Owls and Orchids

image from http://www.fantasy-art-gallery.com –

“We experience ourselves our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.”
― Albert Einstein

~

It’s a simple question, one which is asked from childhood. We are taught to define who we are and what we are aiming to be from such a young age. It is fortunate we are allowed to change those initial goals, “I’m going to be a princess”, I’m going to be an astronaut” or “I’m going to be a Super Hero” and “I’m going to be the richest man in the world”.
If that was the case then I failed miserably since I’m not a princess, astronaut or super hero. I’m not the richest person in the world if riches are measured in coin. Is that really true of everything? To my husband I am his princess, his lady, his love. To my children, well I went through a stage of being a super hero to them but then they also grew up and they now see with the eyes of an adult.

image from http://www.wattpad.com – The Seeker of knowledge

The super hero vanished into the realms of everyday. This doesn’t mean they no longer recognise the role you play in their life or in life in general, it is simply that their perspective too has changed, I am their mother, a fixed point in a changing world.
It has been a very introspective week where simple questions, when looked at deeply, can be consuming and illuminating. Who am I? Am I only the sum total of all the roles I’ve played to this point in my life, or am I something more, or less, or different?

image from http://www.dailyinspirationalquotes.in

If this was a film clip it would be called a teaser since the answers are, to my mind somewhat complex and I’d like to explore them more fully. I’m not the only person asking these questions. As we travel through life our own hopes and dreams change. What we expect from life changes.

Sometimes we have things foisted on us unexpectedly and we have to suddenly adapt to be able to handle them. Sink or swim at times seems to be the motto.

image from http://www.wordsonimages.com

I have yet to finish my journey “In Search of” which was the restart of my inward journey to find out where my life had changed and where I thought I was heading. There are the learned experiences from my career years and then those things’ raising a family teaches you. There are others, more painful and not opened to the light of day yet.

Sounds so simple and yet some of the most dramatic have occurred when I thought things were slowing down. Everything changed and now I see things through different eyes.

image from http://www.goodreads.com

“We should write because it is human nature to write. Writing claims our world. It makes it directly and specifically our own. We should write because humans are spiritual beings and writing is a powerful form of prayer and meditation, connecting us both to our own insights and to a higher and deeper level of inner guidance.

― Julia Cameron, The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life

I hope you’ll join me in this journey of discovery which may seem similar to your own.

Blessings, Susan ♥

© Susan Jamieson 2014