When Ross The Intern met Steve Irwin years ago, he came up with a codeword for when an experience with a wild animal was getting to be too much.
this video is not only
delightful and hilarious (wish the quality was better though),
it's also a very practical guide on
how to contend with impending overwhelm by utilizing the
valuable fear management tool that is:
pineapple!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXbCY_yRWOc
The genuineness of Ross' responses in the moment
and the way Steve responds to him just touches my hopeful li'l heart.
It is important to believe someone when they say pineapple,
but it is helpful to also verify they really mean it
and get a sense of whether there is space
to go beyond that initial sense of fear.
HSP's have a tendency to be extra cautious, and speaking for myself,
at times I do appreciate gentle encouragement and support from others
to consider going beyond that first pineapple.
Sometimes I say pineapple as a protection,
an anticipation of pineapple.
Whatever stage of pineapple, taking that risk to go further can be like an unspoken agreement to borrow some of the confidence of an 'expert' for a short while
in order to reach the next plateau.
And by expert, it doesn't have to be the level of a Steve Irwin, sometimes it can even be a more experienced part of ourselves that knows we want to stretch a bit.
understanding those subtle layers of pineapple,
while respecting that 'pineapple, really'
does mean there is impending panic in that moment.
Enough, for now.
As someone who tends to take life much too seriously,
this video always lightens me right up
and it came to mind as I was processing a recent job experience.
Less than a week after I started it,
I felt like Ross when the animal was first presented,
and I immediately began looking for my Zone of Safety.
For four weeks it eluded me,
and when I tested the waters of trust in those above me
it was getting clear why my spirit was not going to find the
peace it needed to breathe fully.
having a tendency to undervalue my own contributions,
not being valued for what I was bringing to the table from the corporate structure
was looking like it would be a recurring theme
which would damage me emotionally in the longrun.
So I said pineapple.
And removed the tarantula from my shoulder.
They said 'pineapple already?'
(but we need at least a 2 week notice!)
I said pineapple, really, but I am interested in leaving on good terms,
so okay, I can do that.
I just won't breathe on the tarantula.
One day into the 2 weeks I got an extreme headcold
and had to call in sick the next day.
It was unquestionably the right and only thing to do.
That afternoon they called me to say that the day before would be my last day,
'so that they could get someone else in and trained'.
Because of that abruptness, it took a little while to see the favor they were doing me.
They saved me from 2 weeks of further ruminating over of my own sense of pineapple
and trying to explain the unexplainable.
especially to my self.
It can be challenging to accept that pineapple really is quite simply, pineapple really.
~
YOUR FIXED IDENTITY ~ Pema Chodron
In Buddhism we call the notion of a fixed identity “ego clinging.”
It’s how we try to put solid ground under our feet in an ever-shifting world.
Meditation practice starts to erode that fixed identity.
As you sit, you begin to see yourself with more clarity,
and you notice how attached you are to your opinions about yourself.
Often the first blow to the fixed identity is precipitated by a crisis.
When things fall apart in your life, you feel as if your whole world is crumbling.
But actually it’s your fixed identity that’s crumbling.
And as Chögyam Trungpa used to tell us, that’s cause for celebration.
"The planet does not need more 'successful people'. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kinds. It needs people to live well in their places. It needs people with moral courage willing to join the struggle to make the world habitable and humane and these qualities have little to do with success as our culture has set."
- H.H.The Dalai Lama
