Yer Nuts!

Nut Allergy Warning: The following text is full of tedious puns. When I wrote it I was being silly and laughing my head off.  Although its full of serious things, don't take it or me too seriously. I was just having fun with pushing the metaphor which is mainly about our human minds.  Many of the sentences have deeper and multiple meanings/contexts. If you feel yourself breaking out, or experience any painful swelling  - stop ingesting this stuff! Stop looking at my nuts! :)

No one likes their nuts cracked - it's painful, knocks the wind out, and stops you bent over in your tracks.  You learn in life to guard your nuts from the blows and perils of objects and others.   We pull them back inward and keep them close when we perceive an attack.  Most people wear some form of permanent protection against a perceived onslaught of blows.  They've probably been dealt too many kicks to their sensitive regions.  

Interestingly, this behavior toward our nuts is overseen by another little couple of nuts - the amygdala - two little almond shaped nuts tucked safely within  the inner buffer of our brains, with the cortex being their protective cup.  

The outer brain produces logic and reason; it's the height of being human.  The inner brain (Limbic system) produces emotion and depth, and is more linked in with right brain cortical processing; it's the joy and fear, the pleasure and pain, and the core of being animal (and proof, at least to me, that lesser animals experience emotion to the point their cortex can process it).  Each layer protects and influences the other.  If you pay attention to others (and yourself) you will see which layer is employed most, or how much they've learned to balance the two.  This will help you better understand others and yourself.  Knowing how to interact with people highly sensitive to threat, or which layer not to threaten (everyone's sensitive in some way and to some degree).

When threat is perceived, even in the slightest, these little nuts cry the alarm, invoking the fight or flight response, diverting all the brain's attention to the singular act of protection.  This is our mental protective nut cup against perceived or inflicted harm, both external and internal.  If continually activated (overstimulated), these nut guards assume a permanent state of protection and develop a very speedy response.  With the continued over-vigilant engagement of these sentries, we learn to keep this hard shell covering around our nuts at all times. This protective state shuts off the cognitive ability to be openly rational, or thoughtfully analytical about a problem, any problem, even the slightest problems. 

Understood simply, It's an evolutionary protection mechanism. People past became people passed if they stopped in the face of danger to "observe and ponder it". THEY DIED!  So in that respect our "brain nuts" are great little protectors for our survival.  However, problems rise in our behavior when we perceive a constant threat from every situation. We over assess threat, and then quickly under assign it, making it all external (blame: another form of threat), because this is our frame of mind when the amygdala is going nuts, everything is assessed externally.

Afterward, still reverberating in this externalized state, we stew on the sting of the stun and stop short.  This stopping stunts our growth, closing us off  from the kind of reason necessary to find the real reasons.  Our reasoning is in a fog of fear. This mist blocks the oft missed activity of introspection.  Why wax introspective if you've already figured it out?  "That other guy was a bullheaded bear! Good thing I punched him in the face and ran; he won't threaten me again.", this is the type of thought typically thunk with no thought about your contribution.  Maybe you posed threats or insults to him and his.  Maybe you posed a threat in his space, in some aggressive or unfriendly way.  Maybe he really is an aggressive beast best unapproached, and you stupidly did so. It's like stating, "That bastard bear that brawled and mauled my brother is one mean S.O.B.!", and leaving it at that.  This pins it all on the bear, without feeling the need to know anything more about that bear, or bears in general.  

If you'd take time to observe you'd see; bears love berries, eat mostly plants and grubs, and scavenge. You'd learn that they don't usually chase live game, and when they do it's usually a small or weakened animal. They will almost always attack that which threatens their space or their cubs. This is much more useful information when you encounter a bear than thinking they're just mean S.O.B.s in all situations.  It's also good intel to know to back away in an unthreatening manner rather than to turn your back and run, and if attacked, to fight the urge to fight, but instead use a form of flee called protective submission. Play dead. Form a tight ball, cradling your head tightly between the elbows of your closed arms, and remain as calm and quiet as possible. This is the approach many religious and mystical mindsets try to impart, the art of dealing within a world of conflict - the flee protection method of calm, quiet, submission and surrender. 

Detached observation is key to proper assessment. The drive to observe is fueled most by curiosity.  Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it made the monkey stronger. Early hominids who learned to assess threat outside a state of fear, being protective while remaining objectively observant, were better equipped to handle future encounters.  

