If each of us individually creates our own reality then
Everything is either a reflection or a mirror action.
Definition Alert! Definition Alert! When someone, something or some action is a mirror it is telling us that it/they are projecting the same energy you are projecting. If you are angry and the person you’re engaged with is angry then that person is a mirror for you and you are a mirror for them. Most of the time, however, what we interact with is a reflection. We present ourselves reflections to allow us to notice ourselves and how we respond. The problem is, we don’t notice because of our intense belief in
cause and effect. Our
attention is rarely on ourselves. In a reflection a person may be projecting anger to you, but you do not project anger back; you merely present yourself an opportunity to receive that energy and choose how you respond. If you respond automatically with anger it becomes a mirror action.
Ronnie is a pro-Bush right-winger and Bonnie is an anti-Bush left-winger. Now I know you’re going to assign
good and bad labels to Ronnie and Bonnie depending
upon your own preferences and opinions, but try to hold them at bay. This is called acceptance. Ronnie and Bonnie wind up sharing a table at Starbucks and begin a conversation about their political views. Unbeknownst to Ronnie, Bonnie has been reading my blogs and understands that her beliefs represent her
truths, but they are not cosmic truths, and therefore are not
absolutes. As their discussion progresses Ronnie’s blood pressure rises. Having not read my blogs (or any of the Seth and Elias material) he holds his beliefs as absolutes, and if Bonnie disagrees then she must be anti-American, anti-family and, of course, anti-values. His anger rises and he moves into competition mode trying to “win over” Bonnie to his point of view.
Bonnie, knowing her positions are not absolutes, is not trying to sway Ronnie. She merely shares her opinions and preferences and in so doing is in cooperation mode. Definition Alert! Definition Alert! As Elias put is:
“cooperation is not teamwork! Cooperation is not what other individuals can do to acquiesce to you. Cooperation is what YOU can choose to allow yourself to continue your own direction and to continue with your own guidelines, uninterrupted by other individuals’ choices or expressions or behaviors, and not expecting other individuals to change what they express.”Bonnie accepts (non-judgment) Ronnie’s positions without changing her own or attempting to get Ronnie to see the “rightness” of her point of view. Ronnie is a reflection for Bonnie because she is not matching his projected anger. Since she is open and accepting of both herself and Ronnie, his energy is buffered and flows through easily. Bonnie configured Ronnie’s energy through her perception similarly
to the way it was projected, but through her acceptance it felt nothing like it does in
The Forgotten Self’s world. Bonnie drew Ronnie’s energy as an exercise to view how she takes it in. It was a reflection. Her attention remained on herself and Ronnie, and so no
automatic response was triggered. In this case the automatic response might be anger and competition as we saw with Ronnie. Bonnie doesn’t see this as a mirror action because she has not engaged her automatic responses (automatic responses are without thought) and remains in cooperation with Ronnie.
But Ronnie is another story. His interaction with Bonnie is also a reflection, an opportunity to view his own responses. Ronnie, however is on autopilot. His truths
are solidified as absolutes. You know the thinking: “The world would be a better place if everyone thought as I do.” He is so used to judging differences he cannot see Bonnie’s point of view as simply being another way of being.He views his truths as absolutes, which makes him non-accepting and eliminates choice.
Bill Marshall