Be Here Now

In this fast-paced, ever-changing society, we seem to be programmed to constantly jump from one thing to the next, rather than just being fully present in the moment.  Great little reminder to stop, take a breath and open your eyes to what is happening right here, right now.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ed-and-deb-shapiro/wherever-you-go-there-you-are_b_858112.html

The Eternal Sunshine of those Golden Cords

"A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends."  -Richard Bach

I woke up this morning thinking about the movie, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," about the couple who breaks up and then both decide to have all memories of the other erased from their minds.  Of course, they end up meeting again and are drawn to one another, feeling an inexplicable bond as well as a sense of familiarity. 

It made me think about how liberating it might be to have certain memories and experiences wiped from memory, to clean the slate and really begin again - fresh.  But isn't who we are today, in this moment, based in large part on all the experiences we have had along the way?  If we were to erase a year of our lives - or a person from our memory - wouldn't that erase an even larger part of who we are?  Would we have to re-live a set of experiences in order to ensure those lessons have been learned?  Would we be nevertheless drawn down the same path because our inate GPS knows where it needs to go?  Knows the lessons we are here to learn, knows who we are meant to become.  Erasing any of it - the joy, the pain, the laughter, the tears - would alter our fate.

Does that mean there are some people who are simply meant to be in our lives, and no matter how hard you try, you can't cut them out of your heart or surgically remove them from your memory?  Are there some bonds that aren't meant to be broken?  Bonds that have been forged over many lifetimes and through different dimensions, always connecting you to one another?  Bonds that are essential parts of your path, your evolution - and who you are meant to be?  If you think about it, there are some people with whom it doesn't seem to matter whether it's been two days or twenty years since you last spoke - when you do meet again, it's as if no time has passed.  The bonds which link you are ever-stronger than any time/space/distance restrictions or self-imposed, consciously constructed barriers.  They, quite simply, just are.  Always have been, always will be.   Even if you decide to burn all the pictures, throw out all the gifts and seemingly erase them from your memory - there is an intrinsic bond which cannot be denied.  Nor can it be explained. 

Defining Oneself

“To be nobody but yourself, in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else, means to fight the hardest battle that any human being can fight – and never stop fighting.” – e.e. cummings

How do you define yourself in a world where others are constantly trying to define you?  The topic of a passionate discussion I recently had made me ask myself the simple (yet complicated) question - should you define yourself by what you do for a living, or by who you are?  It seems that a lot of people think what you do does define who you are.  I suppose that’s all well and good if what you are doing is aligned with your purpose and vision.  But what about those who aren’t doing what they really want, simply as a means to an end?  As creative people, we sometimes have to work at jobs we don’t care for in order to pay the rent, so we can then do what we want to do.  Should a day job be used as the foundation to define oneself?  Is there a random timeline one must adhere to in order to claim “I am an Artist!” with any degree of authority to the world?  How much is a paycheck involved with how we see ourselves, and with how others see us?  If someone goes home every night from her job as a receptionist and paints – does that make her any less a painter and any more a receptionist?

I don’t think so.  While it’s true that a painter paints, a writer writes, and an actor acts – you can go for years, or even an entire lifetime, before you are paid for what you do.  These professions don’t take the same route as other more traditional professions where you go to school, get your degree and then look for a job in your field.  Although even with those careers, it may take time - you may start at the bottom and have to work your way up the corporate ladder.  But in the arts, is there a ladder of success?  Isn’t the very nature of art much more ambiguous than that to begin with?  Why the obsession in our culture of using currency as the measure for everything – including how we can define who we are?  Does it make you any less an artist if your paintings don’t sell until after your death? 

Longing to Belong

"It turns out, that being human is not for the faint of heart. We each bravely submit to different handicaps, and although some are more visible than others, they are equally noble teachers."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julie-genovese/how-to-be-happy-building_b_611616.html?ref=email_share

A true gem of a story that serves as a reminder that everyone goes through their own version of feeling different, not good enough, and like they don’t fit in at some point in their lives.  On some level, we all long to belong; to find our place in the world with kindred spirits.  But sometimes this need causes us to react in ways that are not reflective of who we really are simply to fit in.  We contort ourselves in such a way that, after awhile, we don’t recognize who we are and don’t remember what we believe.  It is only through self examination and looking inward rather than outward that we can discover our own gifts and excavate our inner demons.  Once we accept ourselves for all of who we are – our strengths, our weaknesses, our successes and our failures, can we find our “peeps” and slip into the comforting familiarity of a group of like-minded souls.

Doors

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us." - Helen Keller

When I think about this last year, I am reminded of this quote.  My life changed, and although I knew this change was vital for me to become who I needed to be for the next part of my life, I couldn’t always see where I was going.  There were moments this past year when it felt like I was going backwards; others when it felt as if I was simply standing still.  On the one hand, I had a new goal in sight which – after working towards it the last 8 months, has now been realized.  On the other, I had to let go of something that meant more to me than any words I could muster would sound on this piece of paper.  So even now, this accomplishment feels tinged with a bittersweet quality.  But sometimes the greatest accomplishment we can have is simply in the being of each moment.  Living it, acknowledging it and being true to it.  We don’t always see our growth or the evolution we have made until we get through to the other end and look back.  Then, and only then, is our path clear and our purpose more defined.  Sometimes the only way for us to get to the next part of our lives is to close that door in ourselves, which then allows us the freedom to open a new one.