Gifts and flowers wrapped in pretty paper, consumer products and food carefully arranged, wrapped to show only the best side and covered in ‘information’, advertising, brides in designer gowns, all fashion and clothing styles, makeup, hairstyles, uniforms, costumes and suits, rituals and customs, car models, fancy picture frames, book covers, house designs, perfumes and deodorisers, grant applications as justifications for support, resumés and curriculum vitae, the profiles, charters, brands and principles of companies, charities, institutions and governments, politics, corporate social responsibility and philanthropy, military might and posturing, bluff in all its forms… gosh, a lot of stuff comes packaged!
Underlying these could be any number of things going on that bear close scrutiny:
- Engagement of emotions.
- That the essence of the thing is perceived to be ‘not good enough’ to stand alone in its truth.
- That perhaps the thing is actually not that good and would be seen as such and rejected unless covered up by ‘packaging’.
- That some kind of ‘force’ is required to make the thing acceptable to the senses, to ‘sell it’ to people, regardless of its merits.
- That appearances are used to override our natural sense of what is and is not necessary, or even right for us, and thus gain power and control over us.
- A belief that people fall for deception and are able to be deceived by appearances.
- That people will not speak up when they find they’ve fallen for deception and have been deceived by appearances.
These things say a lot about the motivation behind packaging, and they say a lot about us who do it, and who ‘fall for it’, and who don’t call it out for the deception it is.
When I sit down to ponder on ‘packaging,’ the list grows exponentially to include things I normally would not think of as packaging.
But when you really look around, the whole of our modern life is based on packaging: putting a layer of illusion (of varying degrees of untruth) around something’s essence in order to ‘look better’ or look different from what it truly is, to increase reception (by deception) so that it can be desired more, taken in and accepted, not for itself, but as the ‘whole package’. A lie, basically.
It doesn’t stop with material things. In fact the material things are probably the smallest component of the ‘global packaging deception’. Into the packaging ‘package’ there’s our own behaviour of putting on appearances:
- Pretending to be happy when we’re sad.
- Saying we’re fine when we’re actually feeling awful.
- Being depressed or having disorders when it serves to protect us from engaging with people and the world.
- Appearing to be full of energy when really we’re tired.
- Looking fashionably cool and aloof when really we’re craving love and connection.
- To be seen as an atheist when deep inside we have a sense of divinity that we don’t want to admit to.
- To appear stupid when we don’t want responsibility.
- To look strong when we feel vulnerable and wobbly.
- To look sexy when we don’t feel like it and really want intimacy and love.
- Using pseudonyms and anonymity.
- Name-changing: to look authoritative when we feel insecure and inferior.
- To appear intelligent and knowledgeable when we feel inadequate…
This list could go over pages and pages…
And then there is the most insidious form of packaging of all… the appearances of things and activities that seem fine on the surface and that we accept, but which contain within them energy of a kind that is not what we would approve of or accept, if we were aware of the nature of the energy behind them – for example, religious leaders who are paedophiles behind the scenes, or lovely-sounding music written and/or sung by abusive drug-takers.
What if we unpacked ourselves? What if we opened up, threw off all our packaging, our illusions, caps and covers, and allowed the world to see our true selves?
An immediate effect for me as I’ve begun to ‘unpack myself’ lovingly is incredible relief – to drop the tension of living a lie. Another: an increased sense of togetherness and relatedness. I increasingly discover that I and the people I meet, who also felt ‘packed up’ and separate, are more alike than we thought, carrying the same hurts and experiencing the same quandaries and difficulties in various shades and tones. I begin to see that even some of the ‘truths’ of myself that have been exposed during various stages of unpacking have (still) been deceptive packages and that another layer, or twenty, may have to come off for the shining spark of God at my core to be fully revealed.
What if as one humanity we did even the first layer of unpackaging together?
Might it bring compassion for others, as well as understanding and acceptance? We could begin to see the true essence of everyone and every-thing. Our sense of truth could naturally rise; we might no longer be fooled by appearances and could better discern the quality of energy behind everything and thus refine our choices.
What if ‘packaging’ could then become a way of supporting and expressing the true essence of people and things instead of creating a false appearance to hide it?
What if our clothes, makeup, houses, work, all the stuff and activities of how we look and live life, could then be shared, joyful celebrations of truth – the truth of us? Would some of our habits and behaviours fall away? Would we no longer need to consume so much or change fashions, emotions and moods as often as we have done? Would possessions, acquisitions, quests and dissatisfactions start falling away?
