“Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, Rage against the dying of the light.” — Dylan Thomas
All around us in the present moment, as individuals, we see and experience a difference in how we perceive the world. We are distracted and side-tracked by an infinite number of events that continue to occur in rapid succession. We might ask … what does this all mean? The response is contingent upon who we are and what we have become over time. We are upon deeper reflection, standing in the proverbial . . . fork in the road. Which way to turn, which way to go … is a continual question that arises during times of conflict, stress, hopelessness, fear and consternation. In a quiet moment Rumi stated a response quite simply, “Close both eyes, to see with the other eye.”
It gives each of us pause . . . during the course of our lives, to see, comprehend, acquire, believe and captivate the light of our existence. It is not impossible nor allusive. Quite the contrary, however Rumi distills the question in another way, “Most people guard against going into the fire, and so end up in it.” That being said, once you find yourself in a quagmire, unhooking yourself takes a great deal of desire and quite often courage because we finally understand the words of Thomas Acquinas, “A man has free choice to the extent that he is rational.”
In my experience, most individuals are seeking “the answer” to a myriad of problems, questions etc. outside themselves. There is no one answer . . . guidance, suggestions, direction yes … but an unequivocal “quick fix” doesn’t exist. I know that we each experience the evolving process of “now” and those problems, impossible circumstances, horrific events and the like change us, to the degree we are able to navigate toward the window of “relative acceptance in circumstances beyond our control.” We begin to slowly realize with the passage of time, that we have control over almost nothing. Regret for choices made in the past, only increase a negative aura impeding movement forward to clarity.
When we find out that we are the light in our own lives, we can share that light with the world around us. Dylan Thomas suggests that raging against that light during our lives before it goes out is appropriate. I rather see it another way through the words of T.S. Eliot, “We shall not cease exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time.” What process is evolving that you experience arriving where you started, and see it with the eyes behind your eyes, perhaps for the first time? — JLR