Author: DEArante

Introspecting

Conscious-Awareness, Thought Provoking

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Who am I?

The most elusive and eternal inquiry.

A question that is so difficult to answer. The fact that it is directed inward makes it more difficult.

Why is it so?

How did it become so difficult when we are the subject of the inquiry?

Have we totally been disconnected to ourselves, that we didn’t know who we are?

If not, then, who are you? Who am I? Who are we?

Not too long ago, I did ask the same question to myself. And to my surprise, my mind, which is always full of ideas, become tongue-tied. Astonishing as it could ever be, it just remained silent and still.

So the answer was nothing. I am nothing.

How could I be nothing when I see me as something?

I did not pressure myself with that question anymore. After all, it was my first time to introspect me.

Day by day, the question grew on me. Deep within me, I knew something. I just can’t point out what it is.

Have you experienced something like this?

If so, let’s talk about it.

 

Photo Credits:

Dimitris Vetsikas

The Bird and the Mouse

Fable, Short Story

One sunny day, a bird clipping a worm in its beak flies back to her nest to feed the little ones. While she was about to perch upon the tree, she saw a mouse crawling towards the direction of where people lives.

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The mouse was in such a hurry that the bird got curious. She flew down and asked the mouse.

“Hello there, you seemed to be panicky. What’s up?”, the bird asked.

The mouse barely looking up, did not even stop to look who is asking.

But he replied, grasping for breath, “I need to make it to that house where I could get food. I’m famished.”

The bird in a sarcastic tone spoke again, “Well, if you were up as early as I was, you would have gotten more food. These are my tenth worm now. I have more than enough for today and for my chicks.“

The bird felt really good about herself.

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The mouse ignoring the bird’s arrogance replied dryly, “In my case, I have to be the second mouse. Later enough to have the first one get trapped in order for me to get the cheese.“

 

Moral of the story:

Never judge anyone based on their way of living. We don’t know what they are going through. Just mind your own business because we are all just trying to survive. Besides, nobody is asking for your opinion.

 

Photo Credits

Jill Wellington

Michael Bubmann

To Love is to Die is to Live

Death, Inspirational, Love

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Ever since I became aware of word expressions and how it is used, I noticed a common phrase that we can always find in songs, poems, literary pieces and other forms of word art. This phrase is “I would die for love” or “I would die for you“.

Whenever I hear or read these lines about dying for love, it makes me laugh. I mocked these lines with disgust because I always take it literally.

Then, something happened to me that made me change how I looked at it… I remember how I poured my heart out with such a sweet surrender.

Looking at my own reflection, I gave up these words with sincerity.

Meanwhile, after that magical moment, I turned to myself within and reflected.

Now, I understand what they meant of dying for the ones they love. I found the answers deep within me.

In this world we commonly inhabit, we were programmed to think that love is something we should work hard for to get. In return, we should only give our love to those who worked hard as we did. I grew up into believing that love has certain standards and conditions. Back then, I remembered that my parents, friends and the people in my circle, they all had standards before they took me as I am. Even I also had my own set of conditions before I welcome anyone into my life. That twisted belief about love made me feel so inferior. As a kid with so little understanding about how the world works, I figured everything out on my own. I wore different masks to hide the truth about myself, just to be loved.

Throughout this journey, I was driven by the desire to love and be loved even up to the point of begging for it. I tried to please everyone to the point of neglecting my own needs. I worked hard and set my own needs aside just to get a taste of it. As the years go by, I felt something deep within me that tells me how sick this reality about love is. How can it be so difficult to have? How can it have so much impact on every aspect of our lives, if we are lack of it?

When the day came that the force of unconditional love finally filled my entire being, I felt that I was at the point of dying.

I eventually died and got born again with a new light in my soul. It all started when I began to love myself.

“Learning to love yourself, is the greatest love of all.”

-Whitney Houston, Greatest Love of All

I discovered that love really conquers all. Love is not to be sought for, for it is already within us. It is Us. We are made out of love. I don’t understand how we have come to believe that it is so hard to find; that it has to be earned. Oftentimes, the price is too high that it costs us more than our lives.

To love is to kill your self.

I died, buried the old version of myself and gave birth to an authentic ME.

When love gave birth to the new me, this resonated to all living creatures around me that in my eyes I find everything and everyone to be lovable. The walls of conditions and standards that I built for a long time got destroyed. Even when the time that I got tested over and over; drought and dark storms came, love wins every time. I realized that it endures and sees only through the purity and goodness of our hearts. Love never judge our shortcomings, instead see it as an opportunity to love more.

“The people who are the hardest to love are the ones who need it the most.”

-Peaceful Warrior

So, if you will ask me again if I am willing to die for love… Hell yeah!!! As a matter of fact, I die for every moment that love grows inside of me. I continually kill those versions of me that no longer serve me. I am now at peace with myself. Without fear, I face the death of my own created ego-based self and wake up with a flame that will light up every soul that I will come across upon.

For once upon a time, I thought and so believed that Death is scary and painful. I tell you that it does. Death is so much painful than you ever imagined. It will torture you up to your core, until you succumb to it and die peacefully. Only when you let go that you will know that death is but a new beginning; a dawn of a new adventure awaiting for you to travel upon.

So die willingly, for love. For it is the only thing that is worth dying and living for. Not only because it will bring forth a new day for you but most especially, to die is the only way to be truly alive.