With an unpacked humanity, perhaps our companions – the planet, plants and animals – could breathe a sigh of relief!
So here’s today’s slogan:
“Unpack yourself today! And bring a friend or two, or 7 billion!” |
By Dianne Trussell
Related Reading:
~ Returning To Our Essence
~ Trusting and Expressing From My Essence
~ Magic of Knowing… We are All One & the Same on the Inside
Words on Serge Benhayon 
To be able to see and learn to unpack the falseness of the packaging of ourselves to fit in to life, a life that is packaged up for us to not see the gift that we all contain within the human body, is indeed what freedom is all about, discarding layer upon layer of the what is not, to reveal the true gift that lies within each and every one of us.
I cried when I read ‘unpack yourself today’. Thank you. I am going to take me and my dog for a walk on the beach and unpack me…..
Sometimes we can become so attached to the packaging that we think that is who we are and forget that the real gift is inside.
Beautifully said Nicola, and how very true. I know that I had forgotten who I was and have been absolutely delighted by the wonderful woman I have rediscovered under the many layers of packaging.
Yes and there seems to be no end to the rediscovery in that the wonder and awesomeness just keep deepening and expanding – a never ending gift.
We have become very good good indeed at presenting what we perceive to be an ‘ideal package’ of ourselves, but rarely is it a true representation or reflection of who we truly are. Time to take off the wrappings.
This just had me musing about one particular package which is a certain brand of activism that calls out against packaging on a save the world platform and yet the activism itself when carried out emotionally is a form of packaging!
I had never thought the behaviour of ‘keeping up appearances’ as a form of packaging but on deeper consideration I can see how it actually is. We are simply wrapping ourselves up in deceit of all forms, from that plastic smile, to nice words, forever pleasing others, and so on. All these behaviours are not in truth who we really are so to live like this we have to package ourselves in very unnatural and often very uncomfortable ways.
All too often we present a false bravado or face to the world that is a facade to cover what we are really feeling underneath.
Thank you Diane for un-packaging so clearly how we package ourselves.
Time to expose the lie – could not agree more Elizabeth
My personal packaging is so very well polished, crafted since childhood so that what you get does not cause offence, will fit in, and will be liked. I had not realised that it also has the effect of hiding who I truly am and continues the lie that so many of us live in.
What is super weird is that we hide who we are when who we are is glorious beyond any possible false packaging!
Yesterday, I bought a hat and was offered an elaborate hat box that bore no resemblance to the simplicity of the hat and had to be constructed to form the box. The gem was the hat, not the box. The hat box symbolised packaging we use to protect ourselves from the outside world that conceals the very essence of who we are.
Hiding the jewel within that cannot shine brightly until it has been unpacked.
To walk in the world free of packaging, simply being ourselves blesses humanity.
Well you have certainly ‘unpacked’ much of the world in your wonderfully wise blog Dianne. And I especially can relate to the personal unpacking, something I have been working at in my own life. It was an easy choice to make when I realised how exhausting it was to stay packaged up, pretending to be someone else instead of the amazing me.
This is a great conversation to have in regards to packaging. Plastic of all kinds has become the scourge of the world it is every where polluting our seas, rivers and land. I saw recently a video that had been taken of a riven in the pacific and it was swollen with plastic garbage and the army had to be called in to clear it up. We don’t seem to realise just how precious the worlds eco system is and the fact that we have only one world. There is no where else to go, so you would think that we would take greater care of it. But I guess as we do not take care of ourselves we are hardly likely to take care of the planet. To me the two go hand in hand if we take care of ourselves we will naturally take care of the planet.
It’s a brilliant observation Diane, and one that invites us to see the truth of how many layers we have built of deception and protection, not realising that these layers are the only thing that are hurting and threatening us.
Yes, if we can see them for what they are they no longer have the power to manipulate and control us, from then on it is our choice to be hooked, or not.
This weekend Serge Benhayon made a comment about how silly it is that we live in a world where we can not do without having everything wrapped. This is the same with who we are, we have created a character that is void of our essence as a protective ‘wrapper’.
Love the slogan Dianne, for every person unpacked there are thousands that are inspired to follow.
