Landscaping 101
So I was listening to some Pink Floyd the other day (seriously…no I wasn’t on drugs) and was intrigued by the ideas of making an entire album, and a double one at that, about emotional walls. The more I listened around, the more the subject came up among other artists.
Tom Petty: “All around your island, there’s a barricade” Walls
U2: “I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside” Where the Streets Have No Name
The Offspring: “Knock down the walls, it’s alive in you” Original Prankster
James McMurtry: “Can I help you tear your fences down” Don’t Waste Away
So what are these walls and where do they come from?
The idea of walls is that you subconsciously develop a series of beliefs that control and imprison you. In the world around you there is an infinite variety of people and ideas, yet most people tend to do the same things over and over. How much out there do we dismiss? How much of it is even conscious? There are so many things we do unconsciously. We have been trained and sheer repetition has made it so we don’t even think about it anymore. As an example, try writing out your name. Now go back and look at some of the individual letters. Which part of the letter did you write first? Could you start elsewhere and still end up with the same letter and look? Now, there really isn’t any reason to think about each letter of you handwriting, as it would be incredibly inefficient to try writing anything of length if you had to concentrate on each letter. But how many other things in your life are that way? What things are there that you do without even thinking? Are there some where you maybe should think about it? Has your knowledge or pride made you so sure of things that they are now bedrock and not even questioned and rarely thought about? Are there people or ideas that you simply won’t even entertain?
All right, so everyone has walls, now where do they come from? Roger Waters, the guiding force in Pink Floyd back in the day, seemed to blame teachers and his mother for getting his wall started. The lyrics from Mother are quite pointed: “Momma’s going to put all of her fears into you”, “Momma won’t let anyone dirty get through” and “Of course Momma’s going to help build the wall”. Your parents are generally your first and main source of early beliefs, so what they tell you can have a lasting effect. Perhaps teenage rebellion is a built in genetic safeguard. As for the educational system, no doubt about that one. How much of what we are taught are we told just to accept? Most classes seem to emphasize knowing things over understanding them. Though there are the great classes and teachers that make you think for yourself. But much of the educational system is there to train young people in ways that will make them productive proper citizens.
So is there a point to walls? Well sure there is. They do serve as a safeguard and mental defense that can help keep you on track. The ancient and medieval walls were a place of safety where people could retreat in times of danger. Similarly, when people or ideas start to make us uncomfortable, we will retreat, close up, not be open. In this way we can avoid embarrassment, discomfort, anxiety, and pain. Sometimes the concerns are just, but the walls can also keep out ideas. Think of the Berlin Wall. They may allow you to stay comfortable, but keeping the moments of despair out can also mean barring the entrance of extreme joy. Staying with the Pink Floyd theme, you lose your sense of wonder, build your walls and become Comfortably Numb. In essence, you aren’t living, you’re just waiting for the worms.
It’s a bit of trick, you can’t just tear down everything at once. For starters, you need to be able to recognize your walls. If you’re “Normal” it may be difficult. Your walls may be similar to those around you, making them difficult to recognize. But if you can get a little bit of different perspective, you may start to see yourself and others in a different light. Roger Waters for instance, was a world famous rock star. That likely provided a perspective that most people don’t have. Once you recognize your walls, well, then things get a lot harder. You have to venture outside your comfort zone, go into unfamiliar territory where danger may lurk. You have to let your defenses down and have a little trust that barbarian hordes will not come raging in. Maybe have faith, or trust in the words of Einstein. He said that each person experiences themselves, and their ideas and feelings, as something separated from the rest. He called this a kind of optical delusion of the conscious that imprisons us.
Of course you could opt to stay blissful and ignorant. After all, why disturb life in paradise? Here’s one reason. Those walls that get built nice and high keep light from getting in. They keep you from knowing more about yourself. They limit you, imprison you, keep you from finding yourself.
If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.
A couple of final thoughts
#1. I managed to use Einstein and Pink Floyd in the same blog.
