Remember those beautiful snow globes that fit in the palm of our hands when we were young? We would shake them every chance we got, only to be delighted by the falling snow over the miniature scene inside. Now imagine a very big snow globe, a life-size transparent sphere, where the glass is the unconscious fear we were conditioned into and the falling snow is our thoughts about life. When we were very young, we had no attachment to the thoughts in our heads. We could watch thoughts, feelings and events pass through our experience like falling snow. As we grew up, we became trapped inside the snow globe of our minds, identified with our thoughts, and have been living there ever since.
Outside the snow globe, there is spaciousness, connection, understanding, and compassion. Inside the globe, there is struggle, fear, and endless suffering. Most everyone is caught inside the snow globe and not even aware they are in it. It is the place where the struggling self turns everything into a problem, constantly trying to fix, change, or rearrange life. When we were young, we got scared and have been desperately trying to figure it all out, but we don’t know how to figure it out, so we keep trying and trying. We are like fireflies in the bottom of a jar, pinging themselves against the edge because they desperately want to get out, but don’t know how. The fireflies at the bottom of the jar don’t realize that the cover is off and they can fly out at any time if they will only become curious. We are like the fireflies that don’t yet see there is a way out of the globe of struggle.
Imagine for a moment that a part of you steps out of the snow globe here and there, and you watch your very busy mind inside the enclosed globe, living in a world that needs things to be different. Listen to what the storyteller in your head is saying. Identify what is the struggle du jour. Notice what the mind is trying to fix or change. That is all about curiosity and every moment of being curious is a moment of consciousness. Of course, it doesn’t last long and you are right back in the snow globe again, but that’s okay. Although it is painful to watch the parts of you that are shaming, fearing, despairing and struggling, these brief moments when you are outside the snow globe of the mind really do matter. Remember that you have lived in the snow globe of the unconscious mind for most of your life and it is easy to get absorbed back inside the world of fear.
I would like to invite you to say two statements to yourself that both come from outside of the snow globe. “I’m okay exactly as I am” and “Life is okay exactly as it is.” Say the first statement to yourself and then pause. Just notice what the mind does with it. Then say the second statement and again pause to see what this statement brings up inside of you. If what you are hearing tightens you at all, this is a guarantee that it comes from inside the snow globe. Maybe the cynical one is here, the one that says something like “Yeah right. I don’t think so. I’m not okay and my life is not okay.” This voice is just the fear-based storyteller inside the globe that believes it is separate from life. Recognize that this kind of response is normal and comes from the world of struggle you were conditioned into when you were young. So, don’t try to force yourself outside of the globe. Rather, see this as a conditioned voice in your head, a spell that may seem true, but is not.
Awakening teaches us that we don’t need to figure it out. What is here is exactly what needs to be here, and there is nothing to be afraid of. Like the fireflies, we will find our way out of the glass jar as we become curious. So, take a baby step beyond your own snow globe and watch the struggling mind rather than being imprisoned by it. If there is fear there, say, “I see you fear.” If there is judgment there say, “I see you judgment.” Every time you do this, even for just a moment, you are relating to the storyteller in your head rather than from it. The more moments you have outside of the snow globe, the more you will begin to realize that as long as you are exclusively identified with the thoughts in your head, you are caught in the snow globe of struggle, cut off from life. As you awaken back into life, you will step out and then will find yourself back inside again, over and over throughout your awakening process, as you watch it and then get identified again with what the mind is doing. One day you will realize that you are living outside of the snow globe most of the time, discovering that life is safe and it is truly a magical place to live!
Begin small. Try noticing whether the storyteller in your head is liking or disliking what is happening. Be curious about how much it goes into the past or future all day long. What was your experience of this?