Consider Contrast

Contrast shows up in our lives constantly. Without a doubt, some of the things we enjoy the most are cultivated from the contrast within them. This has been an ongoing awakening realization for me. It’s currently in peak fall, the leaves are red, yellow, brown - vibrant and beautiful. As I was walking in the woods I was struck with the beauty of a tree whose leaves were still green - a rarity at the moment as most of the trees are in the process of changing color. The stark contrast of the green was so incredibly stunning. This simple little common green tree, quite literally inspiring awe within me. So I took a moment to consider. 

I’ve walked these trails many times, admiring the sea of shimmering bright green all around me in the summer months. I would have never been so caught in my tracks at that tree at any other time of the year. Yet here, the colorful warm tones the trees surrounding it had taken on had become the norm. The basic backdrop. Making the stage for the green tree to shine. 

I took a moment to parallel this natural phenomenon with my life. A little insight into my mental space right now - I’m taking on an observer role more than I am an active creator role. I’ve been lacking the motivation to write or contemplate or process anything lately. Normally my brain never stops, constantly ticking and analyzing. Yet lately iIt’s felt… blank. Bland. Plain. So I had intentionally shifted my mindset to step back into the observer role, embracing this way of being for all its understimulating essence. So as I strolled through the woods I went in the name of the observer mode, open to the poetry of it all without needing to make any words of it. Yet I couldn’t help myself when this striking green tree among all the beauty of fall stood out to me. All it took was some intentionally quiet time in nature to catapult me back into my contemplative mind I know and love.

What came to me was that I think a lot of us never want to feel bad. Avoiding any negative emotions at all cost, shoving them down, repressing them. We’ve been taught to always seek out and reach for the things that make us feel good. In doing this we kid ourselves, doing more harm than good, pretending and expecting life to be sunshine and rainbows. Only to be let down constantly at the reality of unpleasant experiences being a very real and unavoidable part of life. Some of us live in the opposite of this, pessimistic about everything. Never letting the good things shine like they could. Always seeing their temporary nature as a curse. Caught up in the ‘well… now it's gone and life sucks’ type of thinking. Still attached to the idea that a well lived life should be constantly positive and pleasant. But even philosophers recognized that a world of free cake and no problems would deteriorate into a horrible time.

Our mindset and perception of things can shift our entire reality. We can choose to experience the world differently. Our conditioning from childhood to now - people, cultures, community, media - does indeed hold some sort of grip on us. Teaching us what we know to be ‘true’. But we can choose to change this conditioned belief system, it does not have to be our own. Our confirmation bias (the tendency to believe what you already think) may get in the way, but with simple and consistent practices we can shift this greatly. In life changing ways. So when I think about the sadness, the sorrow, the grief and pain - I honor it in that I know it is ultimately an important and imperative part of life. It allows me to feel the pleasantness fully. The bright, positive, easy experiences mean so much more in the contrast of the hardship. It creates the contrast of appreciation. I also honor it in its inevitable and temporary nature. It all comes and it all goes (but that’s a whole other life changing topic :).

So, hopefully you can take some perspective away from this, and recognize your own power that lies in the root of how you choose to perceive the world. Again, I’d like to emphasize that it’s not easy work. It’s hard to rewire your brain chemistry. Build the awareness to catch your negative thoughts and perceptions. Actively change the narrative and re-parent that voice in your head. But it’s also life altering. And ultimately up to you. No one can do this for you unfortunately.

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Make gratitude lists in the morning. When bad things happen always think about what you can take away from it. Honor the energetic pattern of the negative emotion in your physical body - how does it literally make you feel and where in your body? Recognize the bias’ you picked up from parents, friends, school, role models throughout your life. Reflect on how we could not have the good without the bad - polarity brings both into being. Contemplate how contrast can make things that much more rich.