Renaissance means rebirth...
A rebirth is a revival of the beginning, a bringing back of that time before, of that being when we were in that child-like state, where all things were possible. It makes me think of the allegory of the movie, "the Neverending Story."
The tale's big underlying theme is about regaining or in the main character's position, retaining that child-like innocence. Saving the child-like empress in the ivory tower of pure unbridled spirit in each of us from the terror that is the nothing. This nothing being the loss of imagination or open ended awareness. It represents the complacency and loss of our ability to be aware and awake to the possibilities of the infinite.
The nothing creeps into so many of our lives early on and robs us of our innate wonder of our pure connection to the divine and to the potential to be anything. It keeps us from pondering our personal dimensionality and if we are truly a 3 dimensional being living in a four dimensional universe or are we more than that?
So has "The Nothing" conquered your life presently? Here are some easy signs: (but don't worry, it's not too late!)
1.You are complacent with where you are in your life. Complacent here doesn't mean happy, it means content enough not to change things you know you could, and it kind of means you have given up on your potential, things are good enough.
2. Does television or the internet occupy most of your time, distracting you from what is really happening in your life?
3. Do you avoid difficult situations often because you are afraid of change or what might happen so you endure misery?
4. Do you often feel bored and listless where things just don't have that same luster or excitement?
5. Do you feel stuck in your path, but can't think of a new way to solve it?
Just as we feel like things can't be changed and that we are powerless, so it is. Think of the famous Ford quote, "whether you think you can or you can't, you're right." if we accept our fates to be tied to complacency and mediocrity then that is all we can be. If this is all you accept as being your reality, then your cutting yourself off at your own knees.
The box you have created from your beliefs is the one you can't get out of...
Our limits are those which we have learned to accept. It reminds me of the old gorilla from the film Instinct, which is based off the wonderful novel, "Ishmael,"where they offer the gorilla his freedom and he doesn't bother to go. He has accepted his fate, he has been broken. "The nothing" has consumed his wild, untamed soul. So it is with us.
This experience of being consumed by our cages leaves us in a listless droll state of fearful perception. Some of us are able to retain some of our power and potential, but unfortunately those are among the very few. Many people let it reconstruct their psyche in such a way that they lose that feeling of joy and even the simpler form of happiness.
Leonardo DaVinci, who, oddly synchronous enough, is considered the first and most prominent person associated with the renaissance time period, was a major advocate for maintaining the child-like empress in our lives. He reveled in his child-like wonder. He fought against his loss of innocence with creativity and innovation as his guides. One of my most favorite quotes by him is where he describes using the imagination to find pictures in the cracks and imperfections of a wall. He kept himself sharp intellectually by exercising the most important mental muscle we have and that is our imagination. To draw in another epically famous mind, this time from the 20th century,
Albert Einstein emphasized the fact that the imagination is more important than knowledge. He understood that the freedom of the mind to wander and explore was something we needed to grow so that even further innovations and advancements in our society and thereby consciousness are able to come to fruition.
So how do we rediscover our old core being, our essence we showed up on Earth with? How can we defeat our "Nothings?"
Having our own renaissance may not be as hard as it sounds. All it takes is reflection and some reteaching so we can unlearn the programming we have been force fed by societal structures. Call back into your mind that time of your innocence if you still can,those feelings of gentle building excitement where things are boundless.
If this proves too difficult try this, stare at a spot that looks broken and cluttered or find a spot in the sky on a cloudy day. Now just gently look at this spot and just for a moment try to connect what is there into something. Make it into an object you are familiar with in your mind. Can that cloud look like a bee if you turn your head, or can those cracks or splotch of paint on the wall or in the sidewalk look like the body of a dragon?
Take a brief moment here or there throughout your day to reconnect with your own wonderment and see where it takes you!
We are as young or as old or as open or closed off as we accept. Don't be afraid of the mystery of the unknown you enjoyed as a child. Conquer your nothing, climb on Falcor and become the something you truly know you are!!!
Light for your path...
