A Technique to Create the Observer Perspective
Do you wish to maintain that observer perspective so you live from a more blissful expanded state?
I’m coming right out and telling you one of the techniques that gets you to that great Observer Perspective: stop labeling things. Stay in the present moment with what it is you’re experiencing. It’s that simple.
The theory goes that when you label something, you experience that object/place/person as the label. It’s like a filter placed over what you’re observing. The label dictates your thoughts and even your emotions, rather than experiencing the object/place/person simply as it is. This goes for positive labels as well as the negative ones.
The goal is to observe with neutrality, the way infants do. ... simply as something life presents to you as an experience.
This share came about because I was staring at the way the morning sun was glistening off a bowl of wild strawberries I bought from a farm. I was entranced as I stared at the strawberries, utterly relaxed and in the moment. “Aren’t the strawberries gorgeous,” I said aloud. (Note that to call the strawberries “gorgeous” is a label, although one we consider ‘positive’, which immediately leads one to experience the strawberries as ‘gorgeous’.)
My son was in the room and contributed, “You know strawberries aren’t berries.”
Me: “Yes; they are. The word ‘berry’ is in the name.”
Son: “No; berries have the seeds on the inside of the fruit and are surrounded by pulp. Strawberries have their seeds on the outside.”
At that moment I was left pondering the categories of fruit that I learned in elementary school compared to what students are being taught nowadays. (Apparently bananas are berries.) I noticed I was pondering the label rather than experiencing the moment with the strawberries.
Gone was that blissful moment of deep breathing, in-the-moment of appreciation and gratitude, observing sunlight dancing on the strawberries. Poof!
A negative label energetically connects you to the object/place/person being labelled and makes it incredibly challenging to experience the object in a different way. This is useful to be aware of for those times you feel stuck in an experience that you wish would change but never seems to do so. Try changing the label (or in the case of a negative label, the judgement) and notice your change in your perception of the object/place/person.
Try this exercise: Look at an object around you, simply observe it. Now put a negative label on the object and observe. Next, switch to a positive label and observe the same object. Now go back to labeling the object as it is with zero label. For me, “Strawberry”. Is there a change in how you feel or view the object with or without the label? It takes practice, but definitely worth it as you enter a greater state of peace and relaxation, observing your world from a neutral state. Very Zen!