once i read a story that was roughly: a kid thought his friend’s bicycle was awesome! there was something special about it. the friend took care of it and he seemed very happy about it. so the kid was given the exact same bicycle. but his friend’s bike still seemed to be more special. the friend was just so excited and he seemed to be having a good time even when he was just cleaning the bike. the lesson was: what makes something special is the quality of attention we give to it.
there’s a difference between glancing at something with disdain, with indifference, and with longing. all of these reactions are pre-set, the emotion is muddled with the viewer’s judgment, attachment and repulsion. how we view something colors our perception of it.
i’m learning an important lesson in life: don’t overfeed fish and don’t overwater plants. yet don’t neglect them to starvation either.
i’m learning that we can re-late, look with love and nurturing, recognize the natural aliveness of everything around us. that everything around us can tell us about themselves without us needing pre-set strategies. that i can relate and communicate with myself and all outside of me, without necessarily viewing it as separate.
what changes when we become enamored and when we become bored with the same thing or person? it seems like the quality of attention we give to things, the interest, the focus, the curiosity to find out more, to allow this entity to be itself and tell us about it- i want to say that is what love is.
i like the analogy of the sun giving energy to all life as an aspiration of what love may look like.
© The Paradox of Being. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of written material, ideas, and images without express and written permission from this blog’s author is strictly prohibited. Links to the original content on this blog may be provided.
the paradox of being 