Those who always blame the bear, and ignore the core, only learn to fight it or run from it - both bad decisions with bears. They're not observant, but subservant. They're subjective subservient creatures enslaved by holding onto their nuts too hard. 

When we overprotect our nuts, being so religiously tied to our natural nutty instincts, we have a lot of trouble assigning correct attribution and assessment to their worth, thus hanging on to a lot of bad ones.  When I encounter someone obviously dysfunctional, I think, "They're hanging on to too many bad nuts, possibly thinking they own them all.", It's sad seeing them hefting a heaping bag of bad nuts.  I'd love to help them unpack and sort them out, but help unasked for is only perceived as a kick to the crotch, and even then it's job done best with kid gloves. 

Feeling the stingy stun of insult and reacting protectively, we so often blame and perceive outwardly, and miss-assess who's holding the bad nuts. Objectivity and introspection is lost.  

The smart simians were those who were able, after or during the danger, to remain observant and objective. They remained so when they retired to the safety of their cave or tree to contemplate the events.  They found a safe place to gather their thoughts and try to correctly assess the danger, most importantly the cause of it. The smart ones were thoughtful enough to dig at the cause (This behavior was a slow evolution of a very favored primate trait, we're still digging at causes). Especially smart they were if able to see their error and adapt, thinking not so much about what the danger did, but WHAT THEY DID in the situation, to cause it in the first place, and WHAT THEY COULD DO to ameliorate it's outcome next time. 

These smarties are not so stuck in a simple self saving success assessment as are their brother simians, whose permanent "fix it" assessment is merely, "run first, fight if needed.".  This is an easy assessment, and one usually made by lower animals, but it's not fool-proof, and often not the most beneficial response. Nature naturally selected us out to be better assessors, but we still have a heavy hangover from our drunken monkey past, and a lot of crossed wires in our brains that must be sorted out (I plan to write in another blog, hopefully uncontroversial, on how we're threatening the nuts of our own evolution).

For most of my life I've been unknowingly or naively threatening other `people's nuts ... maybe because I'm clueless to any insult or aggression, or I've lived a kinder life than others. In such a life of relative comfort, or maybe being just naively blissful, I never learned to guard mine with others, thinking there was plenty to go around. So my attempts made with others to share our nuts together were seen only as my desire to take theirs. Maybe I loved other people's nuts so much I cracked them, and wanted them to crack mine. Maybe they thought I had no nuts, or none they wanted. Maybe in some cases that was true.  Maybe I did have no nuts and thought I did. Maybe the nuts I did have were hollow and rotten, maybe even stinky, loved by me but easily detected and detested by others. Maybe I didn't feel I had any nuts of my own, or any worth sharing, thus underrating my nuts and devaluing them (everybody has nuts).  In shame I hid my nuts from view as I hungrily approached the tantalizing nuts of others.  Being in such a deprived mental-nut-state, I was reaching out clumsily, knocking their nuts about with my hungry grabs. Maybe I was admiring their nuts and greedily reaching toward their bounteous pile, without first putting mine on display for the sharing.  Maybe in jealousy I was trying to knock down their nuts so we'd both be on common ground, or have equal opportunity to gather them again. Maybe their nuts were truly and seriously wanting, and my attempt to help them look for better ones was an insult. Maybe they doubted my magical growth pill spiel, "Six Easy Steps to Larger Riper Nuts!".  Likely all of the above at some point in my life. Whatever the case, the protective cups were placed, and attempts were blocked.

At any rate, the price was not paid, but I've earned something for my efforts. I've learned that for the most part, people don't want my nuts, no matter how much, or for what reason I want to share them.  As such, I've vowed to gather my nuts for my own winter survival, and share them sparingly, under the apothegm, "Nobody wants to see yer nuts, or watch you gather and play with them." 

Most are busy and content gathering and playing with their own.  You need not help others unless asked, and even then, you can tell them to shove off kindly for any reason. If you please, like me, this one's for you: Once you give yourself permission to say no to anyone, for any reason whatsoever, you will be quite okay when others do so to you ... and you'll complain and kick yourself less for feeling used.  I'm a helper and fixer by nature.  With age I've learned that the only one I need to help or fix is myself.  But I still enjoy helping and fixing when: others ask, are not prone to take advantage, and are appreciative of the effort. This is a good nut that I've learned to keep and protect.

