Today, As I Am
We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.”
~Anais Nin
I acted out the “Gem Story”, twice today, once for a life skills group and once for a youth work experience group. The gist of the story is: a traveller is on a path that is getting narrower and more over grown. She gets worried that she is on the wrong path and decides that she will ask the next person whom she meets. It’s a long journey, but eventually she meets an old guy, meditating. She asks him if she is on the right path. He doesn’t give her a direct answer but tells her to gather all that she can before she crosses the river. Eventually she comes to a river and as silly as she thinks it is, she collects a handful of pebbles, these pebbles being the only things she could possibly take with her. She puts them in her pocket and forgets about them. In the middle of the night she wakes up because the rocks are digging in and she is about to throw them away, when the moonlight shines on them and reveals that they are precious gems. She wishes she would have gathered more.
Question posed to the groups: What pebbles have you gathered in the past that have turned out to be gems?
I couldn’t come up with any answer other than Typing 9 in high school. That seems a bit lame, I know. Either I do not see the gems for the pebbles or I have recognized the gems all along. I’m hoping for the latter, but no one is that good are they?
I believe that experiences, good and bad, make the person. I also believe that we create our own reality. I’m not sure how all this fits in with the quote or the story. I do know that I dislike when people quote from the Bible “All things work together for good for those who love the Lord, for those who are called according to His purpose.” A bit exclusive. I think all things work together for good: if you work at it; if you will it to be; if not too many things are conspiring against you; if you have a support system; if you know you are loved; if you make some good choices…
Two more quotes from Anais Nin:
“When you make a world tolerable for yourself, you make a world tolerable for others.”
“There is not one big cosmic meaning for all, there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person.”
~Anais Nin
I acted out the “Gem Story”, twice today, once for a life skills group and once for a youth work experience group. The gist of the story is: a traveller is on a path that is getting narrower and more over grown. She gets worried that she is on the wrong path and decides that she will ask the next person whom she meets. It’s a long journey, but eventually she meets an old guy, meditating. She asks him if she is on the right path. He doesn’t give her a direct answer but tells her to gather all that she can before she crosses the river. Eventually she comes to a river and as silly as she thinks it is, she collects a handful of pebbles, these pebbles being the only things she could possibly take with her. She puts them in her pocket and forgets about them. In the middle of the night she wakes up because the rocks are digging in and she is about to throw them away, when the moonlight shines on them and reveals that they are precious gems. She wishes she would have gathered more.
Question posed to the groups: What pebbles have you gathered in the past that have turned out to be gems?
I couldn’t come up with any answer other than Typing 9 in high school. That seems a bit lame, I know. Either I do not see the gems for the pebbles or I have recognized the gems all along. I’m hoping for the latter, but no one is that good are they?
I believe that experiences, good and bad, make the person. I also believe that we create our own reality. I’m not sure how all this fits in with the quote or the story. I do know that I dislike when people quote from the Bible “All things work together for good for those who love the Lord, for those who are called according to His purpose.” A bit exclusive. I think all things work together for good: if you work at it; if you will it to be; if not too many things are conspiring against you; if you have a support system; if you know you are loved; if you make some good choices…
Two more quotes from Anais Nin:
“When you make a world tolerable for yourself, you make a world tolerable for others.”
“There is not one big cosmic meaning for all, there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person.”
posted by Mo at 3:50 PM
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