The Bounty of a Pregnant Pause
The Bounty
of a Pregnant Pause
The Bounty
of a Pregnant Pause
All of life’s greatest ideas happen on the toilet, seat of deepest consciousness and transcendence. Beyond being one of the great unifiers of humanity, our time “on the john” is also one of those special moments when we’re mostly likely to find ourselves in a state of meditative receptivity.
In science, this is when our brains’ gamma waves are active, which are associated with flow, creativity, and synchronicity. It might seem counterintuitive to think that moments of such stillness and silence are what bring about the fastest, highest-frequency brain waves, but it actually has a primordial logic.
The working, waking brain is often on the beta frequency, related to alertness and critical analysis. I think of this as the brain at full sprint, exerting itself in its greatest individual effort. If that’s the case, how then does a moment of pause outpace this olympian on a mission?
Nature gives us an idea of what “the force” truly is and lets us see it at work. If the human brain on beta waves, an often necessary tool for navigating the modern world, is the pinnacle of individual mental effort and acuity, nature and gamma waves show us a collective, connected consciousness based on intuition where we can access a boundless dimension of knowing. This is seen in “swarm intelligence”; the way a school of fish, flock of birds, or a colony of bees move together in effortless harmony. Their shared mind and body becomes something far greater than the sum of the parts – a leviathan of organic synergy; nature’s original transformer. Alone a solitary bird might be vulnerable. Feathered into their flock family, they become a force to be reckoned with.
Relinquishing the ego to be embraced by the collective is far easier for some of the, dare I say, simpler animals who don’t have to worry about getting wrapped up in the mental activity of the anthropomorphs. We, on the other hand, need to consciously decide to unplug from the matrix. This of course, brings us back to the bathroom, portal to the paradise beyond! After all, in Harry Potter, it’s the water closets that transport wizards to Britain’s Ministry of Magic.
We find this to be a markedly magical place because it’s a singular sanctuary where we carve out a moment of respite and give into the limits of our human body and, just as with the proverbial hero, despite ourselves, we find reflection and receptivity. The openness is ultimately the key to the realm of rebirth, where we are baptized by the waters of creativity and consciousness. It is the stillness and silence that creates a spaciousness that can then receive the abundance all around.
In film, it’s the part of the story where the hero collapses in a heap after reaching the limit of their physical body. Utterly spent, in a daze of exhaustion, they have nothing left but to look deep within themself and let go. In the complete surrender of their quest and ultimately their previous paradigm and understanding of reality, they finally find what they had so desperately been seeking; a new power that has always been within. It’s the discovery of this internal, intrinsic potency that propels them to the fulfillment of their prophecy.
We can trust this answer from film, literature, and storytelling because it is such a universal moment that it has been told by cultures across time and space. In Star Wars, Obi Wan Kenobi tells Luke Skywlaker to “let go of his conscious self and act on instinct.” George Lucas’ order of warrior monks “the Jedi ” who connect with the deeper consciousness of “the force” were inspired in part by the samurai whose spiritual and martial paths are indistinguishable and whose belief in Zen Buddhism showed them the way to transcend the fear of death. In the stillness of Neo’s death in the Matrix, he receives the humanity of Trinity’s love and he is reborn beyond the binary limitations of the matrix as “the one”. Inevitably the hero’s journey leads into the abyss of the underworld whose shadowy shroud steals the old life and its limitations and, in this death and absence, bestows a newer, truer being.
Why is emptiness – negative space – the most direct path to positivity? Yet again, we find the answer in mother nature, who eternally maintains equilibrium; balancing yin and yang, negative and positive, feminine and masculine; all of which are one and the same. She created caves and caverns so crystalline currents could flow forth and in their meeting make new ecosystems. An open window invites a balmy breeze. An empty glass, a refreshing drink. An empty mind, new inspiration.
And now we can fully appreciate the elusive entryway to this empty openness in the toilet seat, seat of transformation! It’s of course not the only way to get there, but arguably the most universal and ubiquitous. Perhaps for you it’s a stroll through the woods, a yoga mat (possibly the original magic carpet), or really any way you find yourself lost and happily so. Keep a look out for more reflections and stories on how to discover space, flow, and ultimately yourself. It’s called a pregnant pause because it gives birth to something beautiful.
