The original title for this post was “On Masturbation”. Nothing sexually explict; but do proceed at your discretion.
I have been thinking about pornography and masturbation the past few months, and the many forms they could take on different levels of a person’s being–all of which lead to antitheses of life.
I’ve heard it said (I forget by whom) that it’s dangerous for humans to experience high spikes of dopamine without any prior self-organization.
If repeated, addiction creeps or charges in; real self-esteem plummets; integrity, inner strength, and personal growth deteriorates; interpersonal connection weakens, becomes impure; a twisted view of reality develops; among more things.
I thought primarily of physical masturbation as I wrote the above; the purpose of this post, however, goes beyond that.
Other types of self-pleasuring as much of a deadend as the physical do exist, mental and spiritual masturbation being two chief ones. There are more; they all operate on the same human desire for pleasure and control.
Mental masturbation, as I’ve understood and struggled with itr, is when you let yourself live in theory–in fantasy even–savoring neural synapses as your mind flirst with concepts and ideas and dreamt-up worlds, never intending to make up your mind about an issue, to bring an idea into reality, to act on your thoughts. That last clause is key to the self-destructive nature of this way of thinking and being.
It’s the thought that counts, isn’t it?–and that’s where you always remain, pretending to live, enjoying that pretense so much you become unwilling to engage with reality because it’d actually demand effort from you, much like how masturbation and porn gives you sexual release without the need to go out and do what it takes–talk to her, seduce him, ask her to marry you, anything–just to find a partner who’d share that moment with you.
Spiritual masturbation appears in many cults (if not all) and in religious circles where hero- or leader-worship of a mere mortal is encouraged, even forced; where congregants must submit blindly to the “enlightened” wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing because he or she is on a special spiritual level above everyone else; where one cannot seek after and know God for themselves but must go through someone else.
(Emotional and psychological masturbation both get tricky once you look past the obvious; I haven’t yet thought either of them through enough to offer anything worth reading; I know that they are things people engage in, often without realizing it; and just like physical, mental, and spiritual self-pleasuring, are a cause for the manifold holes we dig for ourselves.)
For the mental–and I preach to myself–increased awareness of one’s own thoughts and thinking patterns and a commitment to decision and action may form part of the solution. Both, at least, have been helpful for me.
For the spiritual side, beware lest ye think more highly of yourselves than ye ought to.
In conclusion? Start organizing yourself, and LIVE.