Friday, November 23, 2012

Shimmer 1/18/2012



“I can’t do this”
“Yes you can, we both know you can. You’re a creative person.”
“I can’t, the thoughts aren’t coming. I just wish this would go away.”
“What’s wrong with you? I’ve never seen you like this before. You’re holding yourself back. What are you afraid of?”
“I can’t explain it, I’m trapped. I can’t get out of here.”

I look in the mirror sometimes and the concept blows my mind. “This is me; all of me is contained in this one body.  Everyone who sees me sees this body slightly differently, even more differently than I see myself.  Who’s right then? If I can look differently to every single person, who’s to say I exist?”

There are times when I feel like my friends love me too much for their own good.  It’s a strange thought because obviously it’s not really something that most people would worry about.  I love them back though, every single one of them, yet sometimes it’s hard for me to understand why they would choose me to be their friend.  It comes from my habit of magnifying the good in others.  It’s a wonderful habit, but it can be self-destructive. Why? Because I don’t do the same to myself; in fact, I do the exact opposite.  Therefore, it’s hard for me to accept that I can be so valuable to these people that I admire so much. 
I’ve asked.  We were sitting on the steps overlooking the ocean.  She had driven all the way from my hometown just to see my apartment and spend a few extra hours with me before her flight back to Chicago. 
“Why?”
“Why?”
 The sound of the crashing waves resonated in the background.
“Yea, I mean, why do you care so much? Why do you consider me your best friend?”
She looked at me and gave me one of those sweet smiles that filled her face and lit up her soft, brown eyes. She laughed.
            “I don’t know man.  It’s impossible not to love you. You’re you!”
I smiled back at her and turned away. What an odd answer.  But she seemed to think that was enough.  Maybe it was, maybe I just can’t see it.

I sometimes wonder if butterflies realize how incredibly beautiful they look as they fly above the earth.  Their distinctive, deep orange color feeds such a spectacular contrast against the crisp, pure blue sky.  But they must have some sort of inferiority complex, it may not be justified; but to them I’m sure it could be bothersome. Imagine, flying from exotic flower to exotic flower, each more beautiful than the last, each exhibiting the perfect preservation of some vibrant yet delicate color. Spending your entire life living off of the nectar provided by some exquisite counterpart must become exhausting.  The flower is regarded so highly, how could the butterfly not feel inferior every now and then?

Nature keeps me sane. It reminds me that I am a part of something bigger than just myself.  There is something worth fighting for.  The ocean helps the most.  It is so vast that you can’t help but feel like you are a part of it.  It’s a humbling experience.  How dare you think any of your problems are bigger than the problems of those around you?  We are all connected.  We all walk on the same Earth.  We all feed off of her resources.  So we should all constantly thank her. But people don’t…

I live in a box.  Not literally, obviously.  Literally, I should be open to everything; this is my time to explore. I’m away from home; I should be growing in every possible way. Yet I feel so restless from time to time.  I feel like my very skin is my prison.  When I look in the mirror I feel like shattering it, maybe shattering my very body to free my soul.  I feel like running, running as far away as I possibly can.  Maybe even until it kills me. 
Death doesn’t scare me.  I think this is because I believe that we are all a part of everything else.  We all flow together as this one energy.  It’s happened before to me, when I’ve realized that I am not really an individual person.  Well, in this world I am but I feel that my “soul” is a part of this greater force.  I’m connected to the soul of every other person.  Imagine the power we could all have if we joined together and fought for a common cause.  We shape our world with our mind; for the most part, we see what we want to see.  Our individual worlds are shaped by what we know, if, globally, we focused all of our energy towards changing the world, it would change.  We are so very powerful.

I’ve started to feel this new kind of love.  It’s not the romantic kind; at least I’m pretty sure it’s not.  I don’t even know if it is love, but I call it that for lack of a better word.  It scares me. I think mainly because I know how deep it is, I know how vulnerable it makes me.  It’s extremely overwhelming.  Putting so much trust in someone who’s already hurt you is a very dangerous thing to do. But I can’t help it.  So I keep going.  Hoping and praying that I won’t get hurt. 
I know he loves me too, the same love I have from all my close friends. I’m lucky enough to have many.  I’m very dear to him. But what I feel is different.  I wish I could explain it, I wish I could describe what it feels like.  I wouldn’t describe it as a pleasant feeling necessarily; I wouldn’t describe it as painful.  It just exists in me at all times, sometimes it’s well hidden, sometimes it consumes me.  I can’t do it justice with words.  It’s much too internal of an emotion.  I can almost feel it in the depths of my heart. 
Being such a scientific person, the fact that I can feel it in my heart irritates me even more.  The heart doesn’t really have a place for love.  That should come from the brain right? I mean I guess no one really knows where human connections and emotions really come from.  That’s probably where the soul comes into the equation. 

Yea, sometimes I feel like I’m not good enough for anything.  Sometimes it seems like everyone would just be better off if I didn’t exist.  But we are all a part of this world.  And I am one of the few people who can truly see that. I need to learn how to live life the way I want to live it.  These things cannot trap me, cannot contain me.  I am above all of this.  This box that I live in is self-constructed, the love that I feel is real.  Hopefully soon it will become truly unconditional, then it won’t hurt so much to see him go. I will accept the love that my friends give me because “When people show you who they are, you should believe them.” And like the butterfly, I will become aware of my own beauty.  It may not be as evident as that of a flower, but I will prove that because I am unique I can touch the world in a way that will make a difference.  I deserve it; I deserve to transcend these earthly pains.  We all do.  We can all take the steps that will lead us to where we want to be.  We just need to open up and let ourselves become free of our inhibitions and of our insecurities.  We need to live. 

The world is what we want it to be. The power we all possess is immense, sometimes frightening if it is let into the minds of those who do not comprehend that our power must be joined in order for it to work.  Imagine, not one, or two, but 6 billion temples of thought focused onto a single point. In each of us, lives a piece of greatness and potential, like a piece of shattered glass that has been torn from its brothers.  If each of us can find our shattered piece, however small, and share it with our brothers, we may be able to once again hold the glass, complete, in our hands to fill with whatever we desire. Each one of our pieces is a reflector of light on its own, but only when all the pieces join will we have the power to channel that light and form a single rainbow.  In some, the speck is hidden deep within them, so they are not aware of the light and power their piece holds; but I understand.  My life is beautiful because I cannot imagine living any other way.  Now we must assist others in seeing their piece in this puzzle.  The world is what we want it to be. And with only our collective thoughts, we can alter the illusions we live in…

“I can’t do this”
“Yes you can, we both know you can. You’re a creative person.”
“I can’t, the thoughts aren’t coming. I just wish this would go away.”
“What’s wrong with you? I’ve never seen you like this before. You’re holding yourself back. What are you afraid of?”
“I can’t explain it, I’m trapped. I can’t get out of here.”
“Shhhh. Breathe. Just start writing, you’ll be fine. Release your thoughts”
“What if it goes too deep? What if it makes me too vulnerable?”
“That’s what it’s for…”

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