"High on Symbolism"

All that we currently know and believe exist in our minds. We are the ones responsible for our own realities.

There are some things that make us feel good about ourselves. Some of us particularly like holidays, birthdays, historical accomplishments, and so on. We seem to find some magical psychological solace in them.

Many of us don't realize that in these types of situations our minds are playing tricks on us. We are so heavily invested in the mind games of symbolism that it's difficult to discern the realities we are creating and giving life to.

Unfortunately, we're only juggling existing beliefs and values in our minds and giving life and importance to them. In other words, we're giving more form and power to our realities than actually exist.

Sometimes we even believe the events, particularly if we believe they make us feel happy, are greater than what's present in the event itself. It's similar to believing we are powerless and then giving great powers to others that they don't actually possess.

In this case, we are empowering our minds to distort our perceptions of what's actually happening in the world as well as our lives. Whenever we give power to something -- holidays, birthdays, historical accomplishments, and so forth--, we make them important to us. And, at a certain level of awareness, we begin to worship them as things existing outside of us in time and space.

Similarly, whenever we devalue our own power, we create an awareness of ourselves that is different from what actually exists in us.

In other words, we use our minds to create realities of pain, suffering, oppression, poverty, wealth, and so on, which exists only in our minds. And it's our awareness of ourselves and the world that's interpreting  what we see and feel.

Some of us prioritize holidays, birthdays, and historical accomplishments according to their importance to us. They mean a lot to us. We want others to know this and respect that this particular holiday is important to us.

Unfortunately, depending on our beliefs and values, particularly as they relate to how we define ourselves, some of us don't give the same importance to the events as others do who believe in them.

Some examples of symbolism are Christmas and Black History Month. Those who celebrate Christmas believe it's a very important event. They spend considerable energies on preparing for it. It is a time for them to come together as a family and feel good about themselves.

Now, there are others who don't believe Christmas is important. They either ignore it or create an alternative to it such as, Kwanzaa or something else.

By de-prioritizing Christmas, they have done nothing to demean or devalue it. They have merely expressed their beliefs and values on the importance, or lack thereof, of a particular holiday.

Meanwhile, in the case of Black History Month, those who celebrate it believe it's an important event. And many of the celebrants expect others to respect it as such. Unfortunately, much like Christmas, others might not feel the same way about it. And like Christmas, by them not supporting it, doesn't devalue or demean the beliefs and values of those who support it.

When we engage in symbolism, it causes us to believe something is greater than it really is. We give power and importance to things based on our beliefs and values. And in nearly all instances, these beliefs and values were in the world before we were born. We forget they are merely beliefs and values that we were taught by others to believe in, and perpetuate as our own creations.

Nevertheless, whether we are aware of it or not, we are greater than the holidays, birthdays, historical accomplishments, and so forth that were created from the human mind. Unfortunately, we sometimes forget that the human mind creates all types of fanciful things to entertain itself and others.