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    Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire
    Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire
    Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire
    Ebook122 pages1 hour

    Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire

    By Alexander MacDonald

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    About this ebook

    As long as our species have walked upright, we have sought solace and respite from tedium and strife through escapism. We conjure stories, daydream, fantasize, as well as willfully pursuing other, more invasively destructive and compulsive activities such as: sex, eating, computer gaming, recreational drugs, gambling, and of course alcohol, to name only a few.

    There is always a balance and I think Oscar Wilde must be joking when he wrote, “everything in moderation including moderation.” I think the more creative phrase would be, “Everything in moderation, excluding moderation.”

    In humanity’s bid for ease, the sociological norm is to avoid pain and suffering. If one is suffering the probable reaction is to try to apply a soothing balm. This is where the distractions come into play. Even though it may make sense to avoid painful situations, sometimes the best — most creative — way out is through. When one is willing to accept and embrace pain in their moment, there may be amazing boons just around the corner, or in the case of going into the fire: through the veil of the flames.

    Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire seeks to support and encourage the reader to move closer to their heart. Increased connection with the heart could precipitate a unifying process that will diminish the schism between head and heart that is prevalent in many 21st century industrialized world inhabitants. Reuniting head and heart will inspire and encourage joining with others in a Purely Loving way.

    If one wants peace, ease, and freedom, the irony and paradox is that one must inhabit their situation, even if — especially if —the situation is filled with fear and potential pain. They must courageously step towards and even into the dreadful situation. Embracing pain is pain beginning to diminish. Acceptance of pain provides one opportunities to increase their authenticity and to practice connecting with others in a heart-centered way.

    I think if people understood deeper and more meaningful connections were available, they would reach for them. Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire is intended to offer support and to lend encouragement to the practice of extending into and through fear and pain. The reader is invited to courageously and vulnerably open; and to receive that which one truly wants most — connection, joy, ease, freedom, and love. All of these and more are available to a courageous heart willing to brave the flames.

    Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire could be of interest to any who are reaching up, or wanting to. But it will be of greatest interest and value to those who have already started their healing journey. Perhaps they have worked long and hard; they have completed some magnificent strides, and accomplished a sense of ease and contentment on their journey. They have arrived at a pleasant plateau, but it seems the next creative step is unclear or illusive. This book could be a friend along the way to more healing, clarity, accomplishment, and Loving connections.

    The farther one goes on their journey inward, like going down the rabbit hole, the stranger becomes more commonplace. Likewise, the further one reads in Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire the less expected it becomes. Enjoy!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAlexander MacDonald
    Release dateMar 21, 2019
    ISBN9780463734780
    Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire
    Author

    Alexander MacDonald

    Alexander is a social and syntactical anarchist, steeped in ignorance and unencumbered by formal education. He was razed in and rejected from the Ontario public school system, is hypersensitive and highly intelligent, although in an approachable and accommodating way. Alexander is a complicated simpleton: a multi-faceted, multidimensional metaphysician with gratitude alchemizing life’s experiences into Pure Gold. He lives small, opens wide, dreams big, and offers much. Alexander’s primary focus and motivation is to live life, and produce art that comes from the Heart, with the intention of reaching other people’s Hearts. He resides off the wild West Coast of BC, on Haida Gwaii.

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      Book preview

      Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire - Alexander MacDonald

      Out of The Frying Pan

      and Into the Fire

      or

      Ban The Balm

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright 2019 Alexander MacDonald

      Also available by Alexander:

      The Little Big Bus Book

      Free World Man

      Table of Contents

      Author’s Foreword

      Orientation

      Chapter 1 ~ Liking the Burn

      Chapter 2 ~ Fear and Indifference

      Chapter 3 ~ The Compensatory Automaton

      Chapter 4 ~ Head to Heart

      Chapter 5 ~ Move or Die

      Chapter 6 ~ Making Friends with Inertia

      Chapter 7 ~ The Consummate Dipper

      Appendix 1

      Appendix 2

      Appendix 3

      Epilogue

      About Alexander MacDonald

      Author’s Foreword

      I guess mine is a common story … driving on Highway 11 south from Saskatoon heading for Regina in the wee small hours of a frozen February Sunday night, I was cruising carefree a couple hundred kilometres from anything other than snow, ice, and frosty prairie.

      The temperature was a little colder than –40, and the time was about 1 in the morning. I was driving in a groovey way one minute, the next there was a metal on metal crescendo and then a high-pitched whine and my vehicle was coasting — just coasting. The fault arose not due to the cold weather, neither was it because I had been on the road for more than 16 hours, nor was it because my veggie oil burning motor had sucked a french fry into an injector.

