Feeding Your Mind: 5 Ways of Feeding Your Inner Personality

“Feeding Your Mind” is an article designed to assist you in enhancing your self-awareness. It introduces five fundamental yet widespread techniques for nurturing your mind, heart, soul, and spirit. Now, let’s delve further into this subject as follows.

STEP 1: YOUR EYES

Nourishing the mind is among the most overlooked aspects on earth. We frequently nourish our bodies, yet often neglect the importance of enriching our minds. Our eyes serve as the primary input method; they are our innate input devices. Through them, we gather information from the external environment to our internal realm. Essentially, we nourish our minds, spirits, and souls with what we see.

The things we observe can be categorized as good, evil, or a mixture of both. The world encompasses everything. It presents us with both positive and negative sights, including those that are inherently evil.

Regardless of what we observe, we must decide how to act on that information. We can choose to retain or discard it swiftly. This suggests that our innate tendencies dictate what we preserve and what we eliminate, a concept known as nativity. Research indicates that nature indeed takes precedence over nurture. While both are significant, nature is primary, yet each has its place.

Our eyes serve as the initial portal to our souls and spirits. In my view, the soul, spirit, and mind are synonymous, denoting the intangible essence, the true self, or one aspect of our being.

We exist as entities with both material and immaterial aspects, similar to other creatures. Our material aspect is the tangible, physical body made up of cells and organs. Among these, the optical eye is an essential organ.

Whatever our eyes can see, our brains can analyze. Our brains are physical entities that collaborate with our minds, souls, and spirits to comprehend and interpret our observations. The mind is spiritual, intangible, and non-physical, whereas the brain is physical and tangible. The brain and mind work in unison, much like software interacts with a memory card in a computer or phone.

It is believed by some that we possess three distinct types of vision: optical/physical eyes, the mind, and spiritual eyes. We can voluntarily open and close our optical/physical and mental eyes, but we cannot control our spiritual eyes in the same way. Our spiritual vision is not under our complete control; it is opened by divine or otherworldly forces for certain reasons.

When someone reacts with tears or claims to see something invisible to our normal sight, we may think they are delusional. However, this is not necessarily the case. They may appear irrational because their spiritual vision is active, allowing them to perceive what is hidden from us. Their testimony about their visions is truthful, as they are the direct witnesses.

STEP 2: YOUR EARS

Just as our eyes perform marvels, our ears are equally remarkable as input devices. They assist us in receiving and processing information. In the same way that our eyes relay information to our brains, our ears also transmit data for thorough analysis, processing, and comprehension. This is an excellent method of nourishing your mind with appropriate content.

Moreover, we decide what to retain and what to discard after our eyes deliver information to our brains. This implies that our innate tendencies determine what to preserve and what to eliminate. While some may dispute this perspective, and that’s perfectly acceptable, it doesn’t negate the fact that nurture or upbringing can have a positive or negative impact on our lives. It simply suggests that although we may be influenced temporarily, we tend to revert to our inherent dispositions: our natures.

For instance, consider the way we feed our minds: a child might be compelled to live or behave in a certain manner due to their current circumstances. However, once removed from that situation, they are likely to return to their natural state. Peer pressure is indeed a fact of life, but its effect is transient. Anything external that enters us eventually leaves, after a certain period.

What we retain aligns with our nature, and what we discard conflicts with our human essence. Our nature inherently shapes our preferences and aversions.

However, our likes and dislikes may also stem from past negative experiences with certain things or individuals, known as the experiential or exposure effect. Such external influences are transient and not permanent.

Humans link sounds to events, whether positive or negative, influencing us accordingly based on the associated memories. Our brains store this information for later use. They also connect specific sounds to particular events, prompting instinctive reactions whenever we encounter those sounds again.

STEP 3: YOUR TONGUE

Our tongues, much like our eyes and ears, serve as input devices. They help us gather information from the external world to our internal realm. As previously mentioned, we decide what to retain and what to discard based on our inherent nature.

Some may argue that nurture is more influential than nature, yet this remains a debatable theory. If our past experiences solely shaped our lives, then individuals with identical upbringings would exhibit identical behaviors. This, however, is not the case. Even identical twins, who share the same environment, education, and diet, display distinct personalities and preferences. This diversity underscores the complexity of human nature.

Our tongues, one of the five senses, keep us aware and conscious of life and ourselves. Without these senses, we wouldn’t be able to discern if we are alive. Similarly, they serve as our nourishment methods, transporting information to our internal world of organs and organic systems, both physical and spiritual.

The world around us can compel or persuade us to act in various ways, making self-discovery crucial. It instills confidence that our choices are correct. However, this doesn’t mean we should ignore sound advice. We should heed it, but its value also hinges on our individual nature and upbringing.

