In a May 2011 Scientific American article on the topic of why creative people are eccentric, the notion of "cognitive disinhibition" was introduced as being vital to creativity and aha! moments. The article titled, The Unleashed Mind, goes on to state typically humans are designed to filter out incoming stimulus that is not directly relevant to an immediate concern. As stated,
"Cognitive disinhibition is the failure to ignore information that is irrelevant to current goals or to survival."
It's not said outright, yet the researchers imply that to allow non-goal stimuli through is something that runs in the family.
In my own experience, it wasn't genetic (I was the black sheep in that regard) although I found cognitive disinhibition could be learned, by simply allowing the present moment without (or at least as minimal as possible) an agenda, and when I drifted out of consciousness, just bringing my attention to the present moment and not worrying that I 'messed' up the last moment. And if I did berate myself for being lost in my headspace, or fixated on replaying emotional body experiences, then there was still the next moment available to be.
Your attention isn't on the idealized image of the present moment (for instance, "oh, no I can't be feeling anxious.... I must get rid of this feeling!") but to be with whatever is presenting itself.
"The real voyage of discovery consists in not seeking new landscapes, but in having fresh eyes." - Marcel Proust
Over time, your mind won't automatically filter out the present material it has preconceived as being irrelevant, and you'll find much inspiration as the Universe (not as if it is separate entity) gets its job back as your filtering mechanism. I'm not sure at what level this occurs--brain, mind, existential unity, none of the above--I just know that it expands one without overload, or overwhelm.
If one doesn't ignore stimuli to which you've already been exposed that is called latent disinhibition. Just putting on my hunch hat, it seems all these mental filters serve a part in reptilian brain/limbic system of preservation and sheer survival in the sabre-tooth-tiger-eat-man scenario, but as far as living out Oneness, it isn't needed evolution-wise. Here's an exercise from the preview week of this Intensive, you might be surprised how much easier it is to do a month or so later:
"Look at a cup, for example. Do you see a cup, or are you merely reviewing your past experiences of picking up a cup, being thirsty, drinking from a cup, feeling the rim of a cup against your lips, having breakfast and so on? Are not your aesthetic reactions to the cup, too, based on past experiences? How else would you know whether or not this kind of cup will break if you drop it? What do you know about this cup except what you learned in the past? You would have no idea what this cup is, except for your past learning. Do you, then, really see it?
Look about you. This is equally true of whatever you look at. Acknowledge this by applying the idea for today indiscriminately to whatever catches your eye." - A Course in Miracles
Write, sketch or otherwise share your experience of really looking without agenda.
ART CREDITS: Photo by Beth Shepherd via Wanderlust and Lipstick.
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