Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Yin-Yang - Something Given, Something Taken Away


When I was a child, whenever I would have a laughing fit my mom always reminded me that every laugh must be paid for with tears.  It wasn’t until recently that I understood what she was trying to say.  I always thought she was just a buzzkill.  Okay, she was a buzzkill, but she also had a lot of wisdom to share.

In school I loved science.  I still do, but I’ve definitely lost the patience for research.  Science explains stuff in as much or as little detail as you require.  Science is always looking for the reason why something happens.  I like to use science to understand things that are bigger than us.  Religion says that people don’t die but are instead changed somehow.  Some religions say they go to heaven or hell.  Others say they are reborn into new lives.  The way I like to think about it is somewhat scientific – everything and everyone is made of energy.  Energy can be redistributed; it can be released by one object and absorbed by another.  Energy can be transformed.  Energy cannot be destroyed. - it isn't linear like our lives  Science fucking rocks!

Science says that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  This is what my mom was trying to teach me.  I didn’t learn it at the time because our communication styles are so different.  She was simply stating that there must be balance.  Today I find myself with my face pressed up against the window, looking into the house of my own life at the powerful force of balance.

I woke up this morning feeling a melee of emotions uncharacteristic of my personality: anger, repulsion, anxiety (ok, that one’s actually quite common for me) and shame.  Yesterday I was elated and hopeful, but I am not disappointed that my mood has reversed.  I know with every fiber of my being that balance is working everything out.  There’s no need for alarm.  Besides, what good would that do anyway?

Writing about my life gives me the opportunity to relive experiences that left strong impressions and feel all of those intense emotions again as an adult who understands them better.  I empathize with both my child self and the adults who were responsible for taking care of me, which is monumental.  It’s unfortunate that children are unable to analyze how they feel and determine the cause of their pain.  What’s even more unfortunate is that many adults are also similarly unskilled.   It’s not anyone’s fault really; expressing and acknowledging emotions is just beginning to be a valued skill in our society.  There’s that word again – society.  Pffft!  I guess there'll be more on that in my musings later.

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