Labels. (7 min read)
Our world seems to be obsessed with them.
In this obsession an irony is birthed; as the very labels we use to describe, become methods of bigotry, superiority complex, and inferiority complex issues.
Race, beliefs, gender, ability, practice, sexuality… everything we do in our lives carries a label.
This helps us in ways to describe ourselves and others, to seek the assistance of those knowledgable in specific fields, and be able to identify foods, colours, what style of clothes we like, and so on, and, as helpful as labels can be, sometimes, they can also carry weight and negative judgement(s), which yes, can be helpful at times, but, more specifically, people attach to their personal perception of labels, or use them as a prejudice towards others, often resulting in belittling and bully/abusive type behaviour.
There is, simultaneously, a cry for individual recognition, and a reckoning of the (unconscious) ego; in order for us to fully ‘see’ ourselves in our own truth, our own compassionate heart; we need to let go of the labels and judgements of others, we need to let go of the judgements of ourselves.
Think of it in the sense that no one seriously cares about your labels, just for a moment, see how it feels.
No one gives a shit about how you were raised, how you feel, what your beliefs are, who you interact with, who you sleep beside, what you eat… no one cares about any of it.
Is that freedom to you?
Or, do you go into a victim mentality and become self deprecating? Clinging for the approval of others?
It’s a matter of perspective really.
If you feel lost at the idea of letting go of your label attachments, than it may be a good idea to see who you are, separate from these labels, even if it’s just for a moment.
Let’s try:
Allow yourself to imagine, and feel the sensation of being free of the judgements of others
Free from the deprecating judgements from yourself
Free from the need for approval.
Feel the processing of your emotions, not bypass, feel.
Notice: some labels, we can rip off like a bandaid and adapt new labels. Other ones: like our race, personal history, and culture, we can’t rip off, but, we can reframe them.
For example, we may have been born into a less than favourable upbringing, but instead of focusing on how much of a struggle it was, we acknowledge the lessons from said struggle, and recognize that the struggle also allowed us to build resilience, and ability to look at our past with a different perception.
When we can open our perception, we become more compassionate with ourselves and others.
This is because we are less fixated or attached to living into a specific label. We recognize that we can’t change the past, but we can shift our perception of it to better serve our present and future self.
When this happens, we can build in the present moment, create the future, and learn from the past.
We cannot destroy the past, we don’t live in the past, we live in this moment, so, be here and now, and build towards the future.
Rebels resist going inside themselves, and instead aim to tear down proverbial walls, wisdom, and monuments of the past, rather than using them to create a broader perspective and awareness of a more sustainable, and cohesive solution through growth, instead of sabotage.
Both require the same amount of work, but the results are much different.
Labels are belief systems that we allow ourselves to attach too.
Though the intention is not usually to be religious, many people treat labels as religious figures. Those that operate under a strict label regimen treat certain labels as though they are the only way to a ‘higher’ or ‘more evolved’ way of being human.
As a label, we are assigned to a specific category, and we choose, to live by it restrictively, or inaccurately, so which is it?
Do we allow ourselves to go with what feels right?
Or do we become righteous in our conviction?
Is there openness to other ways of operating under this label?
Does our label require us to try and control the thoughts and actions of others?
Is the ‘label’ the only solution?
It is important to go outside the lines sometimes, in order to gain perspective from an alternate point of view. Seems simple enough, but strangely, very few people seem to be able to open their perspective beyond their label and it’s specified constraints.
Everyone will have their own definition of what outside the ‘lines’ is. We all have our own individual spectrum of rules that we live by, and conditions that we live in, and it’s healthy to open into new potentials.
Is it wrong to change your mind?
Does it make you less worthy, or successful if you walk a path that is different from others?
Is it wrong to be different person than who you were 20 years ago? 10 years ago? 10 days ago?
The answer is no.
You are not your label.
Increasing our wisdom of our natural biology allows us to live in deeper accordance with nature, and our individual needs, not all bodies are the same, in fact, no two bodies are ever the same, and organisms change.
