Thursday, September 2, 2010

And So We All Grow

the days go by slower and slower,
and still they seem to be gone in a swallow.
the sun rises, the sun sets,
the tides ebb, the tides flow,
the moon waxes, the moon wanes.
the same cycles over and over again,
and yet,
we are never the same person,
over and over again.

we say we haven't changed,
but we always are,
we always do.
we say we want things to remin the same.
we say we want stability.
what we want is change because what we want
is growth.

but remember when we were growing up
and our bones hurt
because they were growing
and changing?
that's the way of life.
it's not meant to feel good all the time,
it's meant to be lived.

we go through life standing up and sitting down
and building up and tearing down
and sitting still and standing tall
and raising fists and raising masks.
we are who we are each day and on and on,
and that person is never again
the same as we are right now.
we are like the glass of wine that is different with each sip,
as each moment the air changes the flavor of the grape.
the layers are exfoliated by oxygen and movement,
and oh so are we.

something is wrong when we want things to stay the same,
when the status quo is enough,
when it's all we strive for.
something is right when we're in search of something more,
something greater,
something different.

we are not unhappy with who we are or where we are,
we are simply curious beings, and want to know what else is out there.
we want to know how things work,
understand the meaning of the unknowns of the world.
this does not make us pessimists or unfaithful,
this makes us the curious children we were born as,
and maybe some of us
just forgot how to be curious.

maybe it felt good to know something
and so we got stuck in knowing
and being inside the box of understanding
what was happening.
and so we got comfortable and set up camp
and forgot it was camp,
and stayed forever.

we are living in our mud walls,
thinking they are concrete.
the walls of our minds are not concrete,
they are matter.
they are fluid.
they are ever changing and curious.
they are always seeking more.
they are always hungry for what's next.

and we are not dissatisfied when we are curious about what else is out there,
we are in fact so satisfied,
that we can't help but want more of that satisfaction
of finding out
what else will work
in our lives.

i believe this with every fiber of my being.

so this is the way of the world.
curiosity.
the river flowing, up and down and in and out.
the river dries up, the river overflows.
the river beholds an ancient truth of allowing what is to be, and seeing what else is up around the bend.
the river is all knowing and wise.
and it is fed by its mother,
the ocean,
and it feeds its mother,
the ocean.
and it all comes from the same place,
the wonderful vast universe of water and evaporation
and clouds and rain,
the cycle that began it all that we know almost nothing about,
it would seem.

and so we wonder,
what is next
and because we don't know,
we have fear
because we have forgotten what it's like to be
curious.
we have been taught to fear the unknown,
rather than embrace it.
we associate the unknown with dark alleys
and scary men with no boundaries.
we associate the unknown with lies and bitterness
and fake smiles to take something from us.
it's not that we ought to believe everything we hear,
or walk down every dark alley.
it's that we ought to trust ourselves,
our gut,
our intuition,
and still
move forward.

maybe it means choosing a different walkway or person to work with,
but it can't mean choosing the same old familiar things
day in and day out
simply because it's what we know.

when we set out to strand ourselves on an island of the unknown,
bring with us those things, those people that are familiar to us,
that give us comfort.
and so we still grow,
we still change,
and we grow
with those familiar people,
with those comforts of home,
and so they grow, too.

and so we all grow.