Fixation 6: “Ego-Cowardice” / “Over-Adventurer”

The 6 space is the domain of Work and Activities. Work is what validates us in the world. The first question we ask after meeting someone for the first time is often, “What do you do?”, typically meaning, “What work do you do?” or even “What work do you get paid to do?” Work allows us to develop our talents, contribute meaningfully to society, and build community by joining others in a common task. Work resonates in our three centres: this is what I know, this is what I love, this is what I do. On the other hand, if we are not happy at work, the underlying current is fear. If I leave my job, how will I sustain myself? What will happen to me? If I do not work, who am I? How will I continue to be part of the community? This is true even if your work has been unpaid, but of real importance, and for whatever reason you cannot or will not continue to do that work. In the 6 space, there is na intense concern about useless and useful, skills and outcomes. 6 is about the struggle, but also about the conscious release of the struggle. When we succumb to anxiety, we tend to hold our breath, bracing ourselves for an impact. Anxiety is all push, no surrender, or in terms of the Law of Three, all Initiating Force, no Receiving Force. For balance, we must push, then surrender, move forward, fall back, breathe in, then breathe out in a continual rhythm. It is possible to hold our breath, but not for long. Eventually, the body will force us to breathe. One way or another, the rhythm of breath continues from the beginning of our bodily life to its end. When we are out of balance between effort and rest, the inhabitants that show up are The Worries. These can manifest when we work compulsively out of necessity, duty, or fear and end up exhausted. In this case, there is no real rest from our labour, only collapse. We might feel that the resources we need for us to keep working are beyond us and we fall into endless anxiety or worry. On the other hand, if we feel exhausted and cannot focus on work, we might put it off, but worry constantly that our delinquency is going to catch up with us. Worry can freeze us up so that it becomes almost impossible to act, even when acting might alleviate the worry. Fear, as opposed to worry, is a response to the unknown; it is necessary to keep us from harm. Real fear – felt in the body – won’t let us harm ourselves. When we are about to cross a busy street, a healthy fear of the unknown makes us look for traffic before we cross. Without that fear, we would assume that we were safe, because it would not have occurred to us that there was any other possibility. This fear is necessary for our survival.

Worry is a waste of energy. It gives us the illusion of doing something, when there is nothing to be done. We focus on imaginary perils that will never come or real perils that we can have no effect on. Try carrying around a notebook and pen to keep track of how many of your worries do not come to pass or are beyond your control. Chances are it’s almost 100%. The biggest unknown, and also the greatest certainty, is death. We can choose to worry about death or we can take a conscious walk with our fear of death. If you believe in an afterlife, death is not the end, merely a threshold. Even if you do not believe that some part of you survives after death, life on earth goes on “within you and without you”. The Military is a symbol of the 6 space. The military is, at core, about preserving the safety of the tribe, the nation, our people. This relies on a large force of people willing to show up and do their duty. We either have an attraction to this totem, as a symbol of security, or a repulsion from it, as a symbol of fear and terror. Other totems of the 6 space include industry associations, factories, hobbies (something you love that requires work and focus), cooperatives, sports (teamwork), parks and recreation (leisure), tool stores, and kitchen stores. The poison of the 6 space and the poison that representes the social instinct overall is deceit. Deceit is a cognitive bias, error or “opinion”; subjectivity. It is the perception we have – of superiority or inferiority etc. Insecurity persists within this personality and the most obvious mechanism is projection. All doubts, worries and biases are projected, “externalized”. The 6 tends to believe people are out there to kill him, or that people won’t like him and many other beliefs. There is a suspiciousness and essential doubt. A skeptical, logical and theoretical approach is linked with the 6 space. Fear makes us rely on things, and 6 relies on logic and scientific methods. Methodology and academic mannerisms. The logic the 6 seeks may be from external authority, clinging to people he deems to be knowledgeable, or a subjective logic, personal conclusions. Devotion, fanaticism and related structures of personality are situated in the 6 space. Schizophrenia, paranoid personality disorder. A 6 may reduce acute anxiety by transforming (converting) psychological suffering into physical symptoms. The characters representing the polarities shall be the worker and the adventurer. The former is responsible, dutiful, tends to panic and complicate things. The latter is delinquent, playful, tends to simplify things and remain in skepticism and ignorance.