All of life’s greatest ideas happen on the toilet, seat of deepest consciousness and transcendence. Beyond being one of the great unifiers of humanity, our time “on the john” is also one of those special moments when we’re mostly likely to find ourselves in a state of meditative receptivity.
In science, this is when our brains’ gamma waves are active, which are associated with flow, creativity, and synchronicity. It might seem counterintuitive to think that moments of such stillness and silence are what bring about the fastest, highest-frequency brain waves, but it actually has a primordial logic.
The working, waking brain is often on the beta frequency, related to alertness and critical analysis. I think of this as the brain at full sprint, exerting itself in its greatest individual effort. If that’s the case, how then does a moment of pause outpace this olympian on a mission?
Nature gives us an idea of what “the force” truly is and lets us see it at work. If the human brain on beta waves, an often necessary tool for navigating the modern world, is the pinnacle of individual mental effort and acuity, nature and gamma waves show us a collective, connected consciousness based on intuition where we can access a boundless dimension of knowing. This is seen in “swarm intelligence”; the way a school of fish, flock of birds, or a colony of bees move together in effortless harmony. Their shared mind and body becomes something far greater than the sum of the parts – a leviathan of organic synergy; nature’s original transformer. Alone a solitary bird might be vulnerable. Feathered into their flock family, they become a force to be reckoned with.
Relinquishing the ego to be embraced by the collective is far easier for some of the, dare I say, simpler animals who don’t have to worry about getting wrapped up in the mental activity of the anthropomorphs. We, on the other hand, need to consciously decide to unplug from the matrix. This of course, brings us back to the bathroom, portal to the paradise beyond! After all, in Harry Potter, it’s the water closets that transport wizards to Britain’s Ministry of Magic.
We find this to be a markedly magical place because it’s a singular sanctuary where we carve out a moment of respite and give into the limits of our human body and, just as with the proverbial hero, despite ourselves, we find reflection and receptivity. The openness is ultimately the key to the realm of rebirth, where we are baptized by the waters of creativity and consciousness. It is the stillness and silence that creates a spaciousness that can then receive the abundance all around.
In film, it’s the part of the story where the hero collapses in a heap after reaching the limit of their physical body. Utterly spent, in a daze of exhaustion, they have nothing left but to look deep within themself and let go. In the complete surrender of their quest and ultimately their previous paradigm and understanding of reality, they finally find what they had so desperately been seeking; a new power that has always been within. It’s the discovery of this internal, intrinsic potency that propels them to the fulfillment of their prophecy.
We can trust this answer from film, literature, and storytelling because it is such a universal moment that it has been told by cultures across time and space. In Star Wars, Obi Wan Kenobi tells Luke Skywlaker to “let go of his conscious self and act on instinct.” George Lucas’ order of warrior monks “the Jedi ” who connect with the deeper consciousness of “the force” were inspired in part by the samurai whose spiritual and martial paths are indistinguishable and whose belief in Zen Buddhism showed them the way to transcend the fear of death. In the stillness of Neo’s death in the Matrix, he receives the humanity of Trinity’s love and he is reborn beyond the binary limitations of the matrix as “the one”. Inevitably the hero’s journey leads into the abyss of the underworld whose shadowy shroud steals the old life and its limitations and, in this death and absence, bestows a newer, truer being.
Why is emptiness – negative space – the most direct path to positivity? Yet again, we find the answer in mother nature, who eternally maintains equilibrium; balancing yin and yang, negative and positive, feminine and masculine; all of which are one and the same. She created caves and caverns so crystalline currents could flow forth and in their meeting make new ecosystems. An open window invites a balmy breeze. An empty glass, a refreshing drink. An empty mind, new inspiration.
And now we can fully appreciate the elusive entryway to this empty openness in the toilet seat, seat of transformation! It’s of course not the only way to get there, but arguably the most universal and ubiquitous. Perhaps for you it’s a stroll through the woods, a yoga mat (possibly the original magic carpet), or really any way you find yourself lost and happily so. Keep a look out for more reflections and stories on how to discover space, flow, and ultimately yourself. It’s called a pregnant pause because it gives birth to something beautiful.