be an extra

contemplating the incredible comlexity of the world when you realize that everyone else has an interior life just as rich as yours is pretty humbling. And that's probably a good thing.

Our spiritually immature, ego-drvien self, tends to view the world as a movie staring us. Of course even spiritually helathy folks will always personally be the center of their own experience, how could we not be? But it's a fun exercise and could perhaps be a fruitful spiritual practice to flip the camera around. Deliberately remove yourself from the center of the universe and mentally stand a little to one side. What if the real star is the person across from you, and you're the extra in their movie? (Which is doubtless how they see you anyway).

To the driver of that car in front of you on the freeway you're not the star of the show, you're just a piece of background perhaps appearing for just a few seconds in their rearview mirror. You may barely have impinged on their life, and then forever vanished.

I'm writing this blog at starbucks and a schizophrenic woman has taken the seat next to me. All right so this is her show. I'm this silent extra typing away on my laptop next to her. She's singing along to the song on the starbucks radio, a nice soundtrack. I like this movie.