#2. This subject is fascinating and really tripping me out (No, I’m not on drugs). So if anybody has any thoughts, please feel free to share them with the comments option. Come on…push your comfort level.
Tom Petty: “All around your island, there’s a barricade” Walls
U2: “I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside” Where the Streets Have No Name
The Offspring: “Knock down the walls, it’s alive in you” Original Prankster
James McMurtry: “Can I help you tear your fences down” Don’t Waste Away
So what are these walls and where do they come from?
The idea of walls is that you subconsciously develop a series of beliefs that control and imprison you. In the world around you there is an infinite variety of people and ideas, yet most people tend to do the same things over and over. How much out there do we dismiss? How much of it is even conscious? There are so many things we do unconsciously. We have been trained and sheer repetition has made it so we don’t even think about it anymore. As an example, try writing out your name. Now go back and look at some of the individual letters. Which part of the letter did you write first? Could you start elsewhere and still end up with the same letter and look? Now, there really isn’t any reason to think about each letter of you handwriting, as it would be incredibly inefficient to try writing anything of length if you had to concentrate on each letter. But how many other things in your life are that way? What things are there that you do without even thinking? Are there some where you maybe should think about it? Has your knowledge or pride made you so sure of things that they are now bedrock and not even questioned and rarely thought about? Are there people or ideas that you simply won’t even entertain?
All right, so everyone has walls, now where do they come from? Roger Waters, the guiding force in Pink Floyd back in the day, seemed to blame teachers and his mother for getting his wall started. The lyrics from Mother are quite pointed: “Momma’s going to put all of her fears into you”, “Momma won’t let anyone dirty get through” and “Of course Momma’s going to help build the wall”. Your parents are generally your first and main source of early beliefs, so what they tell you can have a lasting effect. Perhaps teenage rebellion is a built in genetic safeguard. As for the educational system, no doubt about that one. How much of what we are taught are we told just to accept? Most classes seem to emphasize knowing things over understanding them. Though there are the great classes and teachers that make you think for yourself. But much of the educational system is there to train young people in ways that will make them productive proper citizens.
So is there a point to walls? Well sure there is. They do serve as a safeguard and mental defense that can help keep you on track. The ancient and medieval walls were a place of safety where people could retreat in times of danger. Similarly, when people or ideas start to make us uncomfortable, we will retreat, close up, not be open. In this way we can avoid embarrassment, discomfort, anxiety, and pain. Sometimes the concerns are just, but the walls can also keep out ideas. Think of the Berlin Wall. They may allow you to stay comfortable, but keeping the moments of despair out can also mean barring the entrance of extreme joy. Staying with the Pink Floyd theme, you lose your sense of wonder, build your walls and become Comfortably Numb. In essence, you aren’t living, you’re just waiting for the worms.
It’s a bit of trick, you can’t just tear down everything at once. For starters, you need to be able to recognize your walls. If you’re “Normal” it may be difficult. Your walls may be similar to those around you, making them difficult to recognize. But if you can get a little bit of different perspective, you may start to see yourself and others in a different light. Roger Waters for instance, was a world famous rock star. That likely provided a perspective that most people don’t have. Once you recognize your walls, well, then things get a lot harder. You have to venture outside your comfort zone, go into unfamiliar territory where danger may lurk. You have to let your defenses down and have a little trust that barbarian hordes will not come raging in. Maybe have faith, or trust in the words of Einstein. He said that each person experiences themselves, and their ideas and feelings, as something separated from the rest. He called this a kind of optical delusion of the conscious that imprisons us.
Of course you could opt to stay blissful and ignorant. After all, why disturb life in paradise? Here’s one reason. Those walls that get built nice and high keep light from getting in. They keep you from knowing more about yourself. They limit you, imprison you, keep you from finding yourself.
If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.
A couple of final thoughts
#1. I managed to use Einstein and Pink Floyd in the same blog.
#2. This subject is fascinating and really tripping me out (No, I’m not on drugs). So if anybody has any thoughts, please feel free to share them with the comments option. Come on…push your comfort level.
posted by Ethan at
9:58 PM
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