Going along with Pain!
Reference: Alan Watts
Alan Watts, an English philosopher from the ’60s and ’70s, is someone I deeply respect. In this issue of the APTEI Report, I’d like to share some of his powerful ideas with you.
Watts challenges us with two profound questions: “Could pain be considered part of the healing process and therefore a positive experience? Could pain also be something we should not constantly be obsessed with killing and obliterating?”
Consider “fever.” When we have an infection, our body’s natural defense mechanism raises our core temperature to fight off the invading pathogens. It was once believed that a fever itself was the disease. Doctors used to focus on eliminating fevers in children and adults, but by doing so, they often prolonged the illness or even harmed patients, as they disrupted the body’s natural defense response.
Over 50 years ago, Watts suggested this could be true for pain as well. The next time you experience pain, he advises us to:
“…go along with the pain and don’t try to fight it.”
Watts also uses an analogy to explain our relationship with discomfort, likening it to how we experience clothing. When our clothes fit well, we’re barely aware of them. The same goes for a belt that’s comfortably snug or shoes that fit just right.
In a similar way, the “perfect” form of human being is unaware of themselves. But is going through life oblivious to our own existence truly optimal?
To truly experience life, we need awareness and an appreciation of being alive, which sometimes comes through discomforts like hunger, thirst, desire, fatigue, and even pain. It’s these sensations that remind us we’re here—that we truly exist. Without them, we might feel invisible, unnoticed.
Of course, those experiencing intense pain might disagree, saying, “I’d rather forget myself than endure this.” So, people turn to alcohol, SSRIs, or opioids—not just to reduce pain, but to feel more comfortable, to numb themselves, to escape self-awareness, even if only temporarily. These medications can make life more bearable, helping some feel less caught in the struggle against a resistant world.
Let me be clear: I’m in no way judging those who take SSRIs or opioids. When someone is in severe physical or emotional pain, who wouldn’t seek relief?
I have a theory—perhaps a “crazy” one—that in some cases, if people felt genuinely noticed, appreciated, acknowledged, respected, and loved for who they are, their nervous system might not create as much unnecessary pain as a signal of existence. Pain might not need to serve as the reminder that they’re alive.