Victoria Pendragon
The External Observer
In the quest for self-improvement, nothing is more useful than self-awareness.
The Ego Process influences every aspect of your waking conscious mind; it cannot be otherwise. And the Ego Process, as we’ve seen, is not all troublesome. Some aspects of it can be quite helpful and even mature. The brain, once thought to be almost locked into its way of functioning after adolescence is now known to have great plasticity as we age. So in addition to the great bulk of programmed information from childhood we also have a great deal of very helpful, very sensible information gleaned from our adult experiences and reinforced by years of repetition. It is this information that can be relied on to help us become everything we are.
The Ego Process is not by nature self-aware; it is, rather, a spontaneous and immediate function that springs into action triggered by the emotional tone of whatever events are going on. But, much like a very large puppy dog, it is trainable and requiring it to develop what I call an External Observer will prove to be one of the most useful tools you have in your transformation toolbox. An External Observer can be useful in assessing, in a very non-judgmental way, both your behavior and the spaces in which you live and work, allowing you to make subtle changes that can yield obvious results.
When you are training a puppy, consistency is essential, so when you say, “Sit,” and the puppy doesn’t, you gently push its hindquarters towards the floor as you repeat the command. And you do that as often as is necessary for the small beast to catch on. If the small beast is going to grow up to be a very big beast – like your Ego Process! – then you simply cannot give up the training or it, not you, will be running the show.
