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The Return – Reflections
I ventured forth upon my search.
A distant song that kept me going
through the years of struggle.
Then in a moment not in time
I found the source of the song.
For a precious forever moment
I found what I was looking for.
Enraptured in bliss.
But as from an enchanted dream
I had to return
If I know only one thing about life, then it is that life will always present us with what we could never have imagined, surprising twists and turns. And so it has been for me.
Psychologists says that we live in an inner an outer world, and that it is our inner world that determines our course in the outer world. Our inner world is created in our early childhood and consists out of personal myths that we build our dreams on. In spiritual terms, the inner and outer worlds reflects the Yin and the Yang of our existence. What drives us through life and what connects our inner and outer worlds, is our dream, born out of our personal myths. Within our dreams is woven the scent of unique calling.
What gives each of us pleasure is unique in all of us. Sadly for many, their unique sense of pleasure have been overwhelmed by the mass media idea of what should give us pleasure. In today's world it is especially hard to discern your own uniqueness from the global image. It is not just in material aspirations, that we get caught by media image of the way things should be, but also in the our spiritual searchings.
Like so many other stories and myths, the hero or heroine progresses through the call, the search, the struggle and finally reaches the the breakthrough. It here where most stories end. “And they lived happily ever after ...” In spiritual myth Enlightenment is achieved, Nirvana, Translation, transfiguration etc. But the story does not end there, there is still the return.
“I realized that the problems with goals in life is not that they can't be achieved, but that they can. And then what?” - Hugh Downs
“I'd gone to the moon. What to do next? What possible goal could I add now?” Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin
All our lives we taught to strive for the moon, our dreams, to strive for the mountain top, but not what to do when we reached it. It is as if we are told to strive, but that no one actually expects us to reach it. We are left to face the return, alone, without any guidance. It is however in the return that everything you have striven for could be lost.
Research has shown that the happiness levels of lottery winners returns to former levels within a year. This to me is very significant. We pray for miracles but we are not prepared for miracles. We dream of eternal spring, but that is not the natural flow of things. If once we reached a peak and stayed there, what more would we learn? Live is not an endless circle but an endless spiral. The wise man must always return from the mountain top, down to the valley to share what he has learnt.
For me it is much like having a brilliant idea, but the brilliant idea will have little meaning unless it is put into practical application. Always the there is the journey uphill to the peak and then there must be the return to the hard reality. Anyone who has climbed a mountain will know that the journey back is always the worst. Why must we always return?
The depth of the mystery of life is so unfathomable from our present vantage point that we have to learn layer by layer. We get rewards of encouragement along the way but it is never it, there is always more to learn, deeper to go and we could so easily be dazzled by the the first rays of light that we think we have seen the light. When you achieved a goal, reached a dream, you must for a while experience a period of nothingness. It is within this time of nothingness that we can so easily give up, or be deluded by our past achievements, believing that there can never be more. But be still, out of the brilliant ashes of your your old goals, old dreams, a new bigger dream is waiting to be born, one that will take us further into the secrets of life.
Life is not one Breakthrough but a series of Breakthroughs.
Hi Sophia... hope this finds you well...
One of the things i try to do is collect conceptual models to help me understand me and my world... They provide me with stuff to think with...(if that makes any sense???)
As i read alot of your posts... and they all make me think/feel alot of different stuff...i thought i would share this...
Awakening the Hero’s Within by Carol Pearson
STAGES OF THE JOURNEY-
*PREPARATION: During this stage we are challenged to prove our competence, courage, our humanity, and our fidelity to high ideals. Person’s first 4 archetypes can be seen as inner guides that help us prepare for the journey.
*INNOCENT- We begin here…and can learn optimism and trust.
Fear- abandonment Gift- Trust
*ORPHAN- after the “fall”, disappointed, abandoned, betrayed by life.
The orphan teaches us that we need to provide for and take care of ourselves.
Fear- Exploitation Gift- Realism
*WARRIOR- When the warrior comes into our lives we learn to set goals
Fear- Weakness Gift- Courage/Discipline
*CAREGIVER- When the caregiver becomes active we learn to care for others as well as caring for ourselves.
*SEEKER- Searching for something beyond ourselves.
Fear-Conformity Gift- Autonomy
The destroyer takes away what we may have valued.
Fear-Annihilation Gift- Humility
Fear- loss of love Gift-Passion/Commitment
Fear-Inauthenticity Gift-Individuality/Vocation
This process will prepare us again and again to return the kingdom and change our lives.
*THE RETURN- We realize we are the Rulers of our kingdom and may be disappointed at the current state of our affairs. As we become more fully true to our identity forged above, we begin to change the “wasteland” around us. The final set of attainments… taking responsibility for our lives, transforming and healing ourselves and others, nonattachment and a commitment to the truth, and a capacity for joy and spontaneity… becomes the gift of the journey (s).
Are you drawn to any archetype more then others??
Be well.... mike
Mike, I hope you are well too. Thank you so much for the post.
