“The Only Way Out Is Through”

A few days ago, I wrote an article about something I had heard from a TV series called Arrow. What I touched upon in this article is not the only thing in this show that has caught my attention; there are a number of other things.

Something that caught my attention was when the main character, Oliver Queen, was told that, “the only way out is through.” Without giving too much away, in case you haven’t seen this episode and plan to, he is in a tough situation and needs to find a way out.

On The Onside

There is not just what is going on externally, though, there is also what is taking place internally. In this situation, as in most of his situations, his biggest challenge is to overcome what is taking place within him.

He needs to let go of something that he is carrying from the past and, if he doesn’t, he will probably die. Not only this, a number of other people could also experience the same fate.  

Another Surprise

This line, something that was originally said by the American poet Robert Frost, was something I heard before. Yet, thanks to the idea I had formed about Arrow, I was surprised to hear it.

However, this is not to say that I saw Arrow as a mindless show that was just full of action and violence up until this point, far from it. Additionally, Oliver was told that he needed to forgive himself, which was another great piece of advice.

The Main Point

In order for Oliver to let go of what was going on for him and to move on, he needed to face his pain or ‘darkness’. Running away from and trying to avoid what was taking place within him wouldn’t allow him to do this; the only thing that this would do is cause him to carry his baggage around with him.

This baggage would continue to cause him inner and outer problems. In other words, what he is holding onto would contaminate just about every part of his life and prevent him from being able to do what is necessary.

Two Sides

If he was to run away from himself, he would be exercising his masculine aspect. This part of him might allow him to deal with the ‘bad’ people, but it won’t allow him to deal with his inner baggage.

For this to happen, he will need to embrace his feminine aspect as this will allow him to surrender to what is going on inside himself. Force and willpower, abilities of the masculinised mind, won’t be needed here.

The power of presence

His mind might not understand how embracing what is going on inside himself will allow him to move forward. To this part of him, this can be seen as something that will only take place if something is done; it will be all about the doing.

When he surrenders to how he feels and embraces what is going on, he won’t need to do anything; it will be all about the being. This can be a time when he will be acknowledging the parts of himself that he hasn’t wanted to face and maybe he will need to grieve certain losses.

Breaking Through

By being present with what is going on internally, the ‘negativity’ within him will gradually change its expression. Some of it may become ‘positive’ and some of it may just become neutral.

What this comes down to is that, inherently, there is no such thing as ‘negative’ and ‘positive’ energy; these are just labels that the dualistic ego-mind comes up with. Therefore, once something painful has been acknowledged and worked through, this energy will have been transmuted, not removed.

Final Thoughts

This approach is not something that the self-development world has embraced, let alone mainstream society. In general, the way through something is seen as being around or over it.
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If someone does surrender to how they feel, they can be seen as ‘wallowing’ and allowing themselves to bathe in their own ‘negativity’. Lastly, Lian Yu, the island where Oliver hears the above line is said to be based in Asia, a part of the world that is often seen as being more about the being than the doing, which can be seen as the reason why he heard these words there.

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Oliver JR Cooper