      I drifted off to the side of the road, as much as the snow banks would allow, turned off my engine, and sat. There were no other cars on the road. I was accompanied only by the metallic ticking and clicking of the engine quickly cooling down, and the cold seeping in from every exterior surface. With little else to do but survive, I crawled into my sleeping bag keeping the faith I’d figure something out bright and early Monday morning.

      I did have a good sleep, and to shorten a long story, I awoke and called a tow truck that towed my vehicle and me the hundred or so kilometres into Regina. The Regina mechanic counselled me to just walk away — that is not my style. I called my friend Murray in Moosomin and he said, Bring it in.

      Back onto the tow truck for another couple of hours which added up to some of the most expensive miles I’ve ever traveled with my vehicle. By tea time we were rolling it off the tow truck’s flatbed in Murray’s transmission shop yard.

      This all seems pretty normal and smooth, right? Well in fact the situation was cause for concern. I had almost no money when I started out on the transcontinental journey, and was left with pretty much none after my day’s tow. Murray took me to a local motel owner friend of his who very kindly allowed me to stay in one of their vacant rooms for a couple of days in exchange for doing some maintenance around the place. When it turned out it was going to be a week or two to complete the repairs on my vehicle my generous host realized the extent of her generosity was not that vast.

      Thankfully Murray’s generosity was, and he invited me to take up residence in his transmission shop. While staying in the beautiful motel room I watched a fun movie. It was a simple story of a loveable guy who was intelligent, sensitive, kind and just a little too off beat to really thrive in the mainstream as a 9 to 5er.

      This guy reminded me of me and when I said at the beginning mine is a common story I was being facetious! I realized at a very young age that I would not willingly stick my parts into the machine that fed and perpetuated the system I think of as The Big Lie.

      Through a series of unlikely, but laughable events, the movie’s hero finally found himself at a point of inspiration where he decided to write a guidebook in support of others on their journey. I thought to myself, Ooo, that’s a good idea, I would love to share what I’ve learned!

      What I have learned is that an elemental and essential component of everyone’s healing journey — whether 10,000 miles along or teetering on the brink of taking their first step — is the need to diligently recognize and remove the survival strategy of applying a compensational balm when suffering difficult emotions. Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire issued forth from me like a graceful geyser as I lived and wrote in Murray’s garage. After two weeks when my beloved vehicle was ready to roll I had completed the first draft of this book.

      That was several years ago, and although some of the words have changed, most of that which was laid down in the dusty, cold, and hospitable garage remain. Just as writing these words has nurtured me, I pray you are joyously encouraged and inspired on your journey!

      back to Table of Contents

      Orientation

      Out of the frying pan and into the fire is a cliché with which I was raised. My understanding of the saying is that it speaks of things going from bad to worse, and implies that this process is harmful and to be avoided. Of course, on one hand it makes sense to avoid discomfort, pain, and suffering. On the other hand, discomfort, pain, and suffering, are inescapable, and in fact, crucial and meaningful elements of our journey through the human experience.

      If instead of being received as an adversary, or at least an unwelcome guest, suffering is seen from the perspective of being a valuable and important part of life, our suffering could be received with sincere gratitude. Please consider that in avoidance of the pain and flames is a form of fearful denial.

      I remember in the past when I would come to a fork on the cobbled road to my most ardently yearned for dreams, if one road looked dark and foreboding, even if my Heart told me to go for it, I’d somehow rationalize taking the easy way out. In those days, it seemed like an okay choice — I’d tell myself there were many ways up the same mountain. I still believe there are many ways up the same mountain, and it is important to remember that when ascending one needs to climb; and climbing takes effort.

      I guess the idea of embracing pain could seem counterintuitive, but I have noticed consistently that some of my greatest opportunities for personal growth have been realized as a result of profound losses, pain, and sorrow. The old expression, That smarts could have a much deeper meaning!

      An excellent example of the value of leaping into the flames is when I first started school. I remember having lengthy conversations with my mother; I did not want to go to school. Nonetheless, I was delivered to school on the predetermined day, and left in the company of strangers.

      Oh wait, that’s a poor example of leaping into the flames because I never did like school and I did not truly leap into the flames or embrace my situation. Instead, I held my breath and tensed up, and believe I suffered more than was helped as a result of my school experience. For me, school was consistently painful, and I did not even conceive that an alternative outlook was possible.

      I had yet to learn that, if one is to free one’s self from the chronic suffering that I describe as life in the frying pan; sometimes it is necessary for our health and happiness to jump right into the fire. But back in those days, Into the fire??? That did not even make sense to consider; it seemed in the fire was only the promise of intensified suffering and death. No, the best one could do was to cope with the situation in the frying pan — somehow!

      As for my time in school, had I loosened up, sought out and cultivated the portions that pleased me, and enjoyed friendly connections with other people, I believe I would have had a very different

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