photo by Krelic
You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.
–Morpheus in “The Matrix”?
In the cyberpunk classic, The Matrix, protagonist Neo lives in a simulated reality created — by machines — to subdue and pacify humans. At one point, the film’s central character, Neo, is given the opportunity to take either a blue pill or a red pill. If Neo takes the blue pill, his life goes on as before. But if he takes the red pill, his eyes open up to the false reality that is The Matrix and he becomes exposed to the parallel universe that’s been his entire known existence.
Because of advertisements, political spin, cultural peer pressure, biased dogma, and even some of our own outdated biological instincts, we all live to at least some extent with one foot in a false reality. The decision to take the metaphorical blue pill (blissful ignorance), or red pill (the truth, no matter how painful it may be), isn’t as cut and dry for us as it was for Neo. The red/blue pill analogy, however, is still an important one that represents a key decision we continually face: do we live according to unquestioned patterns and modes of existence, or do we continually press for the truth, no matter how damaging it might be to our ego, to our nest eggs, and our social status?
The truth is that truth is the only path down which long-term and durable solutions to personal and societal problems can be solved. Here are 7 practices meant to aid you in continually taking the metaphorical red pill:
1.) Schedule Alone Time
Start scheduling alone time for meditation, journaling, or doing anything else that brings you into greater familiarity with your authentic instincts and preferences. Being alone will grant you the space to safely exert your authentic self. If possible, spend a week alone and in silence, perhaps in the wilderness. Being alone allows you to become better-attuned to inner signals, which in turn allows you to differentiate between internal instincts and external influences.
2.) Read Good Books
Good writers make us question shared assumptions about the nature of reality. A good author can aid us in making new observations about the world and force us to think about things we’ve taken for granted. Barbara Kingsolver, Milan Kundera, Eckhart Tolle, and Victor Frankl have personally been of great help in this regard.
3.) Drastically Break Away from Existing Patterns
Our identities are too often tied to specific objects, routines, practices and habits. Taking the metaphorical red pill involves breaking from the objects around which you’ve built your identity. Try un-identifying with straight-jacketing roles, and attempt the breaking of established patterns (while replacing these patterns with new ones). Camping and traveling are both good ways of doing this.
4.) Take a Sabbatical
When done right, a sabbatical is perhaps be the best way to instantly remove yourself from the societal treadmill.
5.) Try to Get Inside Other People’s Heads
Make an effort to talk with people whose worldviews and patterns of living are markedly different from your own. Consider talking to a migrant farm worker, a transient person, a farmer, etc. Anyone will do as long as their existence is markedly differs from yours. Don’t make your own points or judge but instead ask questions, listen, and try to understand the circumstances that have formed each person.
6.) Cut Out The Ads
Marketing has done much to exert influence on our opinions and proclivities. One obvious way to reduce its influence is by scaling back our exposure to it to the greatest possible extent.
7.) Get to Know Yourself in Different Contexts
By observing ourselves in new situations and contexts, we’re often forced to discover what remains constant when external factors shift. This can be done through re-location, joining new clubs and organizations, and generally doing everything possible to expose ourselves to new situations and experiences. The more foreign, unfamiliar, and seemingly “strange,”? a new context is, the better.
The above 7 practices are a good starting points. Trench coat and kung fu skills not necessary.
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P.S. There’s no way this is an exhaustive list. What am I missing?
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