perception (|_| Drink Deeply |

The body’s misleading. It looks like us, is recognized as us & certainly embodies us. Yet, we’re short-changing ourselves if we overanalyze what we see in the mirror. While we need to make peace with that reflection, no matter how good or bad we perceive it to be, we also need to look beyond it. Not only are we immensely affected by how we see ourselves, it affects how others see us.

As obvious as that statement seems, it’s literally up to us how we’re perceived; even physically. The age-old idea that we’re told of someone’s “good personality” as compensation for any lack in their appearance has a more valid application in that personality can present first. Point in case, I don’t technically have a beautiful smile (thanx to quite the overbite ) but, due to its sheer enthusiasm, it always leaves a positive impression.

Ensuring that our inner beings reach beyond our physicality is two-fold in its necessity. It’s both key to being seen for who we truly are & the means of not letting the physical dictate that truth. Neither the shape of one’s body nor the workings of it should be afforded undue consideration. Just as we must make peace with the totality of its immediate representation of us, we also need to challenge the parts that make up that whole.

By far the most important thing to realize is that our whole is made of far more than our physical realities. From illness to gender, no piece of the puzzle is in itself us or has meaning of its own. A single factoid cannot be afforded singular importance. The fact that I’m physiologically broken shouldn’t break me psychologically & doesn’t make me any more broken than the rest of you. We’re all broken & simply striving to make sense of the pieces.

The idea that we were made in God’s image may seem downright laughable & is certainly often confusing, regardless of one’s take on it. Here’s the thing; it’s not our physical form that emulates Him nor solely our soul.. He/She/the entity scarcely encompassed by but aptly named God is a trinity. So are we: body, mind & soul. Furthermore, the reason we keep striving for democracy is that we are one; our majority rules.

If we unduly focus on one or even two of these three things that together create us, we find ourselves out of balance & essentially unhappy. There is a vote constantly being taken &, due to the brokenness we all share in one form or another, our bodies typically have the odd vote out. It’s up to us to give our minds & souls votes that can be heard; ideally, in a unanimous voice. My body struggles to function so it can’t help but vote me ill yet I don’t have to be defined by that.

It is, however, what will be seen until or unless the other facets of me take the helm. I know, I know; puzzles, caucuses & now ships. Of course, we already know that we are vessels but it’s really just our bodies that are. Thus, if our bodies aren’t indicative of the whole story, we need to bring the truth forward. You should no more believe the lies born of focusing on physical traits as flaws (it’s all comparative, thus relative & subjective, anyhow) than you should settle for the story your body’s telling.

Whether change is needed environmentally or physically, can be aided by breathing or hormones, is one of perception or projection; find the incongruity & – outwardly, inwardly or both – be exactly who you are. Don’t worry about who others think you are or perhaps expect you to be as that’s merely a perception of them & ultimately they’re going to follow your cues. When we’re whole, literally at one with ourselves, it’s our minds & souls that lead the charge.

Using myself as my own best example again; neither my body nor mind work as they should or could. Yet, for all their failings, my soul soars. I’m not sure my body should work well per se though I’m still aiming for basic functionality. Along the same lines, my mind’s limitations are due to damage to my brain rather than my intellect. Just as with our senses, what’s weakened gives way to the strengthening of an equal &/or opposite force.

All that we are is all that we’re seemingly not. Our whole is not only greater than its parts but is part & parcel of what’s unseen. That whom we are meant to be is found beyond the visible & manifests visibly when we are whole.

|_|) “You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.” ~ C. S. Lewis

PS: This is lovingly dedicated to my brother as it’s his birthday & he’s an exemplar of evolving wholeness; HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JORDAN!!!

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Where DOES the time go? I know that MYgraines, landlord lunacy & a certain birthday accounts for much of this past week. As a firm believer that all things happen for a reason, I’m not prone to stress. That being said, the sheer tenacity it can take to get through the day-to-day takes its toll. Therefore, nearly a week going by without a post may make perfect sense in the current scheme of things but none-the-less baffles me. Surely there was a moment in there somewhere in which I could’ve nurtured my hopefully burgeoning audience?!

mug raised to LyricsMode

Limbo is nothing new to me but its steadily growing presence just now is beyond distracting. Imagine a storm cloud becoming ever larger & darker til it blots out the sun. No real worries given the knowledge it’ll pass yet there are certain things that cannot readily be done during its reign. The current quandary & conflux of events has my brain somewhat on hold in turn. Don’t let this comparison imply anything other than an absolute love of storms for I’m not typically that literal & now is no exception. Instead, it’s the approaching eviction date that gives the current storm mass & the lack of anywhere to go that darkens it.

All lines of logic have run askew of late. If this then we’re homeless. If that then we’re running out of time. No longer does A lead to B much less then lead to C & forget poor D as suddenly all roads lead to E[EK]. If the other, how will I make money? Having been stuck in self-perpetuating cycles, I see now that they were just that; nothing compared to the vicious cycle my husband & I now face. Work outside the home isn’t an option til living in reach of workplaces but finding lodgings without the additional income is a herculean challenge. Working from home is what will give way to the future we envision yet takes quite some time to show a return.

Between brain farts & freezes, I try to imagine what our next move is. Literally. It’s an odd bunch of ridiculously basic questions with which to start one’s 40th year. C’est la vie! Our dissenters of late have let us know that we complain &/or fail too much for their liking. That alone could/should send me on a rant of how expectations born of one’s own life & experiences canNOT be applied to ANYone else. No-one should be living by anything other than their own specifications for happiness. At present, our circumstances are just dire enough that even a mere mention could come off as complaint & simply being in such a circumstance can be construed as failure.

If there’s one High School English lesson that needs to be carried with everyone throughout life; it’s context, context, context. Due to our desire to achieve an atypical brand of success, rebuilding repeatedly has been part & parcel of the process. Each time we start again from scratch, we’re glad to be reinventing our potential & recognize that whatever has gone before was not meant to be. There are those (aka the Bourgeoisie) who’ll see such reasoning as justification. So be it. We cannot control how we are perceived. Besides, I’d much rather focus my energy on what I hope to achieve.

With trepidation that these next two weeks will pass at Warp Speed & foreboding as to where that wormhole will lead, we can do naught but stumble forth. As much as I’d love to march toward a brighter future, the light’s just not on at the end of the tunnel yet.

(|_|*cheers*|_|)
“What’s money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.”
~ Bob Dylan ~

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