My writing is all non-fiction and typically has a spiritual undertone. I guess you could consider it self-help both to me as the writer and hopefully to those that read it.
I add a new part every Friday that is based on true life inspirations and in...
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Contemplation. Why are some tempted to contemplate their reality and others appear to be complacent? Our world is filled with tiny particles flicking with bursts of light to give wonder to our seemingly mundane existence. It's all too easy to dismiss these lightning bugs by swatting at them with dispassionate resistance. Sometimes we rise with sparkles in our eyes ready to tackle life, ready to turn on our spotlight so that we may see all that is there in front of us. Other times and most often times we are moving through life floating through our ingrain patterns of routine so ready to assume we've seen it all before that our minds trick us into believing we are awake. Yet our eyes are so tightly shut we couldn't see magic if it hit us upside our heads and sprinkled fairy dust all over our skin.
For those of us that have ever spilled glitter on our hands we know that despite washing them repeatedly there is always that one tiny piece of glitter that just wants to hang on. It can become somewhat of a irritant, yet we see it. Our minds soak up irritants so readily our thoughts become like a tidal wave destroying our present moment.
A Fool is said to be naïve, one that acts unwisely or imprudently. Being wise is one is who full of experiences, yet isn't it sometimes our experiences that dictate our perceptions? When we come to a situation in our life that reminds us of the past or meet a new person that reminds us of someone that wronged us our minds foolishly jump to judge. Our minds navigate on memories, both memories rooted in truth and memories that are based on fiction. This can create the groundhog effect. The belief that everything bad always happens to you, that you always end up in bad relationships and everyday you are bogged down with negativity. Could that be that we foolishly transfer emotions that originated from one of our first relationships or first job experiences or any other situation which was new to us?
A Fool joyfully jumps into the unknown without knowing what's there. A Fool has no expectations, no roadmap or sense of "been there done that". The Fool's eyes are as wide open as a child seeing balloon pop for the very first time. When our minds and bodies are familiar with a place such as our home we can easily navigate around our house blindfolded and hopefully not run into a wall. Yet when we figuratively walk around our life blindfolded we are incapable of experiencing new things and new beginnings. We are only moving based on the past and what is familiar to our minds. While that might be a good thing in circumstances where the past experience was positive, it doesn't allow us to expand in our knowledge and capacity to grow.
Discernment. The act of cultivating discernment is not a process that I believe can just easily just happen without daily work. This brings us full circle back to complacency. Even if we are able to differentiate light and shadows and only perceive the edges of light without falling into the darkness this is a constant conscious effort. We must try to look at everyday as a brand new beginning and illuminate our path with the joy of the unknown through trust and discernment. Perhaps a Fool is one that winks. Someone that has one eye opened and one eye closed, where you can see ahead of you and perceive where you are going without tripping, but also can navigate based on faith in yourself.
"Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works"
In our society Fools are often outcasts and looked down upon, people think they know better and make judgments, accusations and name call. While it is important to learn from our past, we must be in the present moment so not to pull in our own narrative from a story that was written years ago. The characters in our lives will likely have similarities, yet they deserve as we do to narrate their own story.
