mind the gap

I like to build more bridges between you & me to lessen the gap between the concept of me & the reality of we. I like to connect the process of expansion & change to the idea of what living is about, more accurately, make it the basis for living a balanced life. I believe that everything begins with ourselves, that it is within, the first bricks are to be laid for bridges to be build & for connections to be made, for us to feel secure in our natural state of joyful interdependance.

The wish for peace & global balance is also a reflection of the wish for inner peace & balance. The feeling of being connected with others has its root in being connected with oneself, one's soul. I've been a bridgebuilder within for a long time, connecting small estranged islands, exploring undiscovered terrain in my inner map to integrate all parts of me. When I dance with my shadow & watch the variety of nuances the shadow casts, when I stumble upon my projections & fear, I also see a map of the world, of the difficulties we encounter when we want to reach out to each other.


If I essentially am like everybody else, despite my culture, religious & politicial beliefs, my gender & race, what is left to make me special, unique? Where do I belong if I can no longer distinguish myself aka my identity with those labels? The fundament of what am I can crumble when its mostly based on  external elements . Feeling connected & belonging somewhere, being someone can be linked to what we can see & have been told is of value, what we wear, drive, live in, voice our opinions about, vote for, work as etc etc, becomes what defines who we are.

Curiosity & inquisitiveness, the need to ask questions, explore, wonder, learn & understand, doesn't as much spring from what we can see & hear as much as it comes from what we feel in our hearts & bellies. It can be the feeling of an imbalance, something holding one back, something lacking, preventing one from feeling content & happy, to feel at peace with oneself, to know oneself. And it is here the construction begins. The bridge will hold for a life of travelling, for connecting, when the cornerstones are firmly placed within.

Fear of the unknown is a protection mechanism, a projection of the fear of the unknown within ourselves.  Although not real as it is merely a reaction to not being able to feel the love at hand, it is nevertheless the most powerful projection on the market & is known to make people kill people. How much love is there to be felt? Will it be enough? Will it keep us safe? How can we know for sure unless we give it to ourselves?

Measuring our capacity for love by pouring it out to others is risky business  when a tendency to depend on the response is used as a parameter. Esp if pouring out love to oneself is yet to be explored. Yes it's a cliché & old news by now & it doesn't make it any less true. Opening one's heart to others can only be done based on the opening towards oneself. And this particular bridge is built by placing the first brick securely in self love & acceptance.

Easy to say, right? And easy to do too. There is just one thing to keep in mind. This is an ongoing building project. A project of a lifetime & the decades of passionate research, designing & carrying bricks to the construction site I have undertaken so far, also suggests this could wery well be the reason for me being here in the first place. And possibly the reason for you being here as well. And if not so, it doesn't matter. All that really matters is what is real, this moment now.

The sheer pleasure of being curious with a passion, wondering, learning, watching my heart opening wider for every brick I lay down, dissolves fear of the unknown the easy way. Fear only exists when fed with fear. Love trumphs fear. Always. And better yet, there is an endless abundance of love available because an open heart is our natural state of being & expansion is guaranteed. Or so I like to think. What do you think? And don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself. And if you already are, hand me that brick next to you, will ya?