An Obvious Lack of Introspection

When I was growing up, I could be extremely abrasive at times. When hit, I hit back harder; it's the way I was taught. But I didn't always have the best results. I simply attacked with out even the smallest amount of preparation. Shakespeare, who once said that "revenge is...best served cold,' would have hung me up by my hot-pants. My older brother, on the other hand, was not like this.  Like the Empire, he took his time building up the strength to strike back, but it was quick, painful, and always left a mark.

One day in high school my brother found himself in a situation that would be referred to now-a-days as "religious bullying," but in the 90's it was just annoying banter. This girl had been following him after class everyday arguing with him and berating him about any myriad of religious topics. Apparently it had come up in a classroom discussion that he was agnostic, or atheist, or whatever it was that year, and she decided she would take it upon herself to convert him by being pushy and insulting. Mikey tried to engage in some semblance of a philosophical discussion, but when it became clear that all Mary wanted to do was convince him of his eternal damnation, he simply began ignoring her.

Mary, the poor dear, had pimples, frizzy dirty-blonde hair, a swollen face, and croutons for teeth. I'm sure she's lovely now, but back then she was one of the many people that made me wonder if they owned a mirror—or a toothbrush. But this isn't just about outward appearances or being hatefully Christian. There is a woman at my kids' school who constantly over-books herself, inevitably flakes out on something important, and then blames everyone and everything outside of herself. This is not an attractive quality for a 46 year old and although I'm not sure a mirror could help at this point, it couldn't hurt.

My point is that I have an adverse reaction to people who lack the tiniest bit of introspection. I no longer bite the heads off bats, like when I was in high school, but I don't take Mike's approach either—which was to wait until Mary asked him for the third Monday in a row, "Did you even go to church yesterday?" and respond with "Did you even brush your teeth today?" Like I said, she is probably lovely these days and over that awkward stage of bullying people into believing in God. But who can't see that the way we approach a situation is often the thing that is causing the situation to be what it is? hmmm... was that too far down the rabbit hole?

What I mean is that a modicum of introspection can nail down a person's most frequent bad decisions, in the same way that a mirror can reveal a person's need for heightened hygiene.

As far as people around me who lack introspection? I haven't figured out a good protest yet. All I've accomplished, so far, is the ability to stare without pointing. And mentioning every time someone is in direct conflict with themselves can be tedious and mean(and Karma wouldn't like it). So, for now, I'm protesting this obvious lack of introspection by looking at my SELF in the "mirror"(I actually don't need a mirror for this). It can be scary, I know. What if I find out that I really don't like myself? Well, I have good news about that. Thanks to Timothy Leary's book Change Your Brain, and the movie "What the Bleep do We Know?" I no longer have to be afraid of what I might discover when I look at myself. Sometimes I find Mary and sometimes I find Mike, but as long as I'm introspecting, I inevitably find myself and this Life thing is getting a whole lot easier.

... Speaking of Mike and Mary, Timothy Leary also wrote a book called Your Brain is God, which could probably clear some things up and make this bullying thing seem almost heartfelt. Now, don't we all feel better?

XO

Look at that pretty pretty brain god!