I love this Dianne, I would so support a drop all packaging campaign from an environmental point of view to emotional wellbeing, having what we need and being who we truly are and not standing for or falling for government policies that are clearly wrong no matter how well they are packaged.
Being ourselves is so uncommon that when we decide to start on the path of evolution we immediately can realise how much work there is to do.
Everything in life is a reflection of us in life. When we hide ourselves behind smiles and don’t show how we truly feel, we can’t but be dishonest with selling products for instance. It is quite beautiful to see all is linked and how the answer to all of this is also in the same place – in us being the real and true us.
I love where you have taken the packaging conversation – how we as people put on a happy face just to get the job done. There is so much truth in this and the double life we easily lead in fear of not being open and raw and asking for support. But we have a culture where we think this is weak. Is it? Or is the weakness in us not actually being honest with ourselves and each other?
Surrender to rawness and transparency allows us to stop pretending and putting on a mask that appears lovely on the outside but hides old patterns, behaviours and hurts that we may have held onto for many years and feel somewhat comfortable with but to be able to express these old ways and share with others we find that many other people also carry similar behaviours and or hurts and once shared we can grow together and all support each other to unpack our unwanted layers and reconnect to the true essence of who we are which is itching to get out there.
Us humans can be curious creatures. We create the packaging – the layers we put in place to mask the truth of who we are – just so we can busy ourselves in the unpacking process. That is – we create the problems that we then busy ourselves finding the solution for, no matter that the problem and the solution are all part of the same package of energy that is not born of the love that we are.
There is nothing quite so precious as being who you are, no trimmings needed, for nothing is greater than the essence of each of us.
There is an exquisite simplicity to the Soul that does not come drowned in the ‘bells and whistles’ the spirit seeks to clothe itself in.
I can see the packaging has become what we see as the ‘all’, that there is little to discern below what we see on the surface and yet this can be manipulated to say exactly what the providers want us to know. If we live with layers masking our essence then we will accept this as normal in others, in fact we won’t question it at all because it will call to a part of us we have masked.
It is true that we often feel deceived by the packaging, that once opened, the contents is nothing like what it implied on the outside. But I have a sense that that may not be quite how it started. It could be that we knew the outer was only an external layer of what was inside therefore there was an effort in preserving the outer to uphold and reflect the quality inside, to honour that quality – nothing more, nothing less.
If you think about it, it takes an incredibly large amount of intelligence and effort to engineer every little aspect of our whole life to not represent who we truly are. Imagine that level of dedication to being who we really are – it would be phenomenal.
Yes and really exhausting. I know for my part, then the decision was made to let go of the images I presented to the world and chose to live me – which I can only say is a forever ‘unpeeling’ experience – I had so much more energy. Yes I had to deal with the anxiety of if I would be able to cope feeling more vulnerable but I can only tell you I was much less vulnerable being me than not being me because people at last knew who they were in relationship with!!
And it all begins with unpacking ourselves. I loved the depth and honesty in this article. The deception in the packaging of our products is only a reflection of the deception of how we live in our lives. Time for some deep honesty in how we live, relate and be.
Until we accept that we are multi-dimensional beings living in a physical form, we will continue to avoid such truth by encasing it in layers of illusion so we cannot see the truth that otherwise stares at us in the face so to speak. Because as a society we have become so used to being sold lies, we do not question the nature of the package we have been sold (and have willingly bought) that supports this created illusion. It also ‘gives us something to do’ while we are on Earth in the sense that we waste a great deal of time, money and energy manufacturing and packaging lies rather than connect with our true purpose here which is simply to return to Soul, the Grandness we all in-truth are by unpacking the lies we have been sold. That is, we create delay as a deliberate ploy to buy us more time so we can live in a way that does not and cannot support a Soul-full expression.
And that sigh of relief would echo through the ages, and be the summoning call for humanity to return back to its true self
Wow Dianne what a list of false packaging we have wrapped ourselves in, this whole way of life on earth has been to packaged the false to look like the true, time to unpack and throw away the rubbish of our illusion.
I have just moved to a new house and so I have a lot of literal unpacking to do, I must say I look forward to including myself on the unpacking “to do” list. Some might have been raised to believe that some things must be packed away and not shown to the world, others may have been told to package themselves in a certain way to be accepted. We all have our different flavour but deep down, it doesn’t matter what falsity we choose, it is the unpacking that returns us all to our equal essence.
