The visual spectrum in Washington DC yesterday was mostly about pink and silver, with a hint of early spring green tossed in.
Just as there are dog people and cat people, there are summer people and winter people. Is that right? I think it is. Are there spring and fall people? Bird people? Fish people? Probably. Because I'm a rule-bound personality, sometimes I get locked into the idea that the world is exclusively structured in polar opposites, that if I am a winter person, then I can't also be a summer person, for instance. (It's true that I am NOT a summer person, even though I feel I should be, living in Washington DC. Seasonally I am a fall/winter/spring person. So actually that's not a good example.)
In my heart of hearts I know that the world is not an either/or situation, that there are always more options, more realities, than either the black or white. I know, I KNOW, that I have free will and that there are always more options available than I can imagine at any one time. Because of my enthusiasm about most things, I can get out there to the extreme edges of every thought-form spectrum. Before I know it, I'm thinking in terms of us vs. them, or that one way of thinking is RIGHT, the other way is WRONG, that there are only two colors: ultraviolet and infrared. That is SO untrue!
I used to be a lot more entangled in the polarized world view than I am now, though in certain areas, I still get stuck. What I'm thinking about this morning is my optimism/pessimism and how hard it is for me to find a space between the attitudes of Everything is going to be great! and its opposite, I am DOOMED. Energetically the former requires of a lot of expansion, like breathing in so deeply it feels like my lungs will pop out of my rib cage. It's too much expansion. When I'm in my optimism mind-set, it feels quite forced. The opposite is what I call "The Voice of Collapse," i.e. I can't, it won't work, I'll never be able to ... etc. When I feel doomed, the center can not hold. I feel like a black hole, sucking everything inwards.
Does it sound like I'm bi-polar? Honestly, I'm not. Perhaps the above is expressed a bit more dramatically than necessary.
What I intend to continue cultivating is my curiosity and openness. Instead of deciding what the future holds, good or bad, I'd like to walk through my days wondering, staying open and alert, yet relaxed, asking myself at every decision crossroads, "Now what? What is possible here?" Wow. Wouldn't that be something?
I'm working on it! Have a wonderful weekend, y'all!
15 comments:
Those pink magnolias, or japanese magnolias as we call them, are just awesome. We have them here but not in such abundance. And they don't tend to be so tree like.
Well, I'm definitely not a winter person except in small doses. day after day of winter gels my blood and I don't want to move. I tend to work in threes myself even though there is much about this world that is opposite. Or maybe that's just our perception. good/bad, cold/hot, happy/sad, up/down, in/out. We leave out the entire middle range. Really just at what point does black become white?
Strangely enough - you mentioned the 'space between' opposing attitudes. Once again, truth is stranger than fiction, and my blog today is about exactly that - the spaces in between!
We are all in these states, between good and evil, happiness and damnation. Seasons change, and so do our perspectives.
Your photos are fabulous! Very nice Ms. Reya- I like how your eyes see and how your brain works- delightful and deep and pondering always with visions of interesting way of seeing.
I spend so much time trying to see both sides of a situation that I'm often smack dab in the middle incapable of making a decision. I guess there's a balance that needs to be found even in the center of things isn't there? I think your idea to stop at each juncture & ask the question is a wise one.
gorgeous
Reya, you've done it again. Your photo of the magnolias is so beautiful. It feels like I could touch them. Bravo.
Jinxy we're on a wavelength!!
How about considering becoming a "paradox" person, one who cultivates and abides in holding mutually exclusive positions/opinions/tendencies?
I am just going to focus on your photos.
LOVE LOVE LOVE that first photo. Something so strong and independent there. I love the lack of sun. If the sun were out it would not be the same photo. So very nice!
As always, Reya, your photos rock! (so do your words but I said I was just going to focus on the images this time around!) ;)
I used to think I was a "winter" person. Born in winter, love snow; etc. But ... since I have been in NJ I could just as easily be a spring or fall person. Definitely not a summer person. Way too hot.
aye, beautiful pictures!
I am not a winter person. Fo sho.
Spring at last! That magnolia is magnificent.
I think divinding groups in two is just the human way. Friend, foe. Us, them. The hard thing is to see the intermediates, and to belong to more than one group at once. I don't think it's possible to erase categories altogether, much as we might find that laudable in many areas of life. The urge to simple choices is hardwired.
I'm a summer person, and happy to be so. Bring on the heat!
I too am no longer a summer person. I think I used to be but now the heat gets to me and I just want cool, cool, cool weather. Even winter is great because we are lucky enough to have lots and lots of sunshine all winter long here in CA.
I think we all have positive and negative views about many things and then all inbetween. I think this is normal.
God bless.
that second photo is just spectacular Reya! and such contrast
being open and curious sounds like a good way to work through and out of thinking in polar opposites
(though some things really are either/or)
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