The purpose of the book is to help you become more self-aware, self understanding, self disciplined, so that you can-quote- 'leave'.. right? 'Scotomaville.' This first section on awareness, I have to bring a bunch of tools to your tool box, to your tool belt, into your active memory, but I don't want to flood you with too much, too quick. So I'm breaking this into a series of videos, clips like this, transcribing it, putting it in a book, starting from my notes here. But you might remember from one of the previous lessons, friend Bill Sharman says - "Life is what happens BETWEEN your plans."
"I was raised in a period of food scarcity. I used to watch the Galloping Gourmet and figure out all kinds of ways of using the little ingredients that we had, in the early 60's, to make meals for my stepbrother and stepsister. I was the oldest so, I was assigned the duty of child care while my parents both worked. Often, my stepdad worked the graveyard as a law enforcement officer and uh, meals.. you know those 'box meals' that serve four? Yes there were five in our family!"
"So, people are now hoarding..toilet paper, soaps, you know-all the disinfectants, all the tissues, all the napkins, all that stuff. The management has put a limit on certain things. You can only have one of some things. Only one carton of eggs, only gallon of water, only one bag of anything. And they're attempting to enforce it, but they're only approaching the nice-looking people. And all those gnarly scruffily ones buying a dozen of the small dawn soap containers..Oh no, no, we're not gonna confront them! But; 'Sir, give me that second gallon of water back!' 'Wait! We drink a gallon a day! This is my third trip!' 'You are only allowed one!'"
"And all of the emotions of scarcity and childhood come flooding back. It's amazing how easy it is to trigger that stuff. And it's amazing how long it takes to get out of Scotomaville! That's a long road and I can at least laugh because I'm aware of it. But it is amazing to me how embedded the response from your amygdala and your hippocampus and all the things that trigger your fight-or-flight adrenaline stuff ! 'What!? Your rationing water!? But there's two of us in a household and it's 30 miles to the store!' Yeah, that's the rule!"
WDWDWWD?
The greatest expedition you will ever undertake is the journey to self-understanding, as the prize is not in discovering new lands, but in seeing with new eyes. I invite you on that journey!