ARE YOU AWAKE?

The signature scene from one of my favorite movies, “ The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is just that because we are right there with Charlie as he has a transformative moment in his young life. (This scene alone makes the movie worth watching, if you haven’t.) Having found desperately needed new friends, and having the best night of his life, he sees in Sam and Patrick a freedom and love for self that he has never known. This inspiration has been growing since the day he met them, and on this magical night he watches Sam have a connection with utter freedom and joy as she stands, arms outstretched, in the back of the pickup truck as they break out from a tunnel into the predawn light. It is the tipping point. Charlie lets go of his old life, and who he knows himself to be, and embraces another destiny. He connects with the idea of limitless possibility. He is awash in silent emotion, and the narration lets you know what he is feeling. Infinite.

If you haven’t seen this flick, I am sure you remember Jack Dawson, on the front tip of  Titanic, up on the rails. “I’m the king of the world!” If you were really present watching that movie, you can probably still stop and remember that scene, and feel his emotion. Or perhaps the more internal moment when Neo realizes he is the one, and thatThe Matrix is indeed an illusion. This realization, as it always does, inspires Neo to action in the form of great change. He begins to be the cause, not the effect. To say he is empowered is a gross understatement. Then there is Chris McCandless in Into the Wildstanding on the mountaintop in Alaska, feeling his connection with something greater, with the camera panning 360* and Eddie Vedder wailing away in a soundtrack that stirs the soul deeply. wow…

I could go on and on. I trust you get my thought.

Is our life any different? Have you had moments where you for whatever reason became awake to a degree you hadn’t been before? Where you suddenly connected to a realm of possibility that seemed out of reach just moments before?

We have all had these moments, or at least I hope so. For many they come on that proverbial mountaintop, or out in some part of nature. (“The clearest way into the Universe is through the forest wilderness.” –John Muir). Others find it in meditation, or prayer. (that is, if the judgement and subsequent guilt that comes with most religion doesn’t block this flow :))  For some a measure of it is found in a visceral moment of unconditional love from another.

These are, to me, the best moments in life. I have come to humbly live for them. When we connect to the reality that anything is possible. When we step into our power and into unison with the energy that creates worlds. When we feel love, and support not just from our external world but from a place within. 

So my question is: Are you awake? Awake to possibility? To your unlimited potential? Do you feel your connection to the Universe and the Energy that flows through it? Are you aware of the Love that is there for you?

For many these moments are elusive.  And when they happen the effects are short lived. Why can’t we remain in this state of mind? Is it possible to create a state of being where this is how we feel everyday?

Of course it is. We are just too conditioned by keeping our attention on “reality”. Instead of spending more time focused on the 99.9999% of our selves that is energy, we focus on the .00001% of who we are that is matter. We are creatures of habit, both in life and in thought, and we don’t make time to find this state of being.  We think too much, with our thoughts coming from our observation of our external world. These moments come in awareness, not from within our analytical minds.

I say this without the slightest bit of judgement. I spent most of my life doing this. Fear is a powerful thing. To let go of all we know, all the external emotional attachments that provide the construct for who we know ourselves to be, for any real length of time,  is more than unsettling.  To go within and face our greatest fears, not just for a moment, but for as long as it takes to transcend them, is the work of uncommon greatness.

What is the greatest expression of yourself?  There is no right or wrong answer to this question, and it is a question for no one to answer for you. No one. You are worthy of deciding that for yourself. Isn’t is interesting how much our state of mind influences the answer?

Back to where we started. Charlie in the truck, Jack on the bow tip and Neo freeing himself from within. My hope in sharing these thoughts is that you will remember what it feels like to connect with who you truly are, and you will give yourself the gift of that connection in increasing measure, and, from there, let something greater inspire you to greater joy.

Find your mountaintop.

In love and gratitude. Todd