Awareness of authenticity
an excerpt from Live Beautifully: A Book to Sit With, by Doris Wedige
Reflections on the great pretender...
I feel like playing dress up today. I would like to transform myself into something more, like a little girl adorning herself with a long strand of pearls, a gorgeous insensible hat, and mom’s high heels. I want to stand in front of a big trunk filled with possibilities for transforming me into the beautiful woman I long to be. Instead of my trunk being filled with boas, hats and dresses, I imagine it to be filled with all of the qualities that I admire in a beautiful woman. My trunk holds many possibilities for me to try on: graciousness, unconditional love, self-confidence, forgiveness, strength and compassion. In my dress up game I can transform myself into the woman I long to be. As I adorn myself with the qualities I long to possess I feel myself being weighted down with more. There has been an error in my way. There in the corner I spot yet another trunk. I peer into it to discover more possibilities. But I find that it is empty. I realize that this is the trunk that holds the true opportunity for me to become the beautiful woman I long to be. For I already am that woman. God created me so. What I need to do is remove the superficial layers to reveal the true me. Into this trunk I will cast the garb that obscures the real me: fear, self-doubt, judgment, and arrogance…. Instead of a game of dress up to become the beautiful woman I long to be, I’ve indulged myself in a game of casting off to reveal the beautiful woman that I am. Into this trunk go all of the beliefs in the egoic thoughts. On goes the large lock and I shove the trunk to the dark recesses of the basement to be forgotten. I have discovered myself to be the woman of my dreams. She was there all the while, a perfect creation of Light and Love. Welcome home sunshine. Welcome home. |