Hi friends! Have you ever read a book that stood out to you and you can recall its lessons even years later? I have. I can recall multiple novels that have changed the way I view something, which brings me to a new blog series called Lessons from Literature. In this series, I will select a novel with a lesson or deeper meaning that can be applied to the therapy world or life itself.
The first book I'm featuring is 'Brave New World' by Aldous Huxley. Introduced to this dystopian novel in high school by a beloved English teacher, it's chock full of themes and has been compared to the novel 1984 for its relevance to today's world. While I won't spoil the novel for you (I really think it's worth the read), the basic premise is this: the story follows a few characters as they navigate a seemingly perfect society based on the principles of consumerism, collectivism, and a rigid caste system. Not surprisingly, there's a nasty underbelly and a sharp divide between the haves and have-nots. We see how even in a utopia, human beings still need 'something' to help them survive the disconnect they feel inside. And in Huxley's world, here comes the drug Soma. Here's an excerpt from the book that describes the feelings Soma invokes in people:
"And if ever, by some unlucky chance, anything unpleasant should somehow happen, why, there’s always soma to give you a holiday from the facts. And there’s always soma to calm your anger, to reconcile you to your enemies, to make you patient and long-suffering. In the past you could only accomplish these things by making a great effort and after years of hard moral training. Now, you swallow two or three half-gramme tablets, and there you are. Anybody can be virtuous now. You can carry at least half your morality about in a bottle. Christianity without tears—that’s what soma is." - Chapter 17, Brave New World
How does this relate to us, and the lessons we can take from literature? Perhaps the lesson is this: What is your Soma? What 'drug' do you use to "give you a holiday from the facts?" Is it food? Sex? Social Media? Porn? Alcohol? Weed? TV? Smutty romance novels? (Okay, this one hits a little too close to home!) What do you do when all you can do is just be? Like, when it is silent and you're alone with your thoughts, can you stay there? When you're riding the elevator to your office, can you just 'be' without looking down at your phone? When you're taking care of your children, can you just 'be' without having a glass of wine nearby? When you're lonely after another crappy date, can you just sit in the feeling without turning to a false reality for comfort? When you're outside and it's beautiful, can you just listen and breathe and notice the world as it is, or are you unable to let go of the Soma that is noise and music and podcasts and news stations?
Which Soma is keep you back from your goals? Because in the novel, soma is often consumed at greater and greater quantities to the detriment of the user and their perception of the world. In fact, I would argue that Soma is the thing that is keeping the people in the 'World State' from absolutely losing it. Doesn't the World State sound a lot like the modern day world we live in? Always moving at the speed of light, worried about consuming over creating, trying to separate love and joy from intimacy and connection, encouraging all of us to just keep our heads down, keep working, keep doing, keep going, and here, 'take this handy dandy drug so you can tolerate it.' The Soma, at its core, promises comfort and freedom from reality. This addiction to comfort above growth is part of what is holding you, and most human beings back. When we engage in disengagement, we stagnate. We mold. We wither. And, if we don't stop consuming, we become bloated and heavy in our comfort. Then, we lose our sight of empathy and our common humanity.
What can we do about this? Firstly, decipher what your Soma is. There are three clues I use with myself and with clients when I'm talking about something in my life becoming unbalanced or unhealthy.
When I am doing something hard or boring, or even something supposedly enjoyable, am I noticing a pattern in my behavior that is keeping me from just experiencing the moment in the here and now?
When I do this distracting thing (i.e. possible Soma), do I feel better or worse afterwards? Like, at the end of the day, when I review my life, am I glad I engaged in that behavior? Or do I feel guilt or shame as a result?
Is this behavior causing rifts in my relationships, my work, my health or my mood? Another way to ponder this question is "If someone were to tell you that you needed to cut down or cut back on this behavior, would you feel defensive, annoyed or angry?"
So I pose a challenge to you today, figure out what your Soma is, and work on replacing it with something else. Ask yourself, "What would I be doing if I were recovered from this addiction?" Don't focus on what you will lose, but put your sight on what you will gain. You may lose comfort, but you will redeem your resilience and growth for the future.
Take exquisite care of yourselves,
Megan
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