Intention
_I: On the occasion of the New Moon in Aries I told myself “today I will have a different beginning.” I told myself “I express the intention of starting a routine for my body, with fasting, good nutrition, exercise, waking up early, and doing everything I did at the beginning of this path back in August and September 2020, as well as for my soul and mind, continuing with piano lessons and painting.” So I set the alarm for 7:30 am, and whispered to myself as I went to sleep: “Tomorrow will be a new beginning.”
_AM: And?
_I: I woke up at 10:36, exhausted as if I hadn't slept. It seems that I turned off the alarm clock, and woke up later than any other day before. I had to rush to breakfast before 11 when the restaurant closed. And instead of doing what I had thought, I had to stay because they were solving the camera problem on my computer. And in all that time, I'm still sleepy... I bought some magnesium and ginseng supplements so I could have more focus and energy, but they still haven't had an effect on my body, I just feel more sleepy... I feel less like doing things than any other day …I left everything ready to paint, and I just made stripes. I looked at the piano, and I didn't even dust it. I thought about the gym... But I preferred to sit and watch how they worked on the camera. I mean… The “intention” thing wouldn't be working for me…
_AM: Well, it is difficult to set the intention when you find yourself “in tension.”
_I: Intention in Tension… How paradoxical.
_AM: Let me explain the difference between the two, and how they intertwine to make you have a shitty day.
_I: Thank you for being so literal.
_AM: You're welcome. Intention comes from the words “in-” (inside, in) and “tentus” (extend, stretch, as in the word tendon). It means that the intention is to be in the process of extension, of projecting towards a specific point, a specific focus, like a goal or “hitting the target.” Do you know Diana?
_I: Princess Lady D?
_AM: Clearly today you have only one functioning neuron.
_I: Can you tell?
_AM: Yes. Diana, is the Italic goddess of nature. She is the guardian of animals, of the forest, representative of light, hence her na_I: “she who is of the day” (dies, dia-na). Her attribute is to carry a bow and arrow, and she never misses the target she aims at. Like the ray of the sun, her arrows pierce everything and penetrate the darkness, eliminating it. Diana is a representation of intention, who extends her control in every ray of light, who draws the bow to launch arrows towards her objectives. But in order to extend her arrows through the territory she guards, she must know how to use her bow, and she will only be able to reach further if the string is in perfect tension. The word Tension also comes from “tensus”, to stretch something well.
_I: And why is one written with “c” (or “t” in the case of English), and the other with “s”?
_AM: Because Intention has a third particle, suffix “-tio” which means “action”. Intention speaks of “the action of extending into something concrete”, while “tension” speaks only of the concept, of the state in which something is found. Both related to stretching or stretching something. The difference with “throwing” something is that it implies separation of an object and a subject. On the other hand, tension speaks of oneself projecting, stretching, and therefore, when we talk about “intention,” we are only talking of how one projects oneself in front, one stretches oneself.
_I: So what do we mean by intending something?
_AM: I don't know what you are referring to, but I will tell you what I know about this action.
_I: Well, I think that when someone intends something, it is that they put all their attention (precisely) on something specific that they hope will happen.
_AM: That's why everything goes wrong.
_I: Wow… How?
_AM: Of course, there are two errors in that sentence. Attention comes from “ad-” and “tensus” plus the suffix “-tio”, that is, it is the action of moving towards what is stretched, but nevertheless, paying attention, in your cultures is almost the opposite, taking the prefix “ a-” as in stopping, or denial (as in “atheist”). That is to say, even though its origin is directed towards tension, what you do when you attend to something is stop and listen, and how do I come to this conclusion? Because they normally relate this word to the next error in your sentence: expecting something to happen. happen. Waiting comes from “hope” (sperare), being in English, “wait”, originated from “weg” (strong, hard, that is firm in one place). You can't stress something if you wait.
_I: Well, we have a different concept of what tension is, hahaha because I get more tense when I wait than at any other time.
_AM: I'll explain why. Why is a rope tightened?
_I: Because I stretch it. Which etymologically would be a redundancy with the word tension.
_AM: So the tension occurs in the string itself, not in the arrow.
_I: Aha… I follow you.
_AM: Waiting for the arrow to shoot towards a target without putting tension on the string will never result in you hitting the target. Maybe I'll fall by your side. Now, I want you to take out the idea of archery, and turn yourself into the string. If you are not in tension, where do you intend to shoot your energy? Each human is like a rope, made up of ropes…
_I: String theory… Where everything is a continuous coiling of strings that vibrate like a piano or guitar, and their vibrations manifest the particles.
_AM: Exactly. Vibration arises from these strings that connect everything, and your existence is due to the tension of these strings. Try playing a guitar or piano that does not have its strings tight and tense.
