Have You Ever....

....shoved a hot poker in your eye? I didn't think so. But the truth is that we do voluntarily inflict pain on ourselves, in some form or another, on a nearly daily basis. The bonus truth is that we do it because we get some satisfaction from it. Most of us aren't crazy enough to actually shove a hot poker in our eyes but we will find some small way to stimulate those pain receptors without destroying one of our 5 senses. Pain is part of the learning process. You probably had to learn the hard way which things were hot and which were not. Even Snoop Dog knows to "Drop it like it's hot." I have a theory, and it is that pain is so deeply embedded in our primitive psyche that it is the primary way that we prove our existence to ourselves. Thus we prick ourselves repeatedly releasing adrenaline and for a moment there is a rush. And over time we have developed a Stockholm Syndrome-esque relationship with the pain of our lives. Basically, i think that there is an emotional attachment to the suffering and all you have to do when we don't feel like you are in enough pain is get that 9volt battery and apply it directly to your tongue as a reminder.

I think that almost all people on some level are inherently masochistic and this just comes naturally. I don't want to limit this to physical pain either. We can hurt ourselves emotionally in equally small increments without destroying our emotional capacity. Why do i even bother to mention any of this? Because I just spent the last 10-15 minutes doing exactly what I have writing about (not the battery thing). I had to rationalize why in the world I would intentionally do something unpleasant to myself. I figured that the rationale for doing it would make a great intentionally vague blog.

Also keep in mind that I take alot of time between when I post something and when I begin writing something. There are usually weeks and months between the beginning and the end. So the odds are that this topic has no current bearing.

Quotes Regarding Pain

"He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God"-Aeschylus

"I think about the meaning of pain. Pain is personal. It really belongs to the one feeling it. Probably the only thing that is your own. I like mine." Henry Rollins