Taking the Crust Off

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“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” – Albert Einstein

Around Christmas, my mom was helping my 6-year-old daughter with some Legos. Frustrated by something she tried many times, my mom turned to me and said, “Do they sometimes forget to put pieces in these kits?”

I laughed because I’ve thought that many times. When the instructions don’t work and everything seems to almost but not quite fit and I want to blame the instructions. But from my experience, it has never been the instructions that have been faulty. I’ve usually found an error in previous steps that once reversed, it works fine.

Life has taught me that this just doesn’t happen with Legos. That when life feels blocked, often we spend a lot of energy trying to problem solve where we are at before realizing we go back a few steps to fix what is fundamentally causing the issue. It may be a wound we try to cover over instead of heal or a belief about ourselves, others or life that we never revisit to test if it is true.

Recently I was listening to an On Being podcast where writer Katherine May interviewed author Michael Pollan. He was talking about his research into using psychedelic drugs for therapeutic purposes. One of the benefits he said was “Recovering the profundity that we already know. Like ‘love is everything.’ We spend a lot of time encrusting these fundamental ideas about life and reality with irony and all these protective rhetorical devices to keep them at bay. And suddenly that crust comes off.”

While the chances of me doing a psychedelic trip are about zero, I was struck by the notion of uncovering what we already know. Or in Michael Pollan’s words, taking off the crust. Going back a few steps, in Lego speak.

Praying, meditating, writing, therapy, honest dialogue, vision journaling – all these tools remind me of a mediation retreat but I think they are our ways of discerning where in the directions we went wrong. To somehow reveal that thing that keeps bugging us but we can’t quite put a finger on.

In the On Being interview, Michael Pollan described why insightful experiences, however we come about them, have such power to create long term change in us. He brought up the work of William James who was talking about mystical experiences 100 years ago. Michael Pollan explained, “One of the characteristics of that [mystical experience] besides ego dissolution and transcendence of time and space was the Noetic quality. That is the quality that what you learned, the insights you had were not merely opinions but revealed truth. They have a stickiness and power that I think is central to people being able to change. The difference between knowing in your head and knowing in your heart and whole being.”

When my mom was having trouble with the Legos, I sat down with her (my daughter having wandered off long before) and we looked at the directions, the picture and our pieces. Then my eyes, new to the project, were able to spot the tiny extra red piece that made all the difference. I wouldn’t call it a mystical experience but we whooped with delight at fixing something. When we take off the crust and look inside, especially together, it’s fun to discover how it all works and put it together better.

(featured photo from Pexels)

14 thoughts on “Taking the Crust Off”

  3. Wynne, it’s a joy to witness, through your reflections, the way in which you learn from even the smallest experiences in your day-to-day life 🙂 I love the quote from Michael Pollan about the Noetic quality in which “insights you had were not merely opinions but revealed truth.” That kind of knowing with one’s whole being makes the world of difference in our lives and vision of our place in this world.

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    1. Rosaliene, I appreciate your comment so much! I was just driving in the car, perhaps at the very moment you were typing this comment, and thinking that I finally figured out what my blog was about: “What did you learn today?” Because that is when I’m happiest is when I’m observing and learning. Thank you so much for being willing to come along this ride with me and for adding your wise commentary!

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  4. Perhaps perspective makes all the difference. Your fresh eyes spotted the issue. Similar to sharing a problem with a friend or therapist. Reframing provides an opportunity for additional insights. Such an insightful post.

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  6. Those pesky Lego problems! 😆 It’s past 11 over here so my wee little head is a little crunched so I will need to re-look at the Pollan quote tomorrow with fresh eyes – ha! and I’m not being ironic – to really absorb all that it contains.

    But I do agree that sometimes it takes having some distance, or taking a few steps back (taking the crust off)… or having fresh eyes to figure out a problem. I find that often happens in life or in work… sometimes even letting it be and sleeping on it almost solves itself in your sleep.

    It’s also funny you mentioned psychedelics. Red Table Talk, a fantastic web talk show, did a series of episodes on magic mushrooms as a form of therapy recently. Fascinating stuff. Not for me probably but the Frank and science-based conversation was very interesting.

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    1. Oh, that’s so interesting about the Red Table Talk. I love knowing what you are listening to, Ab! But yes, the science-based conversation about psychadelics is so interesting. Michael Pollan said a trip could last as long as 6 hours which sealed it for me (not that I was on the fence) – no way I’d have the time for that! 🙂

      And sleep — yes, yes, yes! The most consistent way to solve a problem ever!

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  7. Beautiful post, Wynne.
    “When we take off the crust and look inside, especially together, it’s fun to discover how it all works and put it together better.”
    True. Retrospection is rewarding.
    Best wishes.
    Chaya

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