Sharing is great and admirable, but you can't force your bag of nuts on other people. Here are my rules for nut sharing 1. Primarily extend your nut sack to the wanting and appreciative outreached hands of others, thus genuinely sharing your delicious nuts.  2.  When you happen on someone you perceive needing a nut, if you have nuts to spare, offer, but graciously withdraw them when refused.  3. When mistakenly offered, quickly pull them back when slapped away by one eyed dicks with no depth perception.  4. When others after seeing your nuts insult them, listen objectively and feel free to cast out the bad ones.

It's nice for me to think that the dicks are vision impaired. I am a visionary nut job, but without nuts like me the dicks would die off.  I'm appreciative of my fertile nuts.

We are typically proud of our own nuts, assuming the complete and utter of ownership earned by merely having, or gathering, or both ... with all the associated self conflatulatory kudos. In a state of such ownership, our nuts define us, our worth, our fitness, our superiority.  In this state we are self-ish and see sharing our nuts as a diminishing of all these things.  If some people do dare share their nuts with you, they may fear you will claim them as yours, make your millions, and not give them any credit or recompense for gathering them (Wow - that must be some nut!).  Or worse, you might devalue their nuts, cast them aside.  Or worst of all ... You might ridicule them openly in the presence of others!.   So in whatever state of mind, our nuts are our power center.  If we expose them we risk the loss of power and virility, and the threat of being diminished. 

With the oncoming spring, and the planting season at hand, I am once again thinking excitedly about my nuts. I am like an over productive squirrel madly gathering my nuts during the growing season - nut's a plenty! - hoarding and storing them up.  But, too many nuts can drive you nuts, leaving you stuck with nothing but nuts, and no place to put them all.

I need to let go of my extra nuts.  Cast them out wildly and let them grow freely, like the Johnny appleseed of nuts.   They do not belong to me. I am just the one who gathered and tended them with love.  Sharing freely without hoarding every single one will allow other wonderful nut trees to grow for an even more bounteous harvest. Casting off both good nuts and bad makes more nuts. The bad ones die, the good ones grow. By sharing my nuts without possession, I don't need to take any offense when someone else doesn't like nuts.  Maybe they have nut allergies, or just have an aversion to nuts, particularly nuts like me.

Freely letting go of your nuts is the best way to lose the obsession with your nuts, and the best way to be productive. Whenever we constrain or repress something natural we subvert it and pervert it.

So, if you're game, crack away at my nuts and I'll crack away at yours!  Nuts won't grow until cracked, and can't be enjoyed until opened.  Let's open up and share our nuts and have a feast. I love mixed nuts best. Hopefully we'll find something meaty inside instead of a withered black rotten seed. But no prob, those are easily identified and cast aside once the shell is gone. Maybe we'll find better nuts worth cracking, and in cooperation even figure out how to crack the really hard ones.

Trust me, some of the best most glorious and transformative things happen when you're off your nut.  People who learn to lose their nuts, maybe even going nuts in the process, find better nuts ... maybe even evolving from just nuts to nut pies, nut cakes, maybe even other kinds of cakes, starting with fruitcakes, and on and on.   

... Now off to write something about fruits, cakes (over-frosted fluffy ones in particular), and being fruity.


P.S. - Women have their nuts too, they're just better protected in their guts and closer to their hearts (Wow, that sounded sorta sappy).  But I'll leave any over analysis of those nuts to their rightful owners. 

P.S.S. - With all this talk about nuts you might assume it, but no, I'm not gay (Maybe I should also leave the over analysis of fruit to those better suited).  But I do like to ride the bus with those who are.  Like most everyone, I have loved ones who are gay.  

P.S.S.S - Yes, if it's not blatantly obvious already, I am nuts (biPolar).  I am a little nutty now, what I call my pre-nut stage, I've been even nuttier before, and I hope to retain the beautiful aspects of the nuttyness I've known.  When you're nuts you really need to learn to sort your nut. I love my nuts, even the ones that hurt me to hold and carry.  I'm learning to hold and carry my good nuts...knowing too that life is a juggling act.  Maybe it's best to be a skillful nut juggler.  I know it's best to end any serious inquiry with maybe.