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A new blog to contain answers to prompts |
Since my old blog "Everyday Canvas "  became overfilled, here's a new one. This new blog item will continue answering prompts, the same as the old one. Cool water cascading to low ground
To spread good will and hope all around.  |
| Prompt: "The only journey is the journey within." Write about this quote in your Blog entry today. --------- I am guessing, with each one of us, this journey-within began when we were babies, when we wanted approval and was upset when we knew our caretakers were cross with us. I bet, at that time, the feelings we felt surprised and intrigued us and I guess that's when our journeys within started. As this journey within may have started in the beginning of a life, it is in reality a lifelong journey. Some spiritual groups and ideals make this 'journey-within' idea their main reason for their existence, like the Bhakti movement in India or those belief systems that throw around the buzzword "self-realization" a lot. Some liken the idea or rather the path of the journey to peeling away the layers of an onion, as when each layer is peeled, the person gets closer to the core, their true self. As much as I don't like to resemble an onion, I appreciate the simile. Simile or not, the journey takes us to knowing ourselves. With me, this journey truly began, more or less consciously at a young age, when my astute grandmother told me--as advice and not a punishment--to stop blaming others and go and stay alone in a room and think about what happened and try to see the incident from the others' points of view. It was must have been exactly at that instance I probably realized that there was something buried within me that needed some serious discovery. Now, what did this mean? This meant letting go of past baggage and finding acceptance, which became an enormous lifelong task. This, in essence, is a task for each person who wants to get to know herself or himself. This still means we'll always need to face all our old grudges, regrets, limiting beliefs, and those life experiences that keep haunting us. In this area, Carl Jung's shadow work impressed me greatly. It means keeping a private journal and answering some "shadow questions," which are all over the internet. Or asking oneself those questions, such as, "Why do I feel such disgust when I recall such incident, person, or event?" Or something like, "Why did I want people to approve me or my such and such an act?" This journey is not about striving for perfection but accepting imperfections, quirks, and flaws, as well as good points--ours and those of others. It isn't easy to do but letting go of negativity and forgiving others and ourselves is incredibly liberating. This takes courage. As to courage, courage isn't about fear or being fearless, but accepting the fear and moving ahead despite that fear. This journey is a dynamic process because we grow and evolve and try to learn not to panic when our path takes an unexpected good or bad turn. In a nutshell, the "journey within" means personal growth, self-awareness, introspection, and facing fears and successes with equal acceptance. Above all, it means living authentically, at least and foremost, within ourselves. |
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