An ode to baggage

“Without understanding, you cannot proceed.”
– Yasiin Bey

And the game of life, set up by time itself, is motion. To continue to face the next frame life presents, or else be crushed at a rate of 60 frames per second all because you refuse to let go of the one picture where you saw yourself in a different light. 

Let go. Release. 

We use these words when speaking of things held captive. For something to be held captive it must have some sort of agency that has then been restricted. Like the past. Which owes itself a duty of being part of what is left behind. Yet you, time traveller, drag it forward with you and complain about the strain of the pull on your muscles. It’s baffling. 

Let go. Release. 

When you decide to let go of an object, your brain sends a signal to your muscles to override the continuous signal to contract. This signal was initially sent when you first decided to hold on, and has been keeping the muscle in an active state ever since. Upon receiving this new signal the muscle fibres begin to gradually elongate and return to their resting state, creating a controlled release of the object. As muscle fibres lengthen, the tension in the muscle decreases until eventually they return to their original state of rest, which is important for maintaining the overall health and function of the muscles. 

Let go. Release. 

 
To will something into existence is to make certain assumptions. 

1. That you exist. 
2. That you matter. 
3. That your actions have consequences. 
4. That your conscious mind has control over your actions. 
5. That the position your conscious mind takes is one that you agree with. 

To make any of these assumptions is to hold onto something. To hold on to something is to create tension by forming a self and thus, immediately creating other(s). In this way we identify the world around us. Against the goodness of the self comes an evil other. Against the shame of the self comes a self righteous other. Against the anger of the self comes a timid other and so forth. 

But a set of experiences, projected onto a body for long enough will always gather into a self. And a self will cling. 

Reset. Regrip. 

To grow, a muscle must consistently contract. This will create microfibre tears that will then repair. To do this efficiently it is best to use progressive overload, slightly increasing the load under which the muscle contracts as soon as the body adapts. This is important for improved bone and mental health, injury prevention, general longevity and more. 

Reset. Regrip. 

Time comes for us all. Make sure you know where your towel is.