Back to the Game: Reclaiming Reality Through the Senses

In Hindu philosophy, there is a concept called "Leela"—the play of ten thousand things. It’s the dynamic dance of life as it endlessly forms, dissolves, and re-forms, with everything in a constant state of change and motion. This is the game of life, where things come and go, where we participate in a grand cycle. But too often, we are lost in a world of thought—nonsense, you could call it, for when we’re mired in thought, we’re disconnected from the actual sensations and experiences around us. We’re out of the game.

Our minds are relentless machines, looping through thoughts in a near-endless repetition. These thoughts are not fresh insights; they’re recycled stories, laden with hints of unresolved fears and worries, rooted in ancient mechanisms meant to protect us from danger. But in the modern world, this protective function keeps us locked in patterns, circling familiar anxieties. Studies show that 97% of today’s thoughts are the same ones we had yesterday, cycling on repeat, often with a negative tilt, tying us to the same emotional patterns and draining us of the rich immediacy of the moment.

This mental loop holds no real “problem”—only unresolved threat cues that the mind interprets as problems. Our nervous systems, wired for survival, scan for threats and hold onto potential dangers, even long after they have passed. We’ve been trained to fixate on threats, real or imagined, embedding patterns of tension and self-doubt. Attempts to layer positivity or gratitude exercises over these patterns only skim the surface. This is why they so often fail to shift anything lasting; they simply gloss over a deeper undercurrent of dread, and soon, our minds return to their well-worn tracks of worry.

What if, instead of grappling with thoughts, we simply drop into our senses—back to where the game is? There is a truth to life, unadorned, unfiltered, that lies right here in our senses. To escape the loop of repetitive thoughts, we can tune into what’s here: seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, smelling. It’s not about forcing “presence”; it’s about coming home to what is real, available, and rich with texture.

Helen Keller understood this in a way few of us do: “Use your eyes as if tomorrow you would be stricken blind. Hear the music of voices, the song of a bird, as if you would be stricken deaf tomorrow. Touch each object you want to touch as if tomorrow your tactile sense would fail. Smell the perfume of flowers, taste with relish each morsel, as if tomorrow you could never smell or taste again.” Her words are a call to exit the world of mind and immerse in the world of direct experience.

Forget about forcing positivity, fixing thoughts, or finding meaning in fleeting mental loops. Instead, reclaim what’s real by dropping into your senses. Hear the world around you, see the endless shades and textures, taste the richness of each bite, feel the textures under your fingertips. This is life—the vivid, dynamic, unrepeatable reality. It’s here, waiting for you.

When we anchor ourselves in the senses, our habitual thoughts loosen their grip. The self-doubt, the recycled worries, the unnecessary tension—all fade into the background. What’s left is the immediate, living truth of life itself. This isn’t about fixing your mind; it’s about grounding yourself in the real, letting your senses lead you out of the endless loops of thought and into the simple, abundant experience of being alive. In that space, the freedom you’re seeking is already present, quietly waiting for you to return to the game