Rose coloured glasses

Photo sourced from Google.

There are some moments in life, sometimes awkward  moments, when the the veil is dropped, the truth is realized and the world will never be the same for you. It kind of feels like a weight off your shoulders, strange, as if you knew there was something wrong from the off, and you just needed clarification.  After this realization, you then have the decide what you want to do with this information... that's where the difficulty comes in. Do you stay or do you go.

You are talking to a friend, and suddenly you realize that they are so fake, and only go out with you when you pay. Promises and dreams promised by your work, and a sentence in a memo, bringing you down to reality. You look at yourself smiling in the window, and see, for a change, an unhappy person staring back at you. The velvet curtains drop, and you see what is truly in front of you. Feeling like a fool when you realize that you have been staring through these glasses for so long, not seeing the truth, nevertheless, you are free now. You have seen the world/person/work/yourself for whom and what they really are.

The question is now. Do you stay, my dear reader, or do you go?

Do you resign from work and find somewhere else, now knowing what "promises" to look out for?
Do see your "friend" run when you tell them that you are broke for the month?
Do you find out why you are truly unhappy and try and fix it?

Or do you simply put the rose coloured classes back on, and continue living in this world of false people, artificial promises and unhappy "happiness"? Because that way you have friends, a work that you can build a career at and a happy you?

So the question is. Do you stay, or do you go?

The most oddly romantic song I know...

Image Source: Google.com

The other night dear, as I lay sleeping

I dreamed I held you in my arms

But when I awoke, dear, I was mistaken

So I hung my head and I cried.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are gray

You'll never know dear, how much I love you

Please don't take my sunshine away

I'll always love you and make you happy,

If you will only say the same.

But if you leave me and love another,

You'll regret it all some day:

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are gray

You'll never know dear, how much I love you

Please don't take my sunshine away

You told me once, dear, you really loved me

And no one else could come between.

But not you've left me and love another;

You have shattered all of my dreams:

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are gray

You'll never know dear, how much I love you

Please don't take my sunshine away

In all my dreams, dear, you seem to leave me

When I awake my poor heart pains.

So when you come back and make me happy

I'll forgive you dear, I'll take all the blame.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are gray

You'll never know dear, how much I love you

Please don't take my sunshine away

Universally spoken.

There are some truths that I believe are universally spoken. Some facts that cannot be questioned. Some theories that may never have answers. Yet they remain. Etched into our lives, into the very fabric of our existence, stories and feelings that cannot be untold or undone. How do you know a good friend from a bad one? How does love feel? If it was a flavor, what would it taste like? Is there a God, an almighty being that has made heaven and earth for His children. Is faith something that can be explained, or something that is simple being followed? Is the innocence of youth still as sacred as it used to be? Why is the sky blue? Why do thunder and lightning compete for attention? What is courage really?

Okay, the sky is blue because it is the less blah blah blah of the colour spectrum, the sun shines blah blah blah, there’s the answer. Why is the sky blue, cause it is! Nature tells us so!

Is a good friend the one who is there when you go out, the one who is buying you shooters and getting you plastered, or is it the friend that will push their problems aside and rush to your aid when you need them? Is it a combination of both? I was watching a Tyler Perry movie just the other day, and the thing that struck me about the friends were, that despite all the problems and dramas in their own lives, they would get together and go see the one friend that is really in pain. They will put their worries aside and aid their sister. Are those true friends?

I think that love would taste like candy-floss! Don’t ask me why, but I do believe it. Pink candy-floss. It reminds me so much of the happiest times of my life, surrounded by those close to me, sticky fingers and a bag of not-so-slowly deflating candy-floss! It tastes like the sweetest sugar, you know, that kind of sweet that is just below sickeningly sweet. It’s that sweet that you can devour tons of, and enjoy being ill afterwards? What does love feel like? To me, that’s easy. It’s the instant relief from pain when your mom kisses your ouchie when you were young. A kiss from mom made all the pain go away, there is a warm feeling inside you, something that makes you realize that you are special and appreciated!

I will leave the argument about God for you, Mr/Miss/Mrs Reader, it is a topic that will last for the remainder of the human species’ existence! I really do hope that a solid conclusion is never reached on this topic, as it would take all the fun out of it!

Faith however is something that I will delve into. Faith is that untouched and underestimated emotion/human condition/best thing about us! Faith is what we have when we put a letter in the mail and know that it will get to where it needs to go. Faith is something that makes you believe in something that you cannot see, cannot touch and cannot taste. It is the driving force behind religion, about sci-fi fanatics, conspiracy theorists. It is the believe, beyond all proof and evidence, that something is the way you believe it is. 

My niece is such a young person, so naive in her thinking, so impressionable, so endearing! I love her with everything in me, but this is where my dilemma beings. At what age do children stop being children? Has technology hampered their emotional growth, their social skills. Has the BlackBerry become a substitute for being able to hold a conversation verbally? The correct use of spelling and grammar? Has laughing with friends been reduced to nothing other than a “lol”! With babies that now poop, cry, sneeze and pee, has imagination become something of a unnecessary ability. When did humanity decide that a child no longer has to imagine any sort of world around them, a world of their own making and adjustment? I do not know if my niece will be able imagine that the doll from 30 years ago is alive, and needs her attention, she prefers the doll that prompts activity. Are children just exposed to too much of the adult work at a young age? Is it fair to keep them inside a hygienic bubble and allow them to suffer once you are gone with colds and flu? 

Thunder and lightning is another one of those blah blah blah moments (please see blue sky point 1). There is some scientific reason for the noise, but to hell if I am going to get into that now! It’s a scary noise regardless, I don’t like it!

Courage. What is courage? Can it be measured? Does it have a certain characteristic? Is the woman who walks across the road courageous? Or every man, woman and child getting into a big ass metal bird and flying across the world? Is that not courage? This is what I think courage is, among MANY things to be sure, but this is the best example: The graphic designer that gets a poster for a movie called “Arial” sets out all the type and copy in Verdana, that is a courageous person! Sticking to your guns and doing what you know is right when the moment comes, and not backing down. Doing what you must do, regardless of the circumstance. That’s courage!

Well readers of the not so constant blog! Thank you for your time, and please feel free to comment, or tweet me or whatever tickles your fancy!

Be good! 

Ray

Be You.

A world of expectation hits us from birth. One is constantly missed. The most important one.

Be Yourself. Be You. Always.

If I Die Young

The Band Perry - If I die young

If I die young, bury me in satin

Lay me down on a, bed of roses

Sink me in the river, at dawn

Send me away with the words of a love song

Uh oh, uh oh

Lord make me a rainbow, I'll shine down on my mother

She'll know I'm safe with you when she stands under my colors, oh and

Life ain't always what you think it ought to be, no

Ain't even grey, but she buries her baby

The sharp knife of a short life, well

I've had just enough time

If I die young, bury me in satin

Lay me down on a bed of roses

Sink me in the river at dawn

Send me away with the words of a love song

The sharp knife of a short life, well

I've had just enough time

And I'll be wearing white, when I come into your kingdom

I'm as green as the ring on my little cold finger,

I've never known the lovin' of a man

But it sure felt nice when he was holding my hand,

There's a boy here in town who says he'll love me forever,

Who would have thought forever could be severed by

The sharp knife of a short life, well,

I've had just enough time

So put on your best boys and I'll wear my pearls

What I never did is done

A penny for my thoughts, oh no, I'll sell them for a dollar

They're worth so much more after I'm a goner

And maybe then you'll hear the words I been singin'

Funny when you're dead how people start listenin'

If I die young, bury me in satin

Lay me down on a bed of roses

Sink me in the river at dawn

Send me away with the words of a love song

Uh oh (uh, oh)

The ballad of a dove (uh, oh)

Go with peace and love

Gather up your tears, keep 'em in your pocket

Save them for a time when you're really gonna need them, oh

The sharp knife of a short life, well

I've had just enough time

So put on your best boys and I'll wear my pearls

YouTube Video

Surrender

A very much uncommon sight in South Africa. An interracial couple.
It is not about the person, it is about embracing the love.

“You can never truly know love, until you surrender completely too it.”

I have always liked this quote, I have told it to others often. But I never understood what it really meant. “Surrender completely too it. “ In this age, this the modern age, the age of enlightenment, we are more than often than not so damaged, so hurt by others, that when we allow ourselves to surrender to love, make ourselves truly vulnerable to another, we are betrayed, our hearts broken, on faith shattered. The result of this is catastrophic, we have become guarded. Shielded by our fear. Locked away in our chests. Intent on not coming out and risk getting hurt. How can someone surrender to love, when our fear of surrendering to it, is so strong. Almost primal. How can we as a species learn our true capacity for love when we believe the risks are too much?

How can a shattered heart be mended, when the pieces are locked away so tightly, so well guarded? Trust another. Trust a true soul. Allow your broken pieces to be put together by another. Listening to one’s heart has become old fashioned, believing in the path the soul has mapped out for you, has instinctively become ignored. Listening to one’s mind, the fear that roams there, the sanctity of logic, where all the answers, all the rationalizations are your own. Made by your mind. Crafted. Molded. Ruled by fear.

Surrender: “transitive verb to relinquish possession or control of something. Strong emotional response to uncontrollable situation”

There it is. The root of the problem. The crux of the matter. Control. Giving up control. Humans are not very good at giving up control, even if it is a fraction of control.  We have lost trust.

Love: “transitive and intransitive verb to feel romantic and sexual desire and longing for somebody or to feel tender affection for somebody. The strongest emotions. ”

Romance? Sexual Desire? Longing? Tender affection? The strongest of emotions. Sexual desire is something that we all know too well. Do we often misinterpret sexual desire as love? A new trend has developed. There is no more dating. There is no more romance. There is no more affection. “Love” has become sexually driven. Then the sexual attraction fades. And we “fall out of love”. What is wrong with the world? What has happened to first dates, second dates, many dates? Getting to know someone. Touching hands for the first time? That spark. That feeling. That tingle in the pit of your stomach. The first kiss. Learning the person. Getting to know them? A kiss goodnight, and the sadness of hearing the car door slam, and that person driving away.

Surrender to Love. Allowing someone, trusting someone enough, to allow them to have the control over your emotions. A person who can hurt you with one word, or make you smile with just a look. Trusting someone enough to share your life with them. To share the darkest truths. The brightest days, the darkest nights. The sunshine, the rain. Laughs and cries.

For those who have been lucky enough to experience true love, the kind of love that hurts when you are not around it, love that makes you tickle when you are around it, and love that makes you want to sing when you are enclosed in it, I envy you. Truly envy you.

I understand now. What it means.

“You can never truly know love, until you surrender completely too it.”

Hold on.

Epic Win!