I live in a city that normally has relatively mild winters, and recently the city has experienced unusually winterish weather conditions. We had four days of this type of weather in a row actually and on the fourth day we had the prettiest snow I have ever seen, and the city was covered in a deep white glow. It was absolutely gorgeous to view, yet it was also the fourth day of an extreme winter weather advisory warning and I had not left my neighborhood and really my home due to the treacherous road conditions in those four days. And as I viewed all the pristine beauty around me, I also began pondering that here I was in the midst of and surrounded by this magnificent beauty and I felt trapped.
Yes, I went for a walk in the beauty of the snow, took pictures to share with friends on Facebook, and still I could never really feel the beauty around me on that day, an irony to me and one that brought with it the thought of how often we create surroundings of outward paradise only to feel trapped on the inside by what we have created to the toys we bring into our life with price tags bigger than our wallets, to the appearance games we play, even to our relationships based more on status then mutual appreciation or love. As well as what these mirages cost us from the financial to the emotional and physical, and how keeping up appearances can keep us stuck in unsatisfying conditions from a loveless relationship to an unfulfilling job; as we sacrifice true happiness for the appearance of it; as we wear inauthentic smiles rather than those that emanate from our hearts. I mean what if we acknowledged our humanness and allowed others to view us however they chose and we stopped pretending? What if we stopped judging by appearances alone?
And what in the end is most important that you project a life of luxury and perfection or that you are true to yourself living a balanced life that allows you to be true to those you love without sacrificing your own well-being or the well-being of those around you so that in the end it can be said she loved well, she was authentic and real; a true expression of who she really was. What if being a true expression of ourselves, living our passions became the norm?
Why isn’t authenticity and true happiness a component of success? And why when people express it, do we want to belittle it if doesn’t look like what we expect? We tell people to be true to themselves, yet as a society do we mean it? I mean after all we have created an environment where living the vision in a commercial is more important than living our own and we have paid a price for it, as reflected in the HPI index, an index which measures human well-being. Out of all the countries ranked the US ranking in 2009 was a 114. Something is awry, we are financially one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Yet, this wonderful nation does not even rank in the top 20 of this index so, know matter the appearance true happiness and well-being are not a priority.
And what would happen if they were? I mean if we are not enjoying the journey now, what makes us think we will enjoy the destination anymore?
I cannot place myself on the altar of perfection or even state that I have created the perfect life or that I am truly authentic and happy in every aspect of my life; I have disappointed myself at times and disappointed those that admire me and or love me. I am real; and realness brings with it a certain messiness that we can’t truly hide from no matter what appearance we might try and project, in the end it is you sitting with you. And in that space will you know that you honored more than you dishonored, that you loved more than you belittled, that you created more than you destroyed? Will you be able to say I lived a life connected to my heart body and soul and as such I became a steward of the gifts bestowed upon me whether that gift is a child, a talent, monetary gain or the love of your life?
What say you?
