Sitting at lunch with my good friend/mentor/pastor/life journey person we noticed a young woman walking into a restaurant next door wearing a very bright jacket. The glow of the neon yellow couldn't help but catch our attentions. Most neon colors do just that - call out for attention. But what was interesting was that this young lady had an additional jacket on - not uncommon when the high for the day is 20 - that was black with a basic pattern. It was the ultimate "don't notice me" jacket.
A walking example of the dualism that exists in our lives.This young lady wanted to be seen but at the same time not. Isn't this a visible example of how we are taught to live our lives. We should be seen and out there but at the same time we're told to be mysterious and subdue. Maybe this is more of a girl theme. But men/guys are told to be the macho men but yet go home and be this soft teddy bear. These two ideas stand in opposition to each other. It's not to say that each person can exhibit both qualities within themselves but 1 tends to be more developed then the other.
So the question before us then is how do you live this dualism? How do we express this dualism that we live within and without? I would like to suggest that it's not about living dualistically, it's about living holistically. Part of that means knowing that we live on spectrums. Happy/Sad, mad/glad, hopeful, cynical, etc.. We will never be fully one or the other but instead we're on a sliding scale. What we need to realize is that we are called to find a closer to middle ground then being closer to an end. It's hard to achieve this but with practice of self actualization one can begin to find middle ground. Journaling, honest conversation with trusted friends and loved ones, spiritual directions, meditation, yoga are just some of the tools available to help you on your way to finding balance. It sucks at time doing this work but it's important.
A walking example of the dualism that exists in our lives.This young lady wanted to be seen but at the same time not. Isn't this a visible example of how we are taught to live our lives. We should be seen and out there but at the same time we're told to be mysterious and subdue. Maybe this is more of a girl theme. But men/guys are told to be the macho men but yet go home and be this soft teddy bear. These two ideas stand in opposition to each other. It's not to say that each person can exhibit both qualities within themselves but 1 tends to be more developed then the other.
So the question before us then is how do you live this dualism? How do we express this dualism that we live within and without? I would like to suggest that it's not about living dualistically, it's about living holistically. Part of that means knowing that we live on spectrums. Happy/Sad, mad/glad, hopeful, cynical, etc.. We will never be fully one or the other but instead we're on a sliding scale. What we need to realize is that we are called to find a closer to middle ground then being closer to an end. It's hard to achieve this but with practice of self actualization one can begin to find middle ground. Journaling, honest conversation with trusted friends and loved ones, spiritual directions, meditation, yoga are just some of the tools available to help you on your way to finding balance. It sucks at time doing this work but it's important.
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