Our Past:
Chapter 4: Peering Eyes
See Beyond: Be Free to Dream--Do Not Succumb--Exceed
Underneath, suspended in the goo of time,
Finally, finally resigned from time,
About to be forgotten by time.
For we are born in other’s pain,
and perish in our own.
–Francis Thompson. 1859-1907.
There is no better than adversity.
Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss
Contains its own seed, its own lesson
On how to improve your performance
The next time.
–Malcom X. 1925-1965.
Exceed.
We are not
our circumstances
but what we do with them.
The conflicts strengthen us.
They prepare us for our victories.
Say what? From far above me,
These broken bones ‘n cuts
look like victory to you?
Our greatest glory is not never falling,
but rising every time we fail.
–Confucius. 551-479BC.
It is not death or pain that is to be dreaded,
but fear of pain or death.
–Epictetus. 50-135AD.
Building skills,
increasing endurance;
practice and preparation.
My past was practice? Practice for WHAT?
For what follows the past.
Exactly, it is a long time past practing, time for sinking.
The source of your strength is your injury.
The source of my stregnth … are you crazy?
Indeed.
Surrender comes when you no longer ask,
“Why is this happening to me?”
Acceptance of the unacceptable is the
greatest source of grace in this world.
–Exkhart Tolle. Born 1948.
Indeed. Surrender your pain, not your, ‘self.’
Fear of pain is the antagonist of growth.
It is the antithesis of prosperity.
It is the eliminator of strength.
It is the annihilator of ‘self.‘
If you feel pain, face it.
Move through it by going inside it,
turn it inside-out and push beyond it.
It is stagnant, you are not.
Convert your pain to the high-octane
fuel to compel compassionate change.
When something bad happens,
you have three choices.
You can either let it define you,
let it destroy you,
Or, you can let it strengthen you.
–Dr. Seuss. 1904-1991
Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement.
Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.
–Hellen Keller. 1880-1968.
You! The sea of eyes floating over me,
Wavering ‘n flickering in the choppy waters,
like those millions behind the millions of masks,
You are becoming really, really, really annoying.
Go away.
Begs the question, yes,
‘What lies behind those eyes?’
Compassion, ambition,
creativity, altruism, charity,
advocacy, courage to change?
Resilience? Strength to love?
Always eyes watching you and the voice enveloping you.
Asleep or awake, indoors or out of doors,
in the bath or bed–no escape.
Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimeters in your skull.
–George Orwell, 1984. 1903-1950
Don’t be disturbed by emotions
like anger, envy, resentment.
These just zap energy
and waste time.
–Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. 1933-2020.
Provided anonymity fostered
aggression ‘n suspicion, in most,
against anyone not conforming.
Against anyone assessed a threat.
Against anyone perceived as, ‘Other,’
Transference of a deadlier contagion,
Fear-driven-cruelty, was then complete.
Arch beyond the zone of comfort.
Cross over this insane division of pain.
Bridge the gruesome gorge of Animosity.
It is wider than the mighty Mississippi,
It is stronger than the powerful Colorado,
It is more treacherous than the sinuous Snake.
We live in a world in which we need to
share responsibility, It’s easy to say,
‘It’s not my child, not my community,
not my world, not my problem.’
Then there are those who see the need and respond.
I consider those people my heroes.
–Fred ‘Mr.’ Rogers. 1928-2003.
In a society that functions optimally, those who can
should naturally want to provide for those who can’t.
That’s how it’s designed to work.
I truly believe we’re here to take care of one another.
–LeVar Burton. Born 1957.
We face devasation
in this 400-year flood;
its undertow will drag us all down;
we will drown in our meanness
and sink forever deeper
in the muck of cowardice.
Your courage is the mask against that virus.
If we go forth without
Your courage and strength,
without you, we are all a little less alive,
a little more dead, deprived of our potential
without your contribution.
Ignorance and lack of courage
only give rise to fear.
–Sachin Ramdas Bharativa
Harlem
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over–
Like syrup sweet?
Maybe it just sags
Like a heavy load
Or does it just explode?
–Lanston Hughes, 1951. 1901-1967.
Above the water line, two distinguishable
small spots of light, peered down at me.
They drew me as much as her words.
I ascended, swam toward them.
Burst through the surface.
Swam toward land.
Lurched to shore.
Collapsed to my knees.
Grabbed a fist of sand.
Looked up to see feet.
Endless rows of feet
stood before me.
I rose to defend my life
as the sand ran between
the fingers of my clenched fists.
I stood my ground, spun around,
looked up ‘n down.
Stand your ground, own your truth
and live your life peacefully.
–Elizabeth Griswold
The ground of fearlessness is fear.
In order to be fearless,
you have to stand in the middle of your fear.
–Larry Rosenberg. Born 1932.
I decried, Not like this!
Not going out like this!
You want me, you got me!
Here I am–Come on!
Thus came their second gift:
Courage to See More.
You are free to see more
than the corpreal.
Free to dream;
Not of ‘better.’
Better is no longer
a dream separated from being.
Not in our land, not amongst us.
It is already here.
The reality is this:
If we don’t make time to close our eyes,
breathe deeply,
push beyond the binds we’re in,
and visualize a day when they don’t exist,
we can never truly be free.
–Akiba Solomon & Kenrya Rankin
If you are an LGBT+ person and you come out,
you have to go through your knight’s quest
to create ground for yourself, to stand there and say,
‘I exist. I have no reason to feel guilt or shame.
I am proud to exist, and while I’m not perfect,
I deserve to exist in society just like anyone else.
–Suzzie Eddie Izzard. Born 1962.
Next began his training
to see the invisible
to hear the silent;
to separate fear
from anger.
Separated,
they can be
vanquished.
