We are each individually but one soul. A single soul chained to our solitude. Trapped under a spotlight that seeks to reveal our hopes and dreams... our ghosts and regrets.
Surrounded by others. Are they alone also or are they blessed with deep connections? One can’t tell just by looking. Appearances are rarely accurate at first glance.
Indeed, each of us has deep roots. Rich histories. Stories that may be known or may never be known to anyone but ourselves. Feelings that ache within us, needing to be shared but withheld from others because it’s safer to hold them close.
They see what’s on the surface. The face, the outward story, the evidence of life. But does anyone really know what’s within? The hopes, dreams and desires. The regrets, sadness and loneliness. The utter depths of despair? How can they when life must go on?
We move forward. Like blind shadows following a script. Barely taking time to acknowledge the existence and needs of others. Instead, attempting to accomplish our responsibilities. Floundering under our heavy load of expectations. Drowning in our ocean of sorrow and failures. Longing to know happiness but no longer believing it even exists.
We are intermingled with so many. Yet ultimately alone. Whether it be a result of circumstances or a personal choice. Ultimately we stand on our own. To face the choices. To ponder the realities and dreams.
To question who the soul is looking back from the mirror. Who is that empty lifeless face who seems to have no control over their own life? The happiness of others always taking precedence while the lifeless soul in the mirror trudges through the obligations, the expectations, the inconsiderations without feeling there is a right to complain.
Because who are they really? Anyone special? Anyone worthy? Anyone with a right to their own life? Or are they just the tool to be used for someone else’s happiness? Others who feel all is owed to them simply because they exist.
While others devote time, energy, and heart to the service of others. No rights to their own feelings without being condemned for daring to have any. Doomed to a life of servitude and damned to only dream of personal joy.
Surrounded by those who arrogantly take what they desire. Raping the hearts of those who love them. Self serving souls who have the audacity to believe they have a right to do whatever they wish.... everyone else be damned. Making choices in selfish haste with no regard that those choices will eternally alter the lives of others.
We, in our solitude of choice, wearily attempt to navigate the path of life. Knowing that none are without sin... that every soul is guilty of the exploitation of another at some point. Whether carelessly or intentionally. Leaving so many souls to feel desolate. Alone.
Making their way through the jungle of confusion. Contemplating the identity of the reflection in the glass. Is the reflection familiar? Or does a stranger live inside? How can we find the happiness we crave when our own identity is elusive? So we struggle forward. Alone. Lost. Without aim. Because inside our hearts we feel and believe that it’s entirely likely we don’t even exist.
So, who wrote this? Cogito ergo sum.
ReplyDeleteWe are not so truly alone. We may crave solitude, or we may feel profoundly lonely, but to be alone in our existence is simply not human nature. Aside from the fact that the human race would soon cease to exist if we were all to retreat into solitude, the very effort that we make to express ourselves betrays any pretense of a solitary nature. To voice our feelings, hopes, frustrations, and confusion is perhaps the strongest indicator that we know there are others of the same plight and mind. We seek their validation and camaraderie.
ReplyDeleteWho wants to walk alone? Truly alone? There always exists the desire to be at least noticed. For better or worse, we have a need to be thought of in some light. Whether praised or condemned for our actions, it's that that kind of recognition that lets us know that we are truly alive. Even though faith may be place in a divine entity, it is our connection and interaction with others on this earthly plane that sustain our existence from day to day. That is a fundamental part of our human identity. Though each of us may be but one soul, we are all interconnected, interrelated, and interactive through our common desires, goals, and means. In short, there is a common purpose of existence that binds us all. We may perceive it and pursue it in different ways, but we're all basically following the same script of life.
Sometimes, one person may recognize that common thread in a particular other. Would it not be entirely human to extend a hand and dare to walk beside that person? Such a person is not there to take, change, or exploit the other. It's a totally human need to share, enhance, and complement another. And quite naturally, a reciprocal effect would ensue. Indeed, that is the dynamic of discovery of the human identity.
Surely, there is a certain allure about staking out one's own individual identity which is independent of all others. But that is simply a mirage in a desert of self-imposed loneliness. It is a pursuit that will only leave the soul thirsting for purpose and satisfaction. The soul endures, but such a prolonged exercise in futility will leave it to wither into self-seeking cynicism. Quite the opposite of any natural human inclination.
Embrace adversity as an opportunity to build character. Engage exploitation with a gift of teaching. Convert guilt into the wise remorse of a lesson learned. Feel love as the sharing and growth that will enhance the spirit. Accept the extended hand, and feel it as a part of your own as you walk through life with another who offers you unselfish love. Yes, that kind of love yields happiness, a sense of purpose, and a confidence of identitity.