Pain, Pleasure, Numb

Pain,

Pleasure,

Numb.

Pain, 

Pleasure,

Numb.

It begins with Pain-birth pain-for the sake of life on earth.

After the nearly unbearable throb of agony, while exploding out of the womb, we almost immediately get thrown into Pleasure. 

Our need for nourishment is also our strive for pleasure-our hunger that if left unanswered, will gnaw and create another pain.  To avoid more Pain, we find our second sensation, that which is Pleasure.

As the hunger increases, and our stomachs grind, we flood the uncomfortable sensation with milk...the sucking, the swallowing and absorbing of nourishment becomes our first known pleasure-rid thyself of pain by filling the mouth and slurping the contents down the throat.  Comfort that tummy!

Can you imagine where this is going?

Keeping our mouths and bellies full is the way to pleasure, and all mammals innately crave the comfort of pleasure.  With warmth, satiation, and fullness-and minimal thought for where the next meal is coming-we learn to take feeding for granted.

Ordinary eating for survival becomes our most immediate connection to pleasure, and if our pain is perceived as only moments away, eating-or anything that resembles eating, anything oral-becomes our fixation. 

What happens after we fill up on a satiating meal?  We physically retire, slow down, sit for awhile, or fall asleep.

And what happens when we fall asleep? 

We go numb.  Though we can still feel, and our dreams are often full of powerful sensations, we are technically numb to our lives.  Our physical bodies cease to exist for while. 

It is as if we go Numb.

So, in the nature of things, first we experience Pain by being birthed, then we experience Pleasure by being fed, then we experience Numb by falling to sleep.

And there it is folks!  The initiation of life on earth:     

Pain, Pleasure, Numb.

When we awaken in the morning, many of us experience pain, as if being birthed to a new day.

We immediately dive into Pleasure by feeding ourselves any number of vices and oral comforts. 

Once we have reasonably filled ourselves for the moment, we blindly go into a state of Numb.

As the moments pass, we sense-as if we are riding a spinning wheel-that our very existence is a constant spin of Pain, Pleasure and Numb. 

For this three-way cycle that rules us, we must learn meditation.  It is only when we still the mind, respect the feelings, and free the imagination that the cycle of Pain-Pleasure-Numb lets us go.