Runway

Do your ears ever pop when you're driving through steep mountains? How about when you're in a plane that is taking off? Our eardrums are reacting to the pressure changes in the atmosphere and can create a crackling sound along with minor tension/pain. This bodily reaction reflects my personal theory of Cultural Osmosis (CO).

CO is our subconscious ability to respond and react in a way outside of our normal selves in order to please the majority culture, sometimes causing us to do things we wouldn't normally be comfortable in doing.

Example: When I go to the grocery store I feel an overbearing pressure to be calm, to look down at my cart, and make sure to limit how much pleasure I show on my face. Everyone in aisle 12 is melancholy; I must conform to the mood or else!

Or else what?

Someone might judge me in their mind?

Is that what I'm nervous about -- is this what has me all worked up?

My most miserable seasons in life were the times when I let other peoples thoughts/feelings/opinions dominate my own. If someone thought negatively of me it would feel like a hydraulic press was pushing-in on all sides (serious, check out the YouTube videos, they are pretty mesmerizing, and painful).

But why why why!!!

I have very few regrets in life, but one thing I wish I could redo would be to repeat those years while knowing what I know now... goodness I could have saved myself from so many unnecessary emotions.

Once you're able to understand the value of YOUR OWN thoughts and it's dominance over what other people have to say about you, you may find yourself at a place of acceptance and can now tap into a productive lifestyle. Really feeling the message today!

When we were young the only thing on our minds was how to please others (we we're at the bottom of the social ladder). Once you hit 18ish however, things really begin to shift as you take ownership of not only yourself as an individual but also of your creations.

As the third week of my final semester at CFNI comes to a close, I look back at the past few months with a new perspective. I AM VALUABLE, no matter what every other 22-year-old male is doing with their life, no matter what people say of me or think. And the great thing is, it's not because of something I did or didn't do, but it's because I'm saved by a grace that I could never earn.

Now the Gospel is stirring in me. Speaking of church-related topics, I'll have to blog about church reform sometime this month -- there are a lot of things to say about the modern body of Christ.

*sigh*

But yeah, take it or leave it, Cultural Osmosis exists and is out to "tame you". No one famous or successful did so by pursuing normality, everyone who made it big did so by stepping outside the lines.

What kind of person do you want to be?