Breathe with me now and then awaken
(...)
Repeat:
There are no gods, there are only metaphors
(There are no gods, there are only metaphors)
Stories of adventures of gods on earth are metaphors
(Stories of adventures of gods on earth are metaphors)
Fairy Tales are metaphors
(Fairy Tales are metaphors)
There are no soul mates, there are only compatible or incompatible significant others
(There are no soul mates, there are only compatible or incompatible significant others)
The soul mate idea is a Fairy Tale
(The soul mate idea is a Fairy Tale)
True love is an earned state after a long period of trial and interaction
(True love is an earned state after a long period of trial and interaction)
Riding off into the sunset is a Fairy Tale
(Riding off into the sunset is a Fairy Tale)
No one will save you except you
(No one will save me except me)
Compassion and kindness are human qualities to nurture
(Compassion and kindness are human qualities to nurture)
Established personal boundaries are to be respected
(Established personal boundaries are to be respected)
Listen and observe rather than push forward an agenda
(Listen and observe rather than push forward an agenda)
It is not kind or compassionate to disrespect established personal boundaries
(But…)
No buts, you simply can not force love, friendship, religion or belief upon anyone
(But then I’ll be spiritually bereft and will have nothing to hang on to)
Belief in Fairy Tales and Illusions tends to end badly
(But it’s all I have to sustain me!)
Try this, fall in love with Earth, seasons, the mystery of coincidence, earn romantic love with another through long periods of trial and interactions, listen, connect face to face with neighbors, witness whatever you can witness and without judgement, all this is happening now with no illusions, breathe and tap into that, reality is enough, now breathe and awaken.
(…)
8 comments:
Wonderful thoughts on how to live skillfully.
Beauty and genius, all tied together. :)
I love this line: "Belief in Fairy Tales and Illusions tends to end badly" So many, many (different kinds of) heartaches and despair that could be avoided if people were taught this early on!
But the survivor gets to tell the story, so there you go. Maybe we can still pass it on...
Hey Bonnie, great to see you!
Jen, and don't they though? Instead, we tend to make our kids believe in them, because they are so pretty! But then you spend all this time as an adult wondering where all the magic went and why it's all gone so awry. Feet on the ground, that's my new motto. :-) I'm so glad you're hanging out here Jen, it is SO good to see you.
I'm glad, too, for this space of yours. It's completely awesome to see you again, too!
Fairy tales are perennial because the psyche needs them. Inner space needs them. They will never leave us alone and we are challenged to find the navigation that allows our insides as much free range as possible without losing the real in the process.
I personally negotiated an affair that was as much fantasy as reality for 2 years and got my present poesy cycles out of that experience. I could not be the artist I am today without going through the intense training of that time. I knew it was going to hurt from the start. Yes indeedy. It certainly did hurt, and it definitely ended, and the ending could be said to be bad. But what price poetry?
You are right, belief in fairy tales does tend to end badly. However, a life bereft of fairy tales is an arid place, perhaps a deadly one. Outer reality is actually not enough as Jung knew well and described in great detail in his depth psychology. We are not tabula rasa and are instead filled with preset yearnings that have little to do with what is happening now and much to do with the many inbuilt destinies of mankind. That is the source of the fairy tales and the human shape in the religions and the source of the arts in general. The archetypes drive us until we align with them.
Herein lies the main skill because all you say is true but it is only one side, especially for artists.
Oh, yes, Christopher, I agree about why we need Fairy Tales. I love Fairy Tales, and hail them as the metaphors they are. We need them and they help to describe the energies, as you say. The problem is believing in Fairy Tale thinking, letting your illusions wash over the reality and believing the Fairy Tale over the truth. And I agree, art is a wonderful way to process and help to conquer this kind of thinking, help to move us beyond and through it. As an artist, I can say that art and writing has personally helped more than anything else to move me beyond the illusion stage of living. But the metaphors are incredible and represent real archetypal energies, and should be respected as such. Its' one of the reasons I think all young people should read Clarissa Pinkola Estes Women Who Run with the Wolves. One of the best 'Fairy Tale' collections with their archetypes explained ever written, (in my humble opinion ;-)
You are completely right, dear Cat... and yet... and yet... so many times, fiction is all I have...
Oh Vesper, there is nothing like fiction to take us away on a little journey where we learn things and just enjoy the escape (or not), but we always return from our fiction worlds! ;-)
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