Friday 17 July 2020

Origami


The Master watched the students, reflecting, concentrating, deciding which lesson to teach them next. The silence surrounded him, with the pristine perfection of silent breathing calming each of them, as well as embracing their love for each other. They would become the future, the present being the very moment within his mind, as he taught them as much of his life’s wisdom. He was their catalyst to understanding, the appreciation, the worth of thoughts to each of them.


He knew that they would never become the same creature, as the standard life intended. They’d be soul based individuals, seeking knowledge and clarity from whatever or wherever they managed to be. Born, created, to flow through the world as one, as they witnessed the cruelty and brutality of the world. He unfolded his legs, standing, to open the drawer a few metres behind him. The twenty students, all calm, still reflecting upon their given task of removing all thought from within, remained silent.

From the drawer the Master produced twenty-one sheets of crisp, clean paper.

“Students,” he commanded, as each of them opened their eyes to address their attention towards him, “I have paper for each of you as we’re to learn a new lesson!”

The Master, returning to the same mat, sat down and folded his legs. Relaxing, focusing, he selected the top sheet of paper. With poise, as well as certainty, he removed a pen from his shirt and started to write a selection of words that appeared within his mind. He had seen so many events, during his life, despite his pious understanding and beliefs. He had heard words of pure hatred, as well as violence, that surrounded the world outside of the sanctuary. Each of the moments stayed with him.

He wrote his words, selecting them with intent. As the pen moved, the words appeared upon the page. Anger, danger, fear, doubt, selfishness, failure and ego all appeared upon the page. Lifting and turning the paper, he presented the inscriptions to his students as they all focused to view his written words.

“You can see,” he explained, “that I have written words that express negative values or learned exposure to the outside world. I can never be perfect. I can fail, falter and fall. As long as we are aware of such moments, we can become something more than our thoughts!”

He could see the enthusiasm increase upon their young faces. Eager to learn, needing enlightenment, with each of them yearning to understand the world beyond the high, sweet, sweet walls. They watched as he folded the paper, over and over again, with edges poking forward as well as to the sides and in all directions until, finally, the Master presented them with a folded impression of a bird like Crane. They smiled, the wonder lighting their small faces, as each of them suddenly wished to learn such a hidden skill.

“There are many forms that a page can create. There are many moments that will form your memories. Just like this page upon my words reside, I can take the pain, the negative aspects of my thoughts, to fold them into a new understanding. A new beauty. Words upon your mind’s page, can be sculptured, shaped, reformed into a delight of wonder.”

He looked at each of them in turn, wishing for his understanding and lesson to settle upon their minds for further understanding.

“Your anger, fear, doubt and pain can be understood, even appreciated, to make your mind stronger, healthier, as you overcome all of your own obstacles. You can then create a new person within you that understands your life as well as another’s life. You can fold your words together and create magic!”

The students looked at each other, their mouths open in wonder and belief in their master’s words. The Master smiled, nodding towards his Student’s appreciation for such a simple notion of thinking. It was a time of fun, of learning, for each of them. They would all write their own fears and doubts upon the page, as he once again stood to hand each of them a page of clear paper. They would learn, they would understand as each of them were taught the art of Origami.

Tuesday 7 July 2020

Rainbow


Within my life, when taking into account all of the escapades, seconds, adventures and understanding revaluations, there’s always been rainbows. It sounds odd when you add the word ‘rainbow’, to a sentence as supposedly meaningful as the one above, but it works. We’ve all seen one or, at least, I hope that we have. When was the last time you noticed a rainbow?


I was a youngster when I first witnessed my first spectacle of colour. Bright and blue eyed, the world seemingly still a small place, with an imagination that has only just started to settle. The world presented a slice of beauty, a moment of wonder, with many questions quickly following.

Now that I’m older, I could state that we could all be a rainbow. Colourful, majestic, spreading smiles whenever we appear, but that would be far too obvious a statement. Whereas, as I think about it, maybe we are just like a rainbow.

The rainbow is an optical illusion. Beautiful, wondrous, with so many differing colours formed of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and even violet. Just like humans, who also present an optical illusion, can often be somewhat different once you move closer. One person observing from a slightly different angle, will see something different, even when the next person is but moments away.

Some pretend to hold colours as an aspect of beauty, yet hair colours often gather scorn, or worse. We all adore beauty, but push away differences such as a larger nose, with such blatant ease. We are all different, with many simply trying their hardest to be exactly the same as the next person. Life needs to be diverse. We need to be our true selves to enjoy what life offers.

The rainbow is not an object, with no real solid form that you can hold against yourself, along with no actual pot of gold being found at the end. Maybe this is a tale for life’s energy. The more you chase, the more life moves away from you. Unobtainable dreams are to be dreamt of, but wouldn’t realistic dreams be better accomplishments for each of us? We all chase the pot of gold, often forgetting that some plans need to take time and energy.

We are now living within a time where the colour of our rainbow skin defines us. Words such as privileged, supremacy, as well as wondering which lives matter, consumes some of our daily thoughts. Where has the beauty of witnessing a rainbow gone? Life simply does not need to be more complicated than wishing to smile. We work hard, we ask for safety and shelter from our own working hands, to which we provide for ourselves (mostly).

Each colour of a rainbow sits alongside its neighbour. The red cares not that blue is blue, or yellow is next to green. It matters not that the rainbow is not an actual object, as it simply exists upon a given day. We as people, as individuals, exist and can easily remove the colour variable or differences, to then simply accept whatever, for whatever it might be.

There is no issue. There should be no violence. There need not be demonstrations or life ending. All we need is to accept differences, to see beauty in any of the beautiful colours. We need to turn off the televisions. We need to escape the media. We should, upon a magical day, rise from our safety, venturing forward to easily, simply, lovingly, go outside to see all of the wondrous rainbows that are beside us each and every single day. Life has been complicated to an unnecessary degree.

I asked you when the last time you noticed a rainbow was because, as time moves forward, we need reminding… that rainbows exist.