The BP Oil Spill and The Human Condition

The BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is so monumental a problem that it’s looking less and less likely that they’ll find a rapid solution for it.

What’s really terrible and heart-breaking is seeing all the footage of animal life cut short by the slick, and when one dwells on the effect all this must be having on the food-chain and environment generally, the consequences could be dire.

When I look at the news reels detailing what’s going on, and our helpless attempts to get things back to normal, it seems like a metaphor for something else – something deep within the human condition. Without wishing to trivialise the situation (which is seeing livelihoods ruined and a whole body of water devastated), on a personal level, the parallels with certain emotional states are remarkable.

Look at it this way: sometimes -perhaps all the time – we have a dark and suppressed channel of emotion travelling around our minds. It could be a low opinion of others, or it could very well be a low opinion of ourselves. It could  be worries about bills or anxiety about work. It may be the fear of loneliness, and the angst that sets in when we ponder the future in a negative frame of mind.

As it stands, the conduit that carries all this bubbling and tumbling negative energy are intact and, on the surface we appear graceful and everything functions perfectly. But one knock, one trauma can then see all the unresolved, pent up, denied and un-acknowledged emotions come pouring  uncontrollably out, along with the realisation that there is one hell of a mess to clear up.

I’m not suggesting that we should keep these negative emotions under duress and bury them deeper within our psyche. Certainly not… because if we are unaware of our darker feelings they will fester and bubble up when we least expect them to.

Rather, I’m suggesting we should keep our ‘oil pipes’ in check, regularly monitoring our feelings and checking for damage. If we do this in a controlled manner – objectively and practically – then we will see our worries more clearly for what they actually are. They will no longer be some mysterious demon that controls us.   Rather by actually addressing our problems, we can let them go and with no mess to clean up – whether they slowly leak out over time or suddenly spill out.

Start your regular health check now. See what those pipes are carrying, and make sure you’re not desperately close to springing a leak. If we keep our minds, bodies and spirits in check – we’ll avoid a cleanup and the residual  effect of the damage later.