_I: It will sound bad, inharmonious.
_AM: Therefore, for a melody to sound beautiful, it takes a while to tune, and that tuning occurs by distension and contraction of the strings. By putting them in Tension, Tense, that is, “Intend” them. The idea of setting the Intention is to enter into the process of retuning the energy, the resonance, adjusting the loose strings. During this process of tensioning the strings, there is no music, and the sounds are erratic, just like those you hear in an orchestra before it begins its performance. As vibration generates energy, the tensioning process causes energetic pulses that we call emotions, which cause an erratic discharge of hormones in the body, producing an instant of imbalance and disharmony. Thus, as long as you set the intention, you become a musician readjusting the strings of your being, and this puts you in tension.
_I: But we see tension as something negative…
_AM: Anyone who hears how a guitar, piano or violin sounds in the process of tensioning its strings and adjusting them will think it is something horrible. “Who is killing the cat?” could be a graphic description of this moment. Now, knowing that everything is vibration, you will understand that moments of tension, of readjustment, are tense, hurt, are erratic, where you can make mistakes, sound bad, have negative energies, dissonant sounds. But after the tension, you find the necessary strength.
_I: For what?
_AM: To project yourself. Let's go through the parts of the process. First of all, you put “attention” on the target, on the objective you want to reach. Then, you seek to “distend” the body, with flexible movements, circles with the head, shoulders, ankles, to “release accumulated tension.” Then, you take Diana's bow and arrow, putting the light, that is, consciousness, on the target, and you begin to tighten the string, but to know where you should go, you contain the bow and arrow as parts of you, it is That is, you apply “containment,” which means sharing the tension. It cannot only be applied to the hand, but must be distributed throughout the body. The body becomes an extension of the bow and the bow an extension of the body, so the arrow does not come from the tension of the bow, but from you. The arrow, then, is an “extension” of yourself, that is, a tension that is released from you.
_I: So you are saying that in order for me to manifest an intention, I must first go through a process of tension.
_AM: That's right.
_I: And I'm going through that state of tension right now...
_AM: Yes. There are different levels. The body prepares for the new, relaxing and tensing again and again, like a muscle that exercises and then must rest to do the real work. The moments of tension that you experience in your life must then rest to rekindle a new exercise. You have not left time between one tension and another. What you have done in the last 15 days of March was a constant process of tension, which only ended on April 6. And you already set the intention to start something without time to relax, and therefore, you have had a general cramp in your being.
_I: Suddenly I understand why I always feel like this, like I have a hangover after people or friends come over, where I feel useless, exhausted and depressed, angry... It's the tension I put myself under for a new beginning, a psychological tension that leads my emotional state to feel tense.
_AM: Now you know well that when you put an Intention into something, you are not placing hope that it will happen, but rather you are projecting yourself towards that something, and here I want to add something more. Extending yourself, stretching towards a target, causes what you are, and the state you are in, to be projected towards the target. Well, you are the one who sets the intention, you are the one who projects forward. And if you project your state of imbalance, of tension, then you will only live one day of tension and imbalance.
_I: So when I intend something but from a negative energy without having first worked on that state, what I have intended will manifest in the sense and resonance in which I find myself.
_AM: And here's why your shitty day.
_I: Wow… The worst thing I could have done is set the intention to start on a Monday, the day of the Moon, with the New Moon in Aries, when this day was more than just a beginning, it was an intention…
_AM: And this implies that you must rest. Rest the strings, reset them. Intend to respect the times of your body and your soul, respect what you feel, knowing that it is part of the process. Tension is necessary to manifest your intentions. It is the key to achieving it. And this means paying attention to the understanding that encompasses the process, something called “intension.”
_I: With “S”? Does that exist?
_AM: Intention with “c” speaks of the will to achieve an objective, fulfill a purpose. While Intention talks about what that purpose and the entire process means, it describes the meaning of a word or concept. Intension is the understanding of things, that is, how far they extend, or where a concept encompasses. Therefore, before Intentioning something new, it is necessary that you intend what you are.
_I: By intensioning what I am, I understand what makes me up, the state in which my strings are, the vibrational, emotional state in which I find myself, to know that from there, from this tension, I will be able to Intention forward, towards my objectives, and if I do not take note of the intention of my being, I will never really be able to intend something new.
_AM: Do you understand now? So, tension is key to describing what vibrational, emotional state you are in, to manifest what you are towards what you want to be. And when you find out, you will have to undergo a period of inevitable tension in which you will feel bad, until you manage to tune your instrument.
_I: “To play the piano again”, something I told myself today.
_AM: First learn to recognize the state of your strings. Are you sane?
_I: I'm trying to be sane...
_AM: When you find sanity, your song will play. Enjoy the tension. And just like that, you will hit the target.