epistemic status: strong opinions, stated with confidence earned from experience, offered with humility, hoping they will benefit, knowing they are certainly incomplete.
everyone, at every scale, has blind spots.
what are blind spots? the place in the visual field right behind u where u can’t see, even with a mirror. ur shadow, which follows u everywhere u go. the map is not the territory; blind spots are all the places in the landscape the map doesn’t show.
individuals have blind spots. dyads have blind spots. small groups have blind spots, large groups have blind spots. huge, huge groups have blind spots. nations and religions have blind spots. species have blind spots.
however, if u find a blind spot, and can witness what it’s hiding, can fully see the aspect of reality u were previously oblivious to, new vistas and opportunities will open up. something that always hurt, that was excruciatingly tender and painful, will hurt no longer. something u never thought possible will become easy. miracles and magick lurk on the other side of discovering and dissolving blind spots.
It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.
— Upton Sinclair
the blind spot is often load-bearing. it’s painful to look at ur blind spot, destabilizing. until u honor the value it is serving, until u fulfill the need it is meeting by other means, u will not be able to fully expose, heal, dissolve the blind spot.
a blind spot is obvious to those who do not have it, to those who do not need it. it is blindingly obvious. it is clearly visible outside of the scope of the system for which it is load-bearing. it is like a mark on ur forehead, which everyone can see and read and understand, but u cannot urself see.
that means that, to find a blind spot, to overcome its hold and power over u, u must go outside the system, u must go up the scale.
if u are an individual, u must ask a trusted friend to tell u what’s obvious to them but not to u, to kindly speak the wisdom they think u need to hear but wouldn’t otherwise see.
if u are a dyad, perhaps a romantic couple or two collaborators or just a pair of old friends, u must ask a third friend, a very dear friend, trusted by both of u, with the wisdom and skill to be present, to watch, to listen, to feel—to notice—who has the capacity to love u both while speaking the truths u need to hear, casting a flashlight on the implicit tangles buried in ur shared subconscious.
if u are a group, small or large, it means u should honor the wisdom of a guest, an outsider, a foreigner, who notices the elephant in the room, who is brave enough to speak up, to point out that the emperor has no clothes, to say aloud that “this is strange to me. something is off here. i don’t feel good about this. it doesn’t smell so good.”
if u are a nation, u must somehow find the strength to honor ur own needs and identity while always reaching for diplomacy, honoring ur brother and sister nations u share borders and this precious planet with, knowing they are also human, believing always that omni-win solutions are possible even if not easy.
if u are a species, u must pray for humility, for the good grace and fortune to tread lightly, to adapt swiftly, to hear the unspoken feedback our plant and animal friends, the Earth itself, feel and see so clearly but cannot find the human language for.
every fear and jealousy and pettiness and problem can be a key to a portal of unimagined magick if you let it, if you let go. dare to let love be the answer
“keep warm,” be brave now. look close, listen earnestly, stay humble. every blind spot, seen clearly, honored fully, integrated into the larger whole, is the stepping stone to the next stage of Ur life, an invitation to a new and more exciting adventure. find what lies on the other side—discover the hero U will one day become, the hero the world has long prayed for.
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The art in this post was created by SĂlvia Bastos, and is licensed under a CC BY 2.0 license. You can support her work on Patreon.Â