 

Photo Credits:

fietzfotos

The Ant

Fable, Short Story

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Once, there was a young worker ant who likes to go daydreaming. He often wanders around and will go astray whenever he looks for resources. He didn’t have any friends because all of the other ants from their tribe thought he was weird. 

One day while looking for supplies, he got so carried away that he went too far from his tribe.

This young ant, due to a lack of experience and some recklessness, reached the side of another ant tribe. When he finally noticed the unfamiliar ground, he went on slowly and observed the surroundings. Then, he heard some noise, and followed its trail. While hiding from behind a bump, he saw some black and bigger ants falling in line, going back and forth, and full of good stuffs in their mouths and butts. They were so busy to notice him.

The young ant’s eyes grow bigger in excitement and delight. Without any second thought, he marched towards the line and inserted himself. The black ants went in chaos as the line got cut. Black worker ants hurriedly went back to their anthill to save what they have gotten. The young ant being so naive of what he did, just moved on and went straight to the biscuit where the black ants were getting all their good stuff.

He was so eager to gather some for his tribe. He was even daydreaming that he will be hailed for bringing such a delight to their food stock. Just as he was about to touch his hand on the biscuit, suddenly he felt that he was hanging above the ground. He looked around. Behind him was a soldier black ant, clipping his scissor-like hand on the poor ant’s butt. The young ant trembled and just when he was about to scream he was flying back towards where he came from.

The soldier black ant tossed him so effortlessly and announced to the worker ants that the intruder was caught and gone. They all shouted for joy.

The young ant never returned to that place again. He didn’t tell anyone of what happened as he will become the laughing stock of his tribe mates.

He went home feeling so sad when he noticed something flying in the air that it went dim from where he was at. He thought it was the cloud covering the sun. He was about to run so fast when that something fell just above him. He was so scared. Overthinking that he must have died, his body froze. But then, he regained his strength. So, with eyes shut he shouted for help. Nobody was there to help him.

When he heard nothing but silence, he opened his eyes and realized that what flew above him was a cookie that got thrown up in the air. The young ant feeling so delighted than ever, took some and called out for his tribe mates. They all came rushing back and forth to gather what they can for their food stock.

From then on, the young ant never went astray and solo again. He realized that he needs his tribe mates so he can learn all that he needed to learn. His tribe mates never bullied him again and made friends with him, as well. They, too, learned to never underestimate each and everyone.

 

Photo Credits:

Alexas Fotos

Self-Betrayal

Conscious-Awareness, Thought Provoking

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Have you been alone with yourself lately? If not so, when was the last time that you did?

Was there any moment when you were just sitting alone, talking to yourself, hearing your own thoughts and noticing how you feel?

Or simply just being. Just doing nothing and just being.

I bet, you are thinking about it right now. And just wondering if there were even moments like that.

In this dawning of new civilizations, it is so easy to get isolated and lost touch with ourselves. The technology itself, though being helpful to ease our way of living, more often become the main stumble block for us to be in-tuned with ourselves.

What scares you the most? What makes your heart beat so fast and gives you chills?

Probably, there are a lot things to mention that answers this question. Oftentimes, we only look at its shallow aspect.

However, the truth is we fear ourselves the most.

How often do you ignore that little voice in your head that reminds you to do this and that?

These things that the voice asked you to do are what truly makes you feel alive. They are what keeps your heart beat faster with passion. But what do you do? You procrastinate. And you do all those senseless things instead.

How often do we drown that voice inside that screams forgiveness and healing?

‘remember, when you were alone and you were confronted with these voices, you were reminded of the things that you did or the words you spoke and that you were so embarrassed and ashamed that you just wanted to run and hide?

Instead of confronting and facing these ghosts to find forgiveness and healing, you talk about stupid things so loudly just to drown this voice until it goes away. And you do this everytime it comes back.

How often do you say yes even though you wanted to say no?

How often do you compromise, make some commitments and set aside your dreams just to please others?

Do you even remember how that voice inside cried so much for you to notice it?

But still you just brushed it off to the side.

How many times have you tortured yourself with pain and anger and grief?

By lingering your thoughts on past events, people and regrets, you are torturing yourself. And you do that all the time. You pushed the rewind button over and over in your head, refeeling each moments until you feel suffocated and numb.

How many times have you overused your mind and exhausted your body with memorizing and practicing dialogues and events that didn’t happen yet?

Do you know that most of what you have rehearsed aren’t the ones you will utter when the time is right? But you invested too much time and energy that your mind is burned out and your body is exhausted.

You see, these are just mere events from our daily lives. We wake up and rush about to be on time with the so-called work. Then go to sleep at night. Wake up the next day and do the same thing and so on. And we call this life but we don’t even check ourselves if we are still okay, if we are even still alive. 

Why are we doing this to ourselves?

Why do we ignore that voice inside?

Is it because it is always telling the truth?

Is it because it always opens our eyes to what really is?

The saddest part is that, we don’t want to hear the truth. We just wanted to follow the norms blindly. To walk through the path that is already set for us. We just wanted to stay asleep and dreaming while walking this earth.

If so, we are wasting this life.

We are such a waste of a human being.

Are we just to going sit and watch our own lives crumbling down?

Wake up. Now is the time.

 

Photo Credits:

Martin Winkler