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Untitled Document
Lara Masters - 'It' Girl on Wheels
?...I?m Lara Masters, TV presenter and wheelchair-user currently
working with Esther Rantzen on 'That?s Esther? (ITV). I?m your
'it' girl on wheels but I?m less posh and wear more clothes.?
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?Freedom comrades! Unlock the chains
that bind you and dare to be who you really are! Run/wheel/limp free!
You owe nothing to anyone but yourselves!?
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Feeling philosophical
Do you ever stop, look around you and find it unbelievable that you’re
actually alive? Do you ever feel a sense of wonderment that you are part
of this world, the universe and whatever is beyond? I do.
I have times where, for no particular reason, I step out of my body and
become objective and clear-sighted. All my pre-conditioning, prejudices,
judgements based on past experience; my whole ego is suspended momentarily
and I look at the absolutely awesome experience that is life and have an
irrepressible urge to live it in complete freedom without attachment or
desire.
These glimpses of true awareness don’t last long and I haven’t
learnt how to conjure them up on demand when I’m feeling hectic or
desperate for some peace of mind. I do half an hour of deep breathing every
morning to oxygenate my body and stretch my rib-cage and back muscles, but
I’ve never grasped the whole meditation thing. My mind will not quieten
to the point where I’m reaching higher levels of consciousness and
I find it hard to relax, I’m always in a state of tension, it’s
become habitual. I’ve tried lots of relaxation techniques, but nothing’s
been particularly effective.
If you’re a regular column reader, you’ll know that I like to
try out lots of alternative practices and theories when it comes to spirituality
and healing. This is as much for sorting out my mental, emotional and spiritual
troubles as it is for my physical healing. My current experiment is reading
books about the human condition to inspire me to become more open, loving
and accepting of others as well as myself.
There are two books which have really provoked my thoughts and presented
ideas and explanations that I’ve found to be helpful at this juncture
in my life.
The first is; “When Bad Things Happen to Good People”. It’s
by Rabbi Harold S. Kushner, whose son Aaron was born with progeria, a painful
disease which dramatically accelerates the aging process. Aaron was only
fourteen but looked like an old man when he died.
The experience of losing a son in such a traumatic way forced the Rabbi
to question all he’d ever learnt and believed about Judaism and the
nature of God. For instance, if God is almighty and full of compassion why
does he allow innocents to suffer? And if God really loves us, why is there
such thing as suffering?
Even though he refers to “God”, it will be of interest to anyone
who isn’t religious but wants to explore the mechanics of our world
and its natural laws. It also explores the concept of prayer and why it’s
not always effective but sometimes seems to bring about amazing results.
It’s a good book to get the brain cogs moving. I didn’t agree
with everything the author wrote but came up with lots of questions and
ideas of my own, which is of course just the kind of result you want from
a book.
The other fascinating book I have just read is; “The Way to Love”
by Anthony de Mello. This is for anyone wanting to learn more about spiritual
truths. It’s only a small book and I ordered it from amazon.co.uk
(£4) as apparently it’s out of print.
There are lots of pointers in it to remind us of just how conditioned we
are and what we can do to allow ourselves to be individuals and true to
our unique nature, rather than living up to the expectations of others whether
they’re our parents, friends or our society.
It teaches us to look at what we have now and see that we have happiness,
if we are only willing to alter our perception and not fool ourselves with
unrealistic ideals of what happiness is. We spend so much of our precious
life saying “I’d be happy if I was… rich/successful/famous/had
a partner etc” but then when we do get something that we want, it
doesn’t fulfil our expectations and we immediately start to desire
something else, giving ourselves another excuse to be disgruntled with our
lot. It doesn’t mean we can’t aspire and achieve but just that
whilst we’re doing this, we should be under no illusion that the value
system into which we have been indoctrinated is not aimed at satisfying
our soul but only our fragile ego, so we will not fill the void with these
“worldly” accolades for which we yearn so much and work so hard.
Much of the philosophy is about not forming attachments to people and things
because that leaves you depending on external and therefore unreliable sources
for your contentment. I’ve recently learnt that emotional dependency
is really harmful for both parties and doesn’t allow for individual
expression. I look around me and see that this crippling reliance on others
is considered to be normal and is even sought after but it goes against
our nature to have to feel responsible for or indebted to, anyone else.
This book explains why we place these pressures on ourselves and others
and how to go about breaking the cycle.
Freedom comrades! Unlock the chains that bind you and dare to be who you
really are! Run/wheel/limp free! You owe nothing to anyone but yourselves!
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Posted: 28 October, 2002
Lara's previous columns:
Retail
Therapy || A
question of Scope and Uri's prediction || Lara
joins the Iraq debate || My
part in the bigger picture || One
foot at a time || Lara
responds to her critics || Defecting
|| Advertising
the end of the DRC ||
Big Brother Blues || The
Zen of Maltesers || The
box in the dock || Tofu,
mung beans and freebies || 26
columns young || Convenience
inconvenience || All
About PAs acting and Me || Different
is never wrong || I
come in peace || Finding
a new PA || New
Year in Thailand || Don't
hate us coz we're beautiful || Hopelessly
devoteed to you || My
One Night Stand
Lara's picture is ? Jan Gamble 2002
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