STEP 4: YOUR NOSE

As we nourish our minds, our noses serve as input devices, similar to our eyes, ears, and tongues. Remarkably, four of the five physical senses are located on our heads: sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Our noses collect and relay information to our brains for interpretation. What the brain deems pleasant is accepted as such, and what it considers unpleasant is recognized as bad.

Our sense of smell informs us whether an odor is agreeable or not. This data is processed and may be stored in certain brain regions for future reference. Our reactions to scents are nearly instantaneous, which is a natural response.

As previously stated, our inherent nature plays a significant role in determining what constitutes a pleasant aroma, although our past experiences and cultural contexts heavily influence our perceptions of what smells are good or bad. For instance, in Nuer and Dinka cultures, it is considered highly inappropriate for an adult to pass gas in the company of others, a sentiment that may differ in other cultural settings.

This illustrates how external factors like culture can uniquely influence our nature. For some cultures, the act of releasing wind is seen as a sign of relief, health, and vitality, and is therefore encouraged. Indeed, it is natural and healthy for all humans and animals to expel this air. However, cultural teachings, doctrines, and traditional practices are designed for public adherence. As an individual who has discovered your own identity, you may hold personal truths that differ from widespread beliefs and practices.

For instance, I no longer hold the same belief in folklore tales that I did as a child. In South Sudan, many such stories are purely tales, fictional at best. There are imaginative and humorous narratives about figures such as the late Dr. John Garang and Dr. Riek Machar, among others.

Yet, it appears that humans find common ground on many aspects despite cultural variances. People universally categorize certain odors as pleasant or unpleasant. While different languages may have distinct words for the same scent, the underlying meaning often aligns with the odor being good or bad. The same applies to colors; we simply assign them names.

STEP 5: YOUR SKIN

The skin serves as an input device for the mind, both in humans and animals. It conveys sensations from the external body to the internal organs and systems. Similarly, the skin gathers information for the brain to process, allowing us to understand what we feel. For instance, when my hand touches something, the brain interprets this and gives it meaning.

Likewise, the brain can perceive real or imagined sensations and communicate them to my hand, and the reverse is also true. An example of this is when I touch something hot; my hand relays the sensation of heat to the brain, which then instructs the hand to withdraw quickly.

Our feelings can be categorized as physical, mental/spiritual, or a combination of both. Mental feelings stem from our heart, soul, and spirit. The terms mind, heart, spirit, and soul all refer to the non-physical aspects of our existence, indicating that we are beings of both physical and spiritual nature.

We either retain or discard whatever we perceive through our skin. Whether we preserve or erase any sensation received through our skin is wholly dependent on our individual natures. We might favor or detest certain tactile sensations because they may be linked to negative feelings and experiences from our past.

The adage “Once bitten, twice shy” seems applicable when considering our painful memories of past sensations. In the Nuer and Dinka languages, we express a similar sentiment: “Raan cii kërac kɔn cam ee kat anuaar,” in Dinka, and “Ram ci thɔ̱l ɛ kɔn cam la dualɛ kɛ rɔk,” in Nuer, which translates to “someone once bitten by a snake recoils at the sight of a mere rope.” In Dinka, the term for snake is “something bad,” or kërac.

There’s also a notion in my community that men are more afraid of snakes than women, although I’m not sure if this is factual or merely a myth. Despite widespread belief, it may or may not hold truth. I believe that all humans and animals have a fear of snakes, not just men. This could be seen as another instance of gender-based prejudice against men.

YOU HAVE A PERSONAL CHOICE

I’ve discussed various methods of nurturing the mind. Having read my perspectives on the five senses, the choice remains yours. You might agree or disagree with my view that our five senses feed our non-material aspects: spirit, soul, mind, and heart. Perhaps you believe that humans and other animals lack these non-material parts that require nourishment.

You might consider these parts purely fictional or non-existent in any tangible sense. However, it is certain that we possess this ‘software’ within us. Some believe that the physical resides within the spiritual, rather than vice versa. Others think that spiritual entities inhabit physical forms. Yet, the reality of the spirit is undeniable. What are your thoughts?

MY FINAL ADVICE

My final piece of advice is to acknowledge our limitations. We are merely human, and our understanding of things, including ourselves, is almost always constrained in every conceivable way. Whether in agreement or dissent, we remain human, with humanity as our shared identity.

Therefore, we must not let any differences overcome us, divide us, or drive us to commit acts of evil against one another, as has happened in the past, is happening now, and may continue in the future. Humans are meant to live in peace, love, and harmony with one another, just as bees do within their communities, each fulfilling their role. Bees understand their ultimate purpose in life.

Consider this: some insects appear to know precisely why they exist, performing the tasks they were created for. Why then can’t we humans live in peace and harmony? Can’t we each be diligently fulfilling our intended purpose? The Bible points to ants as an example, creatures that perform their duties well, and it encourages us to emulate their industrious behavior. This is a nourishing thought for the mind each day as you venture into nature.