This week’s Free Write Friday prompt from Kellie Elmore …
I didn’t understand it then, but I understand it now …
“I didn’t understand because I couldn’t understand, I wasn’t ready, Joe.” So said Magnolia as she gazed absently out the window trying to explain her life to me.
“For a time in our lives are eyes are not open wide enough to see what really matters. Our vision is narrowed by the prejudices and the illusions with which others, chiefly our family because they are the ones who first influence us, endow us. We learn to see the world their way, and for most of us the view is disconnected. They have a need to be validated through our eyes” She pauses. ” Still, if their ways are harmful, should we then perpetuate their dysfunctional view just to seek their approval?”
It’s a good question, purely rhetorical, but I answer anyway.
“What’s this got to do with me?” I respond, my ignorance laid bare. She doesn’t miss a beat.
“You are in danger of remaining a slave to the beliefs of those who have come before; of those who have patterned your life,” she says, convinced of her truth. “You are angry all the time, as displayed by your need to curse at the slightest provocation. You criticize where none is warranted. You are defensive to the point of being hostile. You hurt the people who matter most, including yourself, but don’t see it. You do not see it because you are not ready to understand there is another way.”
I suppose I could get defensive as I stand here in Magnolia’s glow. But I can’t, because that’s just it. She is glowing. She is so serene I feel something I don’t know I’ve ever felt before … a sense of peace.
Could she be right?
Could it be that my hostile way of dealing with life is due to an inability to see my Self beyond the programming of my forebears?
“It can be undone … to a degree,” she says, as if reading my mind. “But you must be willing to become self-aware; to explore the rooms of your soul that are darkest and frighten you the most. You must shed light in them, rummage through the crowded closets of negative thought and empty them of everything that clouds your ability to see your own truth. Everything that makes you unhappy.”
“But how will I know what I am looking for?” I ask, somewhat bewildered.
“You will know it when you feel it.” She says, again with a confidence that creates a longing in me for my own. “It’s really quite simple when you consider the thoughts, ideas, experiences, people, places and anything else that makes you unhappy, miserable, sad, angry, devalued, diminished, distraught and all other manner of negative emotion. These are the things that need to be explored; that need to be made peace with so you can release them and make room for something new and more life affirming.”
“Like what?” I ask.
She turns to me and smiles.
“Make peace with yourself and you make peace with the world. You promote peace around you, Joe. Everything that makes you truly happy; that brings you such joy you can’t wait to share it with everyone; that causes your heart to heal and overflow with love. When you no longer feel the desire to express yourself through expletives or defend yourself all the time; when there is no need for attention at any price. The price of your dignity; your self-worth; your Self.”
She ponders for a moment.
“Where there is hatred, Joe, there can never be peace. If it is not peace you feel inside, what is it? You must decide your fate ~ to deteriorate in the face of hatred or grow in the heart of peace.”
Perhaps it’s just where I am in my life right now but for some reason this is making sense. I am middle-aged and exhausted in the wake of my reactionary existence.
I see how my life has been misguided, and possibly sabotaged, by the belief systems of people who knew no better than to influence me with their own dysfunction.
I’m beginning to see that what there is, what I have experienced, is not all.
I did not understand this before, but I understand it now.
And when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.
~*~
Hmmmm … interesting where the free writing process will take us.
Thanks for visiting,
Dorothy
©Dorothy Chiotti, Aimwell CreativeWorks 2014
Shedding Light on the Family Tree 
Interesting indeed where free write takes us…I just love this piece you have shared here! It seems to wrap up lots of thinking I am going through…your post is the balm that makes some thoughts seem true but not so scary. May I reblog this piece for my blog on Stigmahurtseveryone as a great example of introspection and self-care. Cheryl-Lynn
Thank you. Of course you may reblog and I appreciate you asking me first.. I’m glad this spoke to you and hope it helps you to find the peace within that you’re seeking re whatever is weighing on you. Be well, Dorothy 😉
I’m including the link in my post I am almost finished writing …your post just came at the right time in my reflective mood:)
“And when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” How philosophic and introspective.
A wonderful piece of writing; I think I’m still waiting for teacher!
Just great Dorothy! Love the line ‘when there is no need for attention at any price’ it rings so true.
Thanks, Mark. 🙂
Love where this took you this week. Seems to be timely for many of us and others we love. 🙂
It was a free writing exercise, of course, but I agonized a bit if I should even post it. Seemed heavy and preachy. But one must respect the process and I think you’re right, there’s a lesson in it for, dare I say, all of us. … The unrest in the world, in my opinion, reflects the unrest of the souls who inhabit it. Until peace is found inside of ourselves how can we ever expect to experience the peace we crave in the world? … There I go again. But this notion of “fighting for peace” really bothers me. If each of us took the time and made the effort to find the peace within ourselves we would be less likely to need to fight for anything. … I guess I’m a dreamer. Most people will never be self-aware enough, and some people are just too evil to care beyond the needs of their damaged egos. Conquer (attention) at any cost. There’s plenty of that out there. 😉 … Now, I really must step down from my soap box and do a little nurturing … Be well and thanks for stopping by … Dorothy 🙂
Inner peace is key. I have lived long enough to see too many people refuse to deal with themselves. They’d rather take what they can and project their damaged egos onto others. Thanks for stepping up! 🙂
🙂