Becoming
Strange
“The
individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed