Letting
Go
"Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my
own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages
must show."
I want to be able
to let go of everything. With my life, I want to be able to let the world pass
me by – I want to remove myself from ForsterÕs monotonous highway and
dally in the Òland in which it seem[s] always afternoon.Ó [1]
This is not
because I simply want to escape responsibility and live in a dream land, but
because I want to have the opportunity to give myself to the world and its
people. To do this, I must not only let go of things, but come to grips with my
identity, and have the ability to fine tune it. First, I will shed distracting worldly attachments and break
down my perceptions of myself. Once these have been discarded, the focus will
turn to the inside, where I will embrace my true self and my passion. The final
step will be to take my newfound self-understanding and pair it with a knowledge
of the world around me. These three steps will serve as a template for my life,
which will hopefully result in an intense physical and spiritual communion with
the world around me.
By letting go, searching within myself, and coming together
with the world, I will be the hero of my own life.
Shedding Attachments
The first problem
we face when attempting to achieve such communion with the world is the fact
that we are attached to the things around us. TodayÕs culture is so
materialistic and competitive that we think our achievements and possessions define
us. The goal of this first step is to learn that worldly goods and the roles we
have in society only hinder our understanding of ourselves.
Such a dependence
on assets and possessions occurs when we get caught up in the rat race. We
think that though Òthe road sometimes doubles É its general tendency is
onward.Ó[2].
But, the problem is, we do not realize that there is no end to this path. My
peers and I work hard in school so we can make good grades; we compete with one
another to do the best and, in turn, get the best job. Once we get that good
job, we will just start competing again, struggling to make more and more money
so that we can live well, then pushing ourselves so that we can have nicer cars
and houses, and so on. There is never a point where one can say, ÒOk, I have
enough stuff now.Ó Once you get stuck on this one way street of acquisition and
desire, it is almost impossible to break free. You have surrounded yourself
with so many attachments that you have become an amalgamation of your petty
desires, completely forgetting who you really are. Ending up on this path is what I am most afraid of. So, my
life will be an active resistance to this path that seems to be the default
track of our time. I will actively avoid this vicious cycle of materialism by working
toward living with only the basics and eschewing frivolities.
Getting rid of
material distractions alone is not enough. We all build up complex ideas of who
we are and how we should behave, but they end up only distorting our perception
of our true selves. So, the next step is to discard these fabricated identities.
To do this, we must locate the qualities and roles that we think define us, and
then slowly shed each one of them. By completely tearing down the way we see
and define ourselves, we will be forced to deal with what is at our core
– our true spirit. Dass was able to toss off these external identities
and realize Òthat although everything by which I knew myself, even my body and
this life itself, was gone, still I was fully aware!Ó[3]
Throughout my life, I will regularly remove myself from society and the people
I know in order to shed extraneous identities, and reexamine what makes me
tick. Once away from the society that gives meaning to affected personas, they
will lose all relevance. If I
repeatedly force myself to take this look inside, I feel it will be much easier
to live my life in a way that is in tune with my true self. By systematically renouncing
the pursuit of wealth and status, I will be left only with my soul to represent
me.
By shedding self-perceptions and worldly possessions, I will
experience true freedom to be myself.
Examining My Passion
– The True Self
Once we have
broken ourselves down to our most basic level, we can start to work on
identifying and cultivating what makes us tick – our passion. With all of
the extraneous roles and possessions stripped away, our true passion will be
the only thing left. This, the purest of emotion, is what leads us to
fulfilling opportunities. By harnessing and truly listening to this passion, Òyou
put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you,
and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living.Ó[4]
I have learned
first-hand that if we try to ignore or cover our innate passion, life loses its
luster. Personally, I have an intense passion for music. When I entered
college, I tried and tried to study in an unrelated field, but life seemed monotonous
and uninspiring. It was not until I embraced my musical passion that I began to
have fun and feel satisfied with my work. Once I began to work with the music I
love, it seemed as if life became easier and more inspiring. It was then that I
realized how important of a role oneÕs passion plays in oneÕs overall
happiness. To guarantee that my life will continue to be fulfilling, I must
never forget this defining characteristic of my life: my passion.
Through introspection and following my passion, the path for
the best life will reveal itself to me.
Expanding the Self
with Worldly Knowledge
While there is
much to learn within ourselves, we still need knowledge from the outside world.
By building ourselves back up with diverse ideas and knowledge of the world, we
can make ourselves even better. Because the communion we are seeking is not
only with ourselves, but with others, the Earth, and God, we must reach out.
Other people are
an invaluable resource for gaining insight into areas of your life you are struggling
with. By talking to someone about their ideas or religion, you understand more
clearly your own. When doing this, not only are we expanding our own knowledge
and understanding, but we are helping others, as well. I have learned that the
best way to help people is by being there
– helping in more than just a superficial way. When we simply listen to
peopleÕs stories, we can serve as an outlet for their frustration or grief, but
we can also begin to understand what they have been through. In this way, we
will not only be connected to our own spirit, but the spirit of the entire
world, the Òsoul forceÓ of which Gandhi and King spoke.
We can also
connect to a greater understanding by observing the world around us. So many
people never realize that so many bizarre and wonderful phenomena exist on our
planet. By being able to see the world and have passion for every piece of it,
our eyes will be opened to things within our own lives and souls that we never
knew existed. It is imperative to not become desensitized or forget the beauty
that is around us, because the intricacies of the Earth can teach more than any
class. I will continue to live in wonder of life and clamor to be near it. I
want to be on the front row when God displays his miracles; I want to be the
first to see people coming together; I want to be the closest when beauty
breaks through the everyday. These marvels are what elevate the individual soul
to a plane of enlightenment.
When I commune with the world around me, I will tap into the
Òsoul-force,Ó realizing that we are all one.
Through
breaking down our self-perceptions, recognizing our true self, and expanding
our views of the world, we are well on our way to living a fulfilled life. And while
all of these individual steps are wonderful ways to go about creating an ideal life,
the unity between them is much more important. When they work together they
become more than the sum of their parts – elevating the result much
higher than any one aspect could achieve by itself. By following these
guidelines, I trust that I can not only know myself completely, but know the
rest of the world as well.
P4A Word Count: 1,360
P4A Word Count Without Quotes:
1,235
P4A After Deletions: 956
P4B Word Count: 1,534
P4BWord Count Without Quotes: 1,462
DB Totals:
Poetry – 568
Medicine & Compassion I
– 431
Medicine & Compassion II
– 402
Role Play – 242
The Bluest Eye I – 397
The Bluest Eye II – 490
Evolution I – 269
Evolution II – 344
Evolution III – 381
Total: 3,524