We change, we adapt, we need different things at different times; honouring our natural biology is more important that honouring a label.
Listen to your body, translate it through the heart, and take action through heart, mind and soul, cohesively and harmoniously.
Of course, these are just ideas and thoughts, to bring us to question; question ourselves; and observe what we are reflecting of projecting out to others.
Do we want others to prescribe to a certain lifestyle?
If so, then why is that?
This is not to say that I am separate from any of this, I believe that healthy balanced nutrition, meditation, breath-work, yoga and an overall harmonious lifestyle can profoundly help with anxiety, depression, c-ptsd, inflammation, autoimmune issues and so on, but that’s MY lived experience, not yours.
Fact is: we are all on our own path, and these practices will look different for everyone.
Only we know on the inside what truly feels good for us, and what feels good for our body.
It is up to the individual to make sure there is a clear path between heart and mind.
Consider for a moment, consciously living with the Earth: absorbed in its rhythms and ocean flows, forging berries, fungi, vegetables, hunting – all with upmost respect to the entire being, body and soul.
The connection to food, life and death- the cycles of life, of the natural world, these cycles bring us into the awareness of impermanence, and the deepest fear of all, the one of our eventual death.
When we connect with nature, we connect with the cycles of life, when we connect with the cycles of life we are able to integrate and reflect that we are nature, and realize that we are part of the same cycles.
We become more aware of our place in the cycles of life; not above it or below it, but of it.
When we are in tune with nature, we know that being here now and sharing a moment of time is one of the most sacred experiences of life; and this goes beyond a label, this goes beyond ‘oh I met so and so, and they’re a (insert label: doctor, teacher, geologist etc), so they’re like, super smart and we had a nice time’ The amount of times I have heard this type of statement is ridiculous, to me labels when used in this context, collapses a persons view of another by closing them into this superficial box of their label, as well, as it makes projections and assumptions about their intelligence and status. Even if it’s ‘all good things’ it’s absolutely superficial, and gives a very shallow description of the experience.
Many people identify so deeply with labels, that they’ve programmed themselves to label people or themselves as: ‘fat’, ‘undisciplined’, ‘not creative’, ‘gender’, ‘sexuality’, ‘culture’, ‘class’, ’left/right wing’, ‘pro/anti vax’, ’always falling for the bad boy/girl’, ‘always date musicians’, ‘only date blondes’ etc, and assume that their personal experiences are based on a label…basically, using labels as excuses for unchanged and under observed behavioural and mental patterning, as well as, assuming that labels hold integrity to ones own interpretation of them … it’s pretty ridiculous to write out, and sadly, this is the way many people seem to operate.
Humans have so deeply lost touch with themselves that they value labels over integrated holistic experience.
The brain takes in some 10 million bits of information every second, and we are aware of about 30 of them, and yet, so few people seem to be able to focus on the experience of the present moment. Imo, it’s because most people these days, are afraid to feel. They are afraid to experience something outside of their rigid and righteous labels, and be in a place of vulnerability.
To accept yourself is to open your heart, and an open heart is vulnerable, but not weak.
A vulnerable heart has the ability to love fully without an agenda, without judgements of labels, with objective awareness.
When it comes down to it, we all want to live a happy and loving life.
Regardless of what others do, if you lead with your heart, and not the (unconscious) mind, and listen with compassion instead of righteousness, we can help each other along and come to new bridges of understanding.
It’s not about creating a world full of ‘same’, it’s about recognizing the world is about diversity, and from there embodying a perception of greater awareness, expanded consciousness, compassion, and ever evolving understandings and expressions of what it means to be human.
If we want to be accepted, we must first accept ourselves fully and wholly, and have zero expectation of the world giving a shit.
Build yourself from the inside out.
When you honour yourself, the right people will be there.
Sometimes, it will feel like no one is there, and in those moments you need to be able to go within, face the deepest fear of impermanence and continue on your journey.
Know that you are a warrior, why else would you be here??
XO
Danielle
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