Context-Free Living ... Living Without Boundaries!
 by: Edward B. Toupin

 

I know by now that you've heard the terms "Debt-Free Living", "Disease-Free Living", or an overabundance of other such coined terms for various marketing ploys to sell products and services. However, I'm not here to sell you anything, as what I'm offering, you already have! You just don't know it yet!

 

--- Context-Free ---

 

A "context" is a circumstance, point of reference, or a situation by which a particular view is aligned and a unique meaning is derived. Our personal contexts are those rules, belief systems, and cognitive maps that we've developed over our lives that provide us with a basis for making decisions, passing judgment, applying bias, filtering incoming information, and learning new ideas.

 

Immediately, it becomes apparent that living a "context-free" life is impossible. If we even attempted to do so, we would become mental vegetables! Information and sensory information would simply flow in and flop on the floors of our minds.

 

But, living with an overly complex contextual point of reference can have a similar affect. In such a case, information and sensory information are processed to the point of non-existence and we neither move forward or backward in our lives and learning. Instead, all data is "mashed" and "sliced" to fit neatly within the knowledge we already have simply to ensure a "safety context".

 

With complex contexts, regardless of how absurd or inaccurate our context is, the mind will devise any justification even if it uses a basis of other absurd or inaccurate information. It is our way to ensure that our "comfort zones" go unaffected.

 

--- Your Contextual References ---

 

We all have some point of reference that we use to analyze and store information that comes in through our physical senses and psi channels. These contexts come from parental voices, authority figures, experiences, trauma, and success. As we move through life, the context is usually altered to accept new information and understand how it is to be processed and managed.

 

However, many people's complex contextual references block and isolate the internal mind to the point of stifling and smothering the mental processes. The mind can then only reprocess the same information it has done so in the past. In the end, you derive the same answers to the same problems and end up back at the point you started.

 

--- Simplifying Your Context ---

 

On the extreme, over time, rules beget rules until, eventually, we have a complex data filtration system that kicks out anything that remote resembles some idea or information not completely in-line with our systems of belief. The human mind tends to develop such complexity to answer questions for which it is unsure. It creates a web of cross-connected information to prove that our lives and beliefs are justified.

 

This type of thought process leads to a stifling existence, little creativity, and a biased view of life as a whole. In the end, we end up with self-composed theories about how things are and should be and are unwilling to accept anything else. Eventually we can become embittered, angry, frustrated, envious, and prejudiced.

 

The most effective, yet difficult, way to manage such a situation is to simplify and eliminate those rules and beliefs that have no basis in your life. Why do you hate? Why do you feel a certain way about people or situations? That's a difficult way to approach the solution since we will always develop an answer based on our preconceived notions and complex rules of thought. Such preconceived notions of people and situations are merely ideas to protect our imbalanced mode of thought. This is where we need to start!

 

By identifying the notions that create the feelings, it is much easier to analyze. Reduce these rules down to the bare minimum and identify the foundation on which these rules are based. You might find that, as you meander through your own thought processes, that many of your ideas might be based on parental voices or misconceptions. Replace the parental voices with your own commands and expectations. Analyze and research your misconceptions to identify the realities behind the knowledge. Is it realistic to think this way or should you modify your belief systems to accommodate a new, realistic foundation?

 

--- Feedback and Processing ---

 

Once we're able to open our minds to new ways of thought and reduce our preconceived notions, we are then open to myriad new ideas and information that we never thought possible. Not only will we be able to accept and process new information, but we will be able to grow.

 

In reality, our brain is merely a processing portal for information. Put together, we are all but a massive distributed processing system. I remember that SETI had this distributed processing model for managing and processing vast amounts of data. It allowed computer users around the globe to download their software, which processed the plethora of data from their deep-space listening posts. The data was downloaded to the users' machines, processed, and sent back to the central site for consolidation and analysis.

 

The human brain takes in information through our senses and processes it based on the rules and cognitive maps we've created over the years. It then pushes the results back up into the Grid, the Universe, for storage and access --- our long-term, "collective" memory. The brain is not an isolated device and cannot live as such. It requires input and information exchange --- sensory and psi input is essential for healthy mental and physical processing.

 

--- What's next? ---

 

Intelligence is not what you know, but what you're able to do with what you learn. The ability to apply information successfully is a factor of one's ability to process information efficiently. The ability to process information efficiently comes with the ability to analyze results and adjust one's systems to intake the new information and use it productively. This is called "feedback". Such feedback comes from within and from our environment and is essential to growth as an individual and evolution as a species.

 

When we isolate our minds, and ourselves, through complex rules, we begin to create our own answers based on previous answers. Over time, we deceive ourselves about ourselves and the world around us. Stop the self-deceit and grow toward a fulfilling life! By simplifying your belief systems and being open to new information in new ways, you will drop the "excess baggage" that weighs you down and blurs your vision while gaining access a vast amount of information and resources that you never thought possible.

 

About The Author   Edward B. Toupin is an author, publisher, life-strategy coach, counselor, Reiki Master, technical writer, and PhD Candidate living in Las Vegas, NV. Among other things, he authors books, articles, and screenplays on topics ranging from career success through life organization and fulfillment. Check out some of his recent print and electronic books as well as his articles covering various life-changing topics! For more information, and to find out about his upcoming title on book publishing, e-mail Edward at etoupin@toupin.com or visit his site at http://www.toupin.com!   Copyright (c) 2004 Edward B. Toupin

 

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