Piercing Cultural Hegemony
Paradoxically, the very system that held me captive also concealed the path to liberation — in plain sight — within Plato’s writings. The journey would be painful, but breaking free from hegemony meant 'rescuing' truth and dispelling the shadows of illusion.
This insight transformed how I viewed my education. It was no longer a means to secure employment, but a rigorous pursuit of knowledge aimed at breaking the chains of ignorance and societal bias. Still, I understood it was not my duty to lead others to freedom; my responsibility was to demonstrate through Guided Imagery and Gestalt practice that escape is possible.
The critical breakthrough to internal freedom was in my grasp but required a final push. It happened while working for Kaplan/McLaughlin/Diaz Architects and finishing the punch list for the Santa Cruz Detention Center project.
At the end of the day, the workers had already gone home. After three years of design and construction, I was finally at the end of the job. The list of things to complete was minor but important. Caught in a moment of intense concentration, I walked into one of the holding pods, and the door closed behind me and locked. As the door latched, it brought me out of my trance. I was jailed, “chained” in the building.
I looked around at the building with new eyes. On one level, I knew that the superintendent would search for me since I had not checked out. When the superintendent finally finds me and opens the pod doors, I re-experience that childhood feeling.
Something had changed, it was fleeting but palpable. After this experience the dreams began.
