{"id":57,"date":"2013-12-19T10:25:00","date_gmt":"2013-12-19T10:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/7eca52e7-d3b6-4ec1-a439-61afcee320c6"},"modified":"2013-12-19T10:25:00","modified_gmt":"2013-12-19T10:25:00","slug":"i-am-not-a-computer-by-joseph-anthony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/?p=57","title":{"rendered":"I Am Not a Computer, by Joseph Anthony"},"content":{"rendered":"

I Am Not a Computer<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

By<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

Joseph Anthony<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cYou must
\nunlearn what you have been programmed to believe since birth.  That software no longer serves you if you
\nwant to live in a world where all things are possible.\u201d<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

–Jacqueline
\nPurcell<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Someone
\nposted this on my timeline recently and with no disrespect intended to its author, I was immediately struck with antipathy
\ntowards it.  As I reflected on why, my
\nfeelings became clearer, as I have had similar thoughts and feelings in the
\npast about such ideas.  I think I have
\nthem clear enough to share. At least, I\u2019ll try.<\/font><\/p>\n

I am not a
\nmachine.  My mind is not a computer.  I much prefer to imagine my mind as a garden,
\na vast network of soil, herbs and flowers, whose roots mingle with yours and
\nwith the Divine\u2019s.  A place of beauty and
\nmystery, wonder and creativity, a rich tapestry of land with golden harvests of
\npossibilities where the fruits of meditation, discipline, and prayer blossom to
\nbe shared and enjoyed by all.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

And that\u2019s
\njust the beginning, the poetic beginning. 
\nEvery time we compare our minds with a computer we distance ourselves
\nfrom ourselves and the natural world around us.  And the space that occupies this distance
\ndevolves into fears, superstitions, and apathy.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

My mind is
\nnot a hard drive.  My beliefs are not
\nsoftware.  My mind is not
\nprogrammable.  To keep such analogies in
\nour mind\u2019s eye makes us look at the world more impersonally, less human, less
\nfeeling.  We are no longer responsible for ourselves.  After all, someone “programmed” us. And since computers can’t program themselves then we wait, victims, until someone solves our bugs.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

As a garden,
\nany unwanted crops may be removed. 
\nSometimes weeds need removal. 
\nCultivating an inner garden stirs more of a sense of devotion and life
\nthan having to defragment your mind to remove limited beliefs.  Cultivate the flowers you want.  Graft the trees of your imagination\u2019s orchard
\nwith those of like-minded friends.  Grow entirely
\nnew fruits.  The flavors and nutrients of shared ideas are limitless. <\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

Some might
\nargue that I am being nitpicky.  Perhaps
\nI am.  However, I believe we believe what
\nwe say to ourselves all day long.  I
\nunderstand computers mean so much to us in today\u2019s world.  I am very grateful for them.  I am not anti-technology.  It\u2019s just that metaphors and analogies are
\nmade up of words and images and these are both living things.  What images and words do you want living in
\nyour head, your heart, and your body?  Are
\nyou a robot?  An automaton? <\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

You might
\nnot think this matters, but look around you. 
\nLook at people as they walk the streets, ride the bus, sit around tables
\nat restaurants.  We rarely look at each
\nother nowadays. We rarely listen.  Our
\nears hold ear buds, our gaze is turned downwards at little screens.  This is all due, in part, to identifying
\nourselves with these machines.  We always
\nwant to be one with ourselves and those around us.  We instinctively seek union.  And we do that with what we feel drawn, close to,
\nlike.  And if we identify with our minds
\nas being portable programmable computers and hard drives, then, of course, we
\nwould look away from one another and towards the objects of our imaginations.  <\/font><\/p>\n

Lastly, these mechanistic images lead us away
\nfrom intimacy with the earth.  They
\ndepersonalize us and separate us further from the planet.  And that\u2019s the last thing our dear Mother
\nGaia needs.  She needs us touching her,
\nbelieving in her, healing her, nurturing her, helping her breathe.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

This moment and
\nthis earth are not virtual reality.  This moment
\nand this earth carry the essence of all that we are.  They are alive.  They are ever pregnant, ever giving birth, ever absorbing the seeds of new
\nideas and inspirations. If we think of them as mechanized or computerized, we
\nwill not want to touch them or become intimate with them.  We will move further and further away and
\nwonder why we are lonely.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

So the next
\ntime someone says your mind is like a computer, imagine it instead like a
\ngarden, or an ocean, a lake, a field, or a forest.  Let these images draw you closer to yourself,
\nto the earth, and to others.  You will be
\nsurprised at the beauty, the fragrance, and the infinite possibilities of
\noneness that bloom and spread from such active, living imaginations.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

PS: Not
\neverything we learned as children needs to be unlearned.  The majority of our lessons still benefit us,
\neven the painful ones.  Plant new
\nbeliefs, cultivate new desires, weed out any that you no longer want, but if
\nyou uprooted them all, well, you\u2019d have an empty garden. <\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n


<\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cMetaphors are not to be trifled with. A single metaphor can give birth to love.\u201d <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

–Milan Kundera<\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n\"\"
\n<\/form>\n

Copyright Joseph Anthony of the Wonder Child Blog<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I Am Not a Computer By Joseph Anthony   \u201cYou must unlearn what you have been programmed to believe since birth.  That software no longer serves you if you want to live in a world where all things are possible.\u201d –Jacqueline Purcell Someone posted this on my timeline recently and with no disrespect intended to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19,2,29],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=57"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=57"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=57"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=57"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}