Under pressure

Today we are travelling back to Paris circa a decade ago.

When I was looking for an image today, I purposefully looked for something with water, not only that, but I wanted an image where the water came out in force.

Clearly this fella was all too happy to pose in front of the arch, but for me the important part was that jet of water.

Something told me that it would be useful to turn our view to pressure. That feeling that we all get when things become tight in our chest, for whatever reason.

I guess pressure can come from worrying about something; not speaking up about something, being super exited, impatience. And of course, the most obvious pressure is those deadlines that all of us would have been under at one point or another. As I was contemplating this jet of water, I was asking myself what puts me under pressure? Is it something external that is happening to me? Is it something that is internal? Is it something inherited? Is it something I was born with? And to be honest is all of the above.

The other day I was contemplating my own history and where some of my own behaviours; thoughts, ways of being come from, and it was surprising to take note of their origins.

Have you figured out where your own responses come from?

Part of the pressure I feel is that I want to attain perfection, in my mind, reconciling that emotion of failure is hard to experience. And yes, perhaps my spelling is not so great sometimes (but I have found a short cut – write in word then upload to Patreon), and sometimes I forget the words for things in English – but that is something I got to grips with a few years ago. Being a speaker of multiple languages, I learnt to deal with my slight language mistakes. But I am talking about more meaningful mistakes, those ones I am not very good at dealing with.

Have you found ways to deal with your mistakes?

Are they truly mistakes or is it just your perspective? So, I guess I am wondering this pressure we find ourselves under, where is it all coming from?

And perhaps in one of my earlier posts I have already approached the subject of failure, so I guess the question is, do we feel under pressure for fear of failure?

Oh, and then the word fear comes up, so do we feel under pressure because of the fear?

It is interesting to muse on this topic of pressure.

Is it just an emotional reaction to something?

Is it a physical reaction?

Is it a chemical reaction? Or is it all of the above?

The guy in the picture is a snapshot in time with his arms in the air, trying to hold the shape, encompassing the world around him in his embrace, whilst the water bubbles up and folds onto it self again; rises up and falls back under the pressure of gravity.

And then my mind asks itself, did this guy feel under pressure to pose for an image? Or is this just his natural state?

Hmm… pressure…

Time to take out your diary and take some notes when answering the questions.

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