Deja Who?
Have you ever felt as if you have been here before? Not just déjà vu, but something stronger?
There was a time when I thought I had nothing to say.
I have since been fortunate enough to meet folks who proved me wrong.
Welcome to my
Ghosts
December 29, 2024
The Gaze
By Aio Sifu
We haunt ourselves in our remembrances through our choice of focus. A.S
One could say that to “haunt” a thing is to hold continued presence with it; worry it, perhaps even torment it by way of preoccupation of thought, emotion, deed, or victimized happenstance. We play in a loop, dead things, past hurts, becoming our very own ghosts.
What if we were to delight ourselves instead? What if, as an alternative, we were to enliven, brighten, encourage, promote…even relish by the very same process? Let THESE things, rather, what sparks them, be what we cast our eye upon.
What makes you happy about you? What a shocking thought. We were not taught to have or be someone to entertain such things. Peripherally, we were instructed to shun positive self-reflection for fear we might - I don’t know, actually like ourselves. Heaven forbid. S'ok. Now we get to learn and be something new.
Good news, there is a difference between arrogance & delight. One is birthed from hurt and imbalance, seeking to nurture the need to be better than another. The latter, not nearly so complicated, just enjoys the roses at hand whether anyone else is around or not.
The brain doesn't entertain the "when" of what we behold, it simply sends the corresponding chemicals in response to the view. What do you look at from your past on default?
Someone might say that there are not really any good things to focus on in life. Well, then create a new one at least in your head. Was your last breath a successful one? Celebrate that. Did you go up the stairs and not trip? Did you eat your sandwich and not choke? Did you….? (Fill in the blank) There are many, many ways to choose from the menu of minutiae, bright sparks, all. Collect those lights and look at them. Doing so pulls us out of the ghostly reverie of the rear view mirror we believe we have the right to gaze in. But do we? Do we not also tell ourselves that we are going forward in life in one way or another? If we hold our gaze in that rear view device as we navigate the road that is our life, is it any wonder our lives feel wrecked? Let us look forward. I find it wonderfully interesting (and so simple) to know that that phrase also means to anticipate something optimistically. Look forward.
Don’t take my word for it. Try it on. See what you get. Let's just stop being the ghost under our own beds.
Photo Credits:
pexels-aynrglt-29970105 - Photo by Ayşe Nur Gültekin: https://www.pexels.com/photo/abandoned-wooden-house-in-black-and-white-29970105/
Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/blog-letters-on-brown-wood-262508/
Self-Talk
Aio Sifu 11/19/2013