I’d like to talk about ‘untethering’, because I think it’s important. But before I do, let me give you a quote from one of my favourite authors, Ev Bogue, to explain what ‘tethering’ is:
“A tether is an obligation that keeps me from moving forward with my work or life due to commitments that expend energy. Material possessions can be a tether, but tethers can also be immaterial, such as relationships and data.” – Ev Bogue
So ‘untethering’ is disconnecting from an obligation that prevents you from moving forward with work or life, allowing you to free up your energy on the things that are important to you, that help you move forward in your life and your relationships.
So what I realised today is that most people will avoid untethering from people or possessions in their lives because their dependency on the person or object is greater than their desire to let go of it.
In fact, some people will remain tethered to the idea of remaining tethered to something or someone. Their feelings of obligation override any concerns about how healthy it is for them, or how much time it takes from their day, or how much it hurts them. Only the obligation matters, and so they’ll do everything they can to maintain it.
The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you’re inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.
– Morpheus, The Matrix
Put yourself into The Matrix and imagine, if you will, that Ev Bogue is a member of the resistance fighting the Agents of the Matrix, and trying to wake up those who are caught up in the system.
Most of you aren’t ready to ‘untether’, and many of you are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on those things you’re tethered to, that you will fight to protect them. Or at least to find ways of justifying why you should remain tethered to the things that don’t actually help you.
I admire Ev because I feel like he and I are ‘fighting the same fight’. We just have different ways of fighting it. I see him as being outside the system, while I’m still inside it, still plugged in. And even though I see the truth and try to open other people’s eyes to it, I’m still too afraid to completely unplug myself.
Ev, however, has already unplugged and exited the system.
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