Or how to curb an insta-reaction of feeling overshadowed by someone else’s presence and turn it into a moment of sharing the moment.
I’ve become aware of reactions within myself wherein I don’t necessarily think about things but it all happens in a quantum moment – meaning instantaneously – upon witnessing a change in my immediate environment related to people around me and the context I am in, wherein I’ve accessed a physical-reaction of discomfort, a tension that ‘takes over’ in a moment which I’ve identified as a comparison, a ‘value assessment’ in a very peculiar context that actually says a lot about an aspect of myself that I’ve been seeing more and more clearly these days.
It all started when frequently going to a particular shop where over time, I’ve developed a cool relationship with the people in it, the women that attend the shop are very kind and open and I’ve also walked my process to get past initial prejudices and start getting to know them a bit more. So, usually when I’m there I’m quite comfortable, yet I have also ‘enjoyed’ the fact that I would not usually find more people in the shop and be alone having essentially all the attention to ‘me’ mostly.
But one day as I was looking at the products, I heard someone else coming in and it was another woman and I frankly did not even look at the person, but in that moment just by being aware of the presence of someone else and seeing the equally affable stance and amicability that the ladies attending the shop were sharing with this newcomer customer led me to experience an immediate and insta-displacement of ‘my position’ – lol – that I apparently had before the other lady came in and how it came to a ‘low’ when they were busy with the new customer now, which of course makes absolute sense here and I rationalized it as such but, this was after I had already gone into that initial physical reaction about it.
Then I glimpsed at the other lady and there was this insta-comparison going on as in me being ‘inferior’ based on looks to that other woman and in that then a very, very subtle experience in me again of wanting to ‘swipe aside’ my actual reaction came up.
Now I’ve just described the physical events as they took place but at the same time of all of this, I didn’t have thoughts in my conscious mind as in ‘oh no a new customer is here’ nope, not at all. What I’m describing as a reaction was at a very physical level which means it became a subtle stiffness and rigidity in my head area, also avoiding to ‘look at the person’ as in not wanting to immediately appear that I am ‘acknowledging’ her, which was already done by me going through this ‘assessment’ that in a way I was being ‘displaced’ or had ‘my space, my position invaded’ by someone else – lol ! – and at the same time I experienced a subtle ‘sinking’ in myself which is how I’d define the inferiority point towards the other lady just through listening to the equally affable and amicable interactions she was also having with the shop assistants.
I was aware of all of this experience going on in me and I did make it a point to practice the word Embrace as in embracing the new person in the environment, realizing that the ladies attending there are not ‘exclusive’ for me and that I essentially had to step down of my notion of special-customer and superiority in it, which is quite funny to point out in me but it shows a lot of what I actually tend to have as a constant presence throughout my entire life wherein I almost expect to be treated ‘royally’ by everyone else, with special regard and consideration. So if anyone could step in to ‘take that place’ in whichever situation, I’d feel ignored and so that ‘sinking feeling’ would emerge in myself, which is really another form of silent personality tantrum that comes as this physical-discomfort for a moment that I can identify as a form of constant elitism or superiority complex in relation to others, and in relation of how I expect to be treated by others which I’ll call ‘the royal syndrome’.
On the other hand, I’ve felt uplifted whenever I have received ‘special treatment’ anywhere, even when I know there are distinctive differences being made towards other people somehow in myself I feel very ‘right’ that someone could have this special regard or consideration toward myself, even when walking past males and some would gently ‘revere’ when passing next to me, those are all like ‘clicks’ as if it was an acknowledgement of my ego, in the sense of: ‘Ah! They do know who they are dealing with’ lolol
So that’s why as I had shared in some recent blogs, the idea of being ignored or being treated ‘equal to every other person’ still created a slight reaction in me, which doesn’t make sense at all! Because I am walking a process to precisely embody what it means to entirely live and consider all other beings as equal to myself which means no more and no less can exist as a judgment toward me or toward others.
However not to judge myself for it, I can change this with a constant diligence considering how embedded as an aspect of myself this has become and probably I can call it the ‘princess programming’ really because it deals with a sense of elitism and expecting a form of ‘special treatment’ or ‘reverence’ wherein if I don’t get that and I am genuinely treated like everyone else, there is a sense of being ignored, left out, ‘downgraded’ lol which only exists as a perception altogether in my own mind.
As for the situation with customers, it has happened various times and I have moved myself to practice that embracing In real time moments wherein I assess my reaction and behavior and move to integrate myself in the moment that is being shared between all of us; sometimes I join in their conversation which has led to cool openings several times, which is awesome and this I find I can do quite comfortably after I have processed my initial insta-‘shock’ of having someone else in the same space all of a sudden and triggering that initial ‘displacement’ perception, but it’s all in my head really, I have lived this for such a long time that it will take time and practice to be able to stop the whole pattern from triggering whenever I see the same reaction rearing its head.
How I have played out this character in the past – before moving to integrate, embrace and see others as equals – I would not know how to ‘deal with’ my experience, would not be able to conceal it as it is something that would almost ‘take over me’ and that I can also see comes from family patterns on both sides, this desire to always be the shining star on one side and on the more ‘concealed self-importance’ side from the female where between women there’s this untold competition that I practically also have worked through in real time embracing of another, another’s expression, focusing on their eyes and not judging their expression, focusing on their words and what is being said instead of focusing on my mind and assessing all kinds of useless things.
In the past I would become very stiff on the upper area on my body which would translate into a very controlled, sometimes probably arrogant expression towards the other people and that was definitely not cool to do, because it is the usual pattern of masking inferiority with a sense of authoritarianism, control and fake-confidence which is the same that any tyrant tries to do whenever he/she sees their domain going ‘out of control,’ it’s all based on fear protecting a false premise of myself as either superior or inferior or ‘unequal’ to any other being, which is the delusion I have to practically stop at all levels within me, no matter how ‘subtle’ it may be.
Therefore, embracing others in such contexts means: I see them as equal as myself, I can integrate in their conversation if I see there is something I’d like to share or contribute or ask from them to learn about, which has turned into sharing practical tips and I’ve enjoyed that too. Here I have to assist myself to be able to ‘cut the chain’ from this whole character, and prevent myself having to go through that initial stiffness and tension from acknowledging others to simply directly living this word embrace and physically relaxing my body and then proceed to see if I can participate in the discussion or not.
Sometimes I simply ask them a question on what they’re buying and that’s then another way to prove to myself that whatever idea I had created about them is only in my head, because I usually find that we can talk and be open in that moment which is a healthy practice as well whenever possible; if their interaction is short or there’s no point I see I can interject with and integrate myself with, I simply practice breathing, being relaxed along the same space, me acknowledging them, giving them the equal right to be there in that moment, the equal right to be attended in an affable manner because it’s common sense! That’s what I like for myself so it is kind of delusional for me to attempt to curb that from others.
So, I’ll continue debunking this ‘attention grabber’ and ‘elitist treatment’ expectation that I’ve built within myself as a ‘normal’ way to interact with others, which is clear by all that I’ve shared here that it’s not really supportive for myself, nor for others, nor for my body and expression.
Therefore, here’s to debunking the ingrained seemingly ‘silent’ aspects of myself and getting more specific with my own application.
Thanks for reading
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