I had a realization last night.
Have you ever seen the way pots take shape from clay on a potter's wheel? Gently, thoughtfully and persuasively the potter guides the clay to give it the form he desires. It evolves through the process. Before he starts, there is no pot- there is just empty space, but in the process of making the pot, at various points of time, the potter carves out different shapes and volumes in space and defines what it means to be "it", the pot. All of life, at every step is pretty much like pottery. A path doesn't exist and you carve it as you go. "You" really don't exist, in a set-in-stone kind of way but you keep carving yourself out. You are the potter and you are the pot. If you think about it, this is empowering and liberating. You can do whatever you want, you can carve out the shape you desire. Choices are unlimited. This applies not just strategically to your life "in general" but also specific circumstances and the way you react to them.
The sadness however, lies in the fact that this realization doesn't happen very often. Mostly we just put on blinders and mostly, we go with the herd, relinquishing our freedom and empowerment. Can you imagine how relevant this is to one's entire life? Every step of one's entire life? As a kid and as a teen if I'd had this realization, my life would have been very different. Even as an adolescent I would have felt no awkwardness about not being able to conform. I would have probably not limited myself in many ways that I did.
This took me to another thought- freedom alone is not enough, one needs an active awareness of the freedom in order to exercise it. So for e.g., it is not enough to let your kid have their freedom, but it is important you make them aware of the extent of their empowerment.
Have you ever seen the way pots take shape from clay on a potter's wheel? Gently, thoughtfully and persuasively the potter guides the clay to give it the form he desires. It evolves through the process. Before he starts, there is no pot- there is just empty space, but in the process of making the pot, at various points of time, the potter carves out different shapes and volumes in space and defines what it means to be "it", the pot. All of life, at every step is pretty much like pottery. A path doesn't exist and you carve it as you go. "You" really don't exist, in a set-in-stone kind of way but you keep carving yourself out. You are the potter and you are the pot. If you think about it, this is empowering and liberating. You can do whatever you want, you can carve out the shape you desire. Choices are unlimited. This applies not just strategically to your life "in general" but also specific circumstances and the way you react to them.
The sadness however, lies in the fact that this realization doesn't happen very often. Mostly we just put on blinders and mostly, we go with the herd, relinquishing our freedom and empowerment. Can you imagine how relevant this is to one's entire life? Every step of one's entire life? As a kid and as a teen if I'd had this realization, my life would have been very different. Even as an adolescent I would have felt no awkwardness about not being able to conform. I would have probably not limited myself in many ways that I did.
This took me to another thought- freedom alone is not enough, one needs an active awareness of the freedom in order to exercise it. So for e.g., it is not enough to let your kid have their freedom, but it is important you make them aware of the extent of their empowerment.
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