The sun sets on another day…
The mist fell. It’s not so much that it was raining but the light mist covered everything and turned the snow into a slushy wet mess. The mist continued to fall, and all the while I wondered how long it would take for the snow to be gone.
I was talking to somebody today about illusions. The conversation was very positive in a difficult type of way. During the conversation we discussed how they had identified that there were certain things in their life that made them feel safe. Those things were often other people but sometimes things and as long as the people or the things were in place there was safety. They were protected.
As we discussed how safety is often an illusion, I realized that life is often filled with illusions. I’ve written about this many times and talked about various movies and situations where what was thought to be safety was actually an illusion. This points to an even bigger I don’t. Fear. Without fear the need for safety pretty much falls away. As a child learns to walk or do anything they do not think about safety, they think about their struggle to go further. They are more focused on achieving their goal than being wrapped in bubble wrap. It is apparent that has the fear and unfortunately straps them into something safe that slowly keeps them from achieving their goal.
Yes I know, there are a variety of permutations in that equation and sometimes helping a child be safe is the more important approach. What about adults? Sometimes adults wrap themselves in virtual bubble wrap and in doing so keep themselves from achieving a goal. Where is that goal? How far can it go? How about I give you an approach. Perhaps sometimes we are so lost in being safe that we don’t realize we are not living. Perhaps sometimes the illusion that we give ourselves of safety creates stagnation or worse degradation. I won’t say this is always true but I will say that hiding in a house behind an alarm is as much a prison to the person inside as it is a deterrent to the person outside. Avoiding people for fear of what they will do or how they will affect a person, eliminates the ability of that person to experience life or to know beyond the very small picture. Never falling in love because someone might hurt you, keeps you from feeling the depth of love. So it goes. I cannot say that there are not exceptions to every rule. I can say that I find fear to be one of the most ridiculous emotions that we have since it usually keeps us from living.
So as the sun sets on another day, I hope you turn off the alarm and venture out. I hope you stand up and give your speech in school. I hope you go up in that hot air balloon. I hope you reach out to the world and find people that you enjoy. I hope you are not alone. And mostly I hope that you find love and experience everything that goes with it. After all, love is amazing even if it is not returned, no matter what.
Sleep sweet, love life, and experience more…