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| Jesus the Son of Man - Gibran Khalil Gibran |
Happy Sunday,
First and foremost I would like to apologize for not posting these two previous Sundays.
See, every time I sat down to write I could not complete more than two sentences. I had so many different ideas, but none of them felt worthy of sharing. I felt like they were not original, like whatever I was about to write was something people would already know. Something that people who are older, wiser, with more experience, have written books and given lectures on. I love reading and writing about humans, their experiences, their self-discovery, but I just felt like I had nothing new to offer.
So I wrote less and read more. I read Eckhart Tolle, Paulo Coelho, and Khalil Gibran. As I was reading I felt a certain joy, a warm buzz, a shiver through the spine although I was reading things that I felt I already knew. I felt like they were, through their writing, telling me more about myself, or not telling me, but rather revealing to me what was already within me. I felt like reading was helping me tap into a deeper level of myself, reconnect with parts of myself that I had lost connection with. Through other people's words, I found it easier to understand the words my heart was telling my mind. I never felt that I was inquiring new ideas through my reading, but rather I felt like I was targeting the release of what was already there; a gush of knowledge that was buried within me.
Those of you who know me, know that it is my dream to become a teacher, and those of you who know me well, know that my decision was inspired by the great teachers that I had in high school; two in specific, my English Teacher Ms. Sue Barnes, and my Art History teacher Mr. John Leistler. These two precious teachers gave great lessons in the their subject areas, but the most valuable lesson they had offered me was one of hope. They saw in their students, what the students themselves did not see. They saw potential and dwelling knowledge. They knew the secret; that every single student had tremendous knowledge within, and an enormous field of energy, that they can use to achieve all that they ever dreamed of. They helped me see that, by believing in me and not letting me for once think that there was something I couldn't do.
And on my trip down memory lane, and back to my high school days the fear of being "unoriginal" disappeared, and I felt like I could write again. I realized, the ideas I want to share are not meant to be some new or unheard of discovery, but rather they are part of the knowledge that's in my teachers, that's in me, that's in you, that's in all of us.
Inside each and every one of us is a treasure box with all the knowledge we will ever need. The key is realizing its existence. My teachers helped me realize what's within me by showing me what's within them. And this is why I want to become a teacher; so I can be to others what my teachers were to me; the key to realizing all that I could be.
The treasure box is in everyone's possession, and it's the most valuable thing one could own. It is the truth of who you are, a miraculous collection of knowledge everyone is born with, and it grows as we grow. Some might have it wide open, letting the treasures fill their souls, hearts, and minds up, and some might have it shut tightly and even not aware of its existence, for others it might be something in between. But its existence is definite, there in core of every person. And when you're searching for yourself, the truth about who you really are, it is your answer, you are that core, you are that treasure.
Do you know that feeling you get when you watch an inspirational talk, by a survivor, or a believer, an achiever or whatever it is that inspires you, and you get that shiver, that pull you feel towards the person, the goose bumps? This is you recognizing yourself in another. You see them, their true self shining through, you see the treasure within them and for a moment of shivers and goose bumps you know that its within you too.
My teachers, are people with their treasure box open wide, they glow with the beauty of what is inside them. I saw their glow, and I wanted to be like them and they helped me see that I could. You can see that glow in many people, those who have a shimmer in their eyes when they speak, a passion in their heart that is so strong that you feel it when you're in their presence. When you speak to them they don't utter words, but rather pull you in to feel the tranquility in their hearts, and hear the rhythms of knowledge in their souls.
I was wrong to think that my ideas were "unoriginal". What I see in art, reflects what is already in me, inside my treasure box, waiting to be released, to be awaken. 6o or more years ago, the magnificent artist Jackson Pollock created a collection of art reflecting what he had in his treasure box. He said: "Painting is self-discovery, every good artist paints what he is."
Khalil Gibran was also a great artist and writer. He wrote "No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge." In his artwork 'Jesus the Son of Man', the curled up, half asleep figures, remind me of the treasure, the knowledge we posses. Waiting for us to wake them up, realize their existence, and transform them into endless possibilities and achievements.
These curled up figures are within me, these curled up figures are within you. And if we listen close enough, we can hear them singing songs, the songs our hearts yearn for, and our souls need to flourish, the songs that can make us happy when we start to sing along.
"Jesus the son of man" whispers, wake me up, let me run free.