I feel that music is a big package that gets us every time as we are sucked in by the lyrics or the sound with out appreciating how damaging this is to our bodies. we can be repelled by heavy metal or rock music as we can feel the assault on the body by this kind of music. But what about the ‘new age spiritual’ music which to me sounds very insidious and has a way of creeping into our bodies because we are told it’s relaxing or calming and believe this rather than relying on our own senses that may be telling us otherwise.
Serge Benhayon is a beautiful example of someone who has chosen to live without any packaging, we then get to feel how powerful and inspiring it is when you live and move in the world with full transparency – the ripple effect is far and wide.
It’s not just a case of packaging ourselves to make ourselves look good it’s also packaging ourselves to look less. And it’s interesting to feel how packaging changes with different people. Everyone that reads this would go away unpackaged in some way.
‘What if ‘packaging’ could then become a way of supporting and expressing the true essence of people and things instead of creating a false appearance to hide it?’ Great question Diane. One that I will ponder on in relation to how I am and the packages I employ.
Diane thank you for your great sharing on Packaging. We have been caught up in the illusion that we need to package up everything in life when we are already complete. Not wanting to take responsibility for life so we have packaged up the all in the victim game, to hide the truth of who we truly are so that we do not shine the gift of the amazingness deep within, our loving soul. It time to let go of the packaging and allow the real deal to come out of the box and show the all of who we truly are.
We don’t just package and repackage ourselves, we also squeeze ourselves into boxes so we pass muster and are accepted, if not recognised and lauded.
We are taught from young to package up our feelings and not show these to others, or even ourselves. It is refreshing when you see children who express openly and are not imposed upon but encouraged to do so.
I think the entire marketing and packaging industry is in a for a dramatic overhaul over the coming years – even if this 100/200 years away…. the more we unpackage ourselves the more we unpackage the world at large.
I agree we do package things up and it can be used to hide and mislead. I also see the other side when we use what is true to make things or people sing more of who they truly are. It’s not that everything like this is necessarily ‘bad’ or others ‘good’ it’s always how things feel or what there intention is. So we don’t just throw everything out but more build the relationship we have with feeling things, feeling everything. That way it won’t be a one size fits all approach but more a flexible approach of feeling truly what is needed.
I’ve certainly learnt how to ‘look OK’ using makeup, to look confident based on how I walk, to do a job in marketing to wrap things up and sell them. But in all this just feeds the outer layer of the truth beneath. I never knew how beautiful someone could look if it radiated from within. To now have this reflection in my life is so inspiring and allows me to clock when I am trying to cover things over, or when I am living from the truth of what is already there.
I was in the car while reading this blog about unpacking ourselves and opening up to what is real and true, I looked up and this beautiful rainbow was accompanying us, telling there is a connection with the divine to cherish and nurture every day and is a support to live our true selves.
That’s gorgeous Annelies, showing us as we unpack what is not true our real magnificent colours are revealed.
Our Divine essence is packaged within our physical body.
There is nothing like the packaging people try on by means of how they dress up and look. We may choose very fancy clothes and have an aspect that talks very well to our senses. Yet, the eyes are the only thing that tell the truth regarding what lies beneath the packaging. And what they say, may not be anything even in line with the rest of the package. So, the essence remains our only anchor to what is true.
It hurts when I have fallen for deception and so to protect my hurt I react and bury it saying nothing but this keeps me in separation. I cannot use doubt as a justification to keep me in this separation. I know I have been deceived but I aligned with that. I allowed it to happen making another feel better simply because of my lack of worth in myself and therefore avoiding responsibility.
A beautiful blog that brings awareness to the rot of packaging. We are masters of making things look a certain way to hide our irresponsibility.
I struggled with this blog when I first read it, I just didn’t want to read it and now I understand more clearly why … today I’m more willing to see and feel how I’ve packaged myself and how that package might in fact be an incarceration and how if I unpacked myself and got more real and raw I could in fact have more real and true relationships … now I’m more willing to be raw with me I can begin to more clearly look at the packages I’ve been wrapped up in.
When we start to unpack ourselves layer by layer, it is a worthwhile exercise or effort to rediscover our natural beautiful, innocent and tender nature and the joy of our expression is felt by all others.
Being real and even better true is very naked but absolutely awesome and the transparency is the reflection that the world desperately needs to even realise we have been being dishonest to ourselves.