Context Clues

As an English teacher, it's no surprise that I teach students about context clues. Of course, I teach high school students who have never heard of context clues but that's another story. For today's blog, I would like to talk about context clues in a whole other context. If we can figure out what a word means by its surroundings, why can't we shed some light on ourselves in a similar fashion? Here's an example. Staring straight into my mind's eye all the time drains every ounce of energy from me most days. But if I change the context in which I see myself, my perspective shifts dramatically and my energy can be refreshed. While walking down a sidewalk that's part of a city block that's part of a city with a horizon and wide open sky just beyond it, who the hell wants to be cooped up inside their skull?! When I gaze up, then around, and eventually remind myself of the sky's omnipresence and how it will always give way to infinity, I am no longer "stewing in my own juices" so to speak. I avoid being "pickled". My new context may make me infinitesimally small but it also makes me part of said infinity. That's not bad for a walk to the corner store and a scrumptious BLT on a roll.