Pictures like the one above are always interesting because of the mirror image. Whatever is seen above is sort of repeated below. It's the ying-yang, the light-dark, the male-female. Not always opposites, each relies on the other for its presence. Only one is real, yet at times the other side of the image can appear more clearly and more forcefully leaving one confused and at odds with reality.
So it can be with people. Sometimes it hard to decide which side of a person is the real one. Is it the one who hugged you or the one who slapped you? The one who praised you or the one who slandered you? The one you loved or the one you hated? Which is more real?
Perhaps, like the image, both realities are reflections of the other, both exist as a result of the other, they're mutually dependent. So, perhaps we shouldn't expect to see only one image of the world around us. There will always be others, perhaps several others. We must learn to live with them all even if we prefer only one in particular. We can cherish and nurture the one we prefer, but expect a few surprises along the way.
3 comments:
Wise words indeed, Michael. Jung points out that each of our architypes (King, warrior, etc.) has a golden and a shadow aspect to it. They are both there in all of us. Thanks for the great post
Agreed .. very good post.
boy...I've been the person doing the surprising since the barge shut down.
It was all over stuff I very seriously believed would best be done a certain way, which other people felt should be done another way.
I hate the fact that this ended up with people who I used to really enjoy paddling with taking a rather dim view of me - but if I could get a redo, I probably would take exactly the same stance, even knowing it was going to tick people off.
Thing is, the whole access issue brought out a side of me that a lot of these people hadn't seen before, but that is just as much a part of me as the "Happy Bonnie" that somebody told me they missed.
Problem is, the stubborn side is just as much a part of who I am as the happy side. I'm pushing 40, I'm way past the point of trying to change who I am to make people like me.
That doesn't mean that I'm not really sad that I ended up fighting with my friends. Did what I thought was right at the time - probably will never know for sure whether it was even worth fighting over.
What I do hope I get out of it is maybe next time I'm on the other end, being surprised, I'll be more understanding & just like you say, accept whatever new & maybe unwelcome side of someone that I'm seeing for the first time as an important & integral part of that person that I should acknowlege as such - not a betrayal or a lessening...
not easy though.
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