Choosing an Illusion

Often in our lives, something attracts our attention. We call it 'reality' or 'illusion' or 'dream' or 'possibility' ~ whatever suits our immediate temperament.

What it is, is of less importance than what we name it. Our word for the attraction is powerful. It becomes our focus and we make it into the moment's truth.

This particular image and statement captured my attention for that reason. I had never thought of the light at the end of the tunnel as an illusion. I thought of it as a goal, as something to reach toward. My thoughts about the tunnel never turned toward it being reality or illusion either. I simply thought of it as a place where I happened to be traversing. I must explain that I've always liked tunnels, caves, ladders up to unknown places. For me, a tunnel is not a negative place to be. My definition of the 'tunnel' and the 'light' are uniquely my own.

Most of us have a general understanding of the power of words, the power of how we think and talk about the people, places and events in our lives. I can go to a concert with a friend. When we leave, I say, "Wow! That was fantastic!" My friend responds, "Yeah. It was pretty good, I guess." Even though our descriptive words are nearly the same, the "I guess" implies an unsure attitude. We've experienced the same event, but we describe it differently. That colors our individual emotional sense ~ and even physical sense ~ as we part ways and go home. I'm upbeat, tapping my steering wheel to the music running through my mind. My friend is tired, quieter. It's in our minds that the reality or illusion is born.

How do you approach the events in your life? Do you recognize the strength of your words? Is the Light or the Tunnel an illusion to you? Why?

I cannot rest from travel

From Ulysses by Alfred Lord Tennyson:

I cannot rest from travel; I will drink
Life to the lees.
All times I have enjoyed
Greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone; on shore, and when
Through scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vext the dim sea.
I am become a name....

Much of the poem Ulysses relates directly to the warring, searching nature of his travels. These few lines ring with a sense of truth for me and a sense of description of the lives and love of several friends.

I cannot rest from travel ~ I have always been a traveler of some sort; a gypsy in the midst of the city. I marvel at so much in the world, even in places familiar.

I will drink life to the lees ~ My goal, though not always realized, is to be fully alive. I want to be awake and aware of all that is around me. There is so much that I miss on a daily basis, yet I feel full and enriched by all that's around me.

I am become a name ~ What power there is to that phrase! For me, it means that through all this, I have earned my title, my name. I have passed through whatever elemental there may be and come out the other side, recognized, acknowledged, named.

What do the lines of this poem mean to you? Do you have a poem that speaks powerfully to you?