Wants and Needs, Part 2

This is a continuation of Part 1, which was a hypnotic script designed to get you thinking about what you want; what you need. Once you have passed through that script, you might be surprised by the results.

This isn't about putting you into a trance. We're not playing that game today. This is about asking you why you need what you need; why you want what you want.

It's about desire, where it comes from, and what we can do when the desires become things we don't need and which slow you down - habits, vices, addictions.

Where do all of your wants and needs come from? Is there a difference between the things you need, as in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and the things you merely want - the things you desire and lust after?

As has been pointed out in this article here, Stuff can be a hidden pain; a bitter burden.

Stuff robs us of empathy and trust. Stuff robs us of time, which we should spend on our lives and others instead of spending it on stuff. Stuff distracts you from your natural creativity, by flooding your brain with dopamine - or, at least, your conditioning from countless years of repetitive advertising floods your brain with dopamine. Dopamine is the reward hormone, and the pleasure you get from shooting up or toking is brought about by the same dopamine at greatly heightened levels; levels which conditioning by advertising exaggerate to something approaching those same levels. Dopamine kills creativity; the genius mind is suppressed, and only the hunger for more Stuff remains, because dopamine fuels the desire for more.

How many of your needs come from advertising, as compared to a genuine internal need?

Speaking of wants and needs ... you might be asking what my needs and wants are. All this time, you've been sticking with me, and it might have occurred to you to ask. It's understandable.

It's a curious thing, but my needs have grown surprisingly few and simple. The continuation of the roof over my head; the continued support of my clients. Good food. Good memories. Space to continue to do my thing.

Somebody once asked me what I would do if I never got published. I explained that, even if all I had in this world were cardboard and sticks of charcoal, I would continue to write, even living out of a cardboard box.

These, then, are my thing - writing, blogging, trancing you.

Well, at least these are the needs I'm prepared to let you know about, at any rate.

So here's your homework for now. Think about where all of your wants and needs come from. Remember where and when, and how, they originated. Explore them. Exploration brings understanding. And understanding brings enlightenment.