Inner Peace Fables

A New Arrival

"Got the card?"

"Yep."

"Got the present?"

"Yep."

"Got the labels?"

"Yep."

"Ok, let's go," and they rustled out of the door.

Rupert and Jane were excited, if somewhat nervous, at the prospect of another baby in the family. But, all had apparently gone well, Rupert's sister was ok, and they were about to meet their new nephew.

The drive was a blur, how exciting this all was, how happy they felt!

They parked up and rushed to the ward. As they arrived, through the window, there they all were – mother, father and son.

"Oh wow!" exclaimed Rupert.

Straight away he got out the card, present and enough labels for everyone as they entered the room.

All greeted, embraced, and marveled at the site of this beautiful, silent baby. Having a new baby was extra special in this world, since it was completely free from labels. It had no labels on it! Everyone else has their labels stuck to them, like big post-it notes.

For example, Rupert had a label of "not good enough" stuck on to him by his teacher when he was twelve, and he could never take it off. If you believe in your label, you see – it will stick. If you don't believe your label, you can easily take it off whenever you like.

Jane had a "brilliant" label stuck on her shoulder by her mum when she was five, but one of her friends had stuck a "stupid" label over half of it.

But these are just a few examples. Most people in this world are covered in labels! You can barely see them anymore, they are just covered in definitions, stories, dreams, hopes, regrets, successes, and failures, all stuck on top of each other!

Rupert's dad, Charlie, arrived soon after. Charlie had a huge label right where his heart was. It read "too shy", and was put on by his own dad when he was a boy. Charlie always hated that label. His attempts to remove it had always failed, and so he had covered it up with his own label, which said: "not shy at all".

"Hi everyone!" shouted Charlie as he entered the room in a kind but over-compensating manner.

"Hi Charlie," responded the group, welcoming him in.

"Wow wow wow!" exclaimed Charlie, his eyes alight with wonder at this fresh, pure baby.

And so it began, the group would each take a label, write down a word or two, and gently place it on the baby. They were all very positive – "beautiful", "miraculous", "amazing", "perfect", to name a few. They were very small labels, quite harmless. They would fall off easily if the baby moved, nothing would stick, but this was to be expected, of course.

There was a great warmth in the room, some chatter of how it had all gone, immediate plans etc., when suddenly a man walked in.

All members of the party turned to look at the visitor, and they all fell completely silent. They were shocked, even somewhat disturbed.

This man had no labels. They still could not get used to it. It was actually Rupert's younger brother. Just a few months ago he was covered in labels, completely normal, until he started to say that his labels were becoming uncomfortable. Charlie will never forget the day that his own son, a young man, asked him, "Dad, what would it be like without all these labels?"

Charlie still felt moved by the memory of it as he sat there in that hospital room. Mixed feelings of despair and elation arose in him, with some confusion as well as pride. The memory replayed in Charlie's mind, and it cast back to when he was standing in his kitchen, speaking to his son...