Purifying Action That 'Matters'

I feel to write about action that matters - action that is very much in matter. Physical, real action that has the effect of bringing about an outcome or result - whether in a creative project, a business, a relationship dynamic, a lifestyle, a body. From where I stand, there seem to be two categories: People who move or act in the world without much introspection at all and become 'certain,' and those that very easily stagnate and find it difficult to move. Underneath both, I have seen similar patterning and it must be addressed in order to arrive into the right balance (or recipe) for action.

The first category is usually people that do feel a lot of fear, self-doubt, insecurity, etc., yet push through that and create an appearance as a 'certain individual.' Essentially, the way of dealing with the underlying feelings is to create an identity that can buffer against what is truly felt underneath. In the world today, there are many people who have arrived into leadership positions because of this exact movement. This is an example of leadership being born out of unresolved conditioning. It might allow someone to take action, but if the conditioning is not met, that action has no sustainable energy source.

The second category is comprised of people who are readily stuck, stagnant, in paralysis - essentially, they cannot move forward with anything. In a way, these people might be a more accurate representation of what is really going on inside those in the first category - which is why they often get into dynamics together. Someone who has had to become certain as an avoidance of meeting the underlying conditioning will only ever meet externally what they are suppressing. The first category person might experience frustration and even hatred with the second category - again, mirroring the inner relationship.

So, for action to be purified, those within the first category have to honestly meet what is underneath. There is an admission here that: I am became this way because I had to adapt. I became certain because I felt so crippled and uncertain. But at the same time, I did not become truly certain. True certainty is only the result of the marriage of the Masculine and the Feminine, and is likened to a knowing. It is about standing up for something that does feel very deeply solid, compared to standing up for an idea that could very easily blow away in the wind.

The first category people have to find true certainty, which can only happen through meeting what is under the constructed certain identity. The second category people have to deal primarily with the collapse, paralysis and stagnation response. This response might happen because there is energetically and physically no pathway for action. It might be the result of little to no encouragement as a child to self-express. It might be the result of crippling rejection and abandonment from the outside world, leading to shut down. Seemingly, the first category people disassociatively 'fight' or 'push' out of their conditioning, whereas those in the second category collapse in the face of it.

Neither is accurate - and both are, in a way, trauma responses. For action to be purified, these responses must be met.

By: James Marshall

Art: Eduardo Rodriguez Calzado