light

 “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark;
the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” –
Plato

Humans are such vulnerable creatures, particularly with respect to their inner feelings. The truth is that people are afraid of many of their feelings. They are even more afraid of expressing them.  Instead, they suppress their feelings. They deny them, not only to others, but also to themselves. They are ashamed of their feelings.  They are afraid what they might do or who they might become if they allowed themselves to feel their feelings.

Know that you can responsibly manage your feelings. Know that you do not become less of an adult by feeling them. In fact, you become more of an adult. Artistry in life is about feeling your feelings and dealing with them wisely. Bring your feelings into the light. Doing so requires a great deal of self honesty, which can at times require a great deal of courage, yet it is the light of awareness that heals and evolves you.  It is not about impulsively acting out. It is about knowing, with the full light of awareness, what dwells within you and holding those things responsibly. As you do so, the psyche and physiology purify and you begin to live more and more in harmony with Mother Nature, your own true Divine nature.

Few people really understand that their true nature is Divine. They fear that it is not Divine. They feel they must not bring to light all that is within them. They feel that to do so is to release a beast. It is the suppression, the hiding away of what is within you, that causes the distortions and convolutions. As you work with the feelings within, you become more and more skilled at dealing with them all. You also become more free. It is about creating a healthy relationship with what dwells within. Suppression and denial is not healthy. This certainly does not mean that you act out whatever it is you are feeling. Those feelings are not necessarily your Truth. They are often just your personal issues. But to heal them, you must feel them. Then you learn how to deal with them responsibly and maturely. In time, you gain the ability to share the depth of your being with others. That is the greatest gift you can give to another and to the world. That is your own personal genius.

The art of living is being able to find a way to “put your cards face up on the table”.   In other words, to share yourself with the world… to bring what dwells deep within you to the light of day. That is not done with reckless abandon. It is done with thoughtful insight and respect for yourself and others. It is about having a healthy relationship with your self, other people, society, and the world. It is the process of becoming no longer afraid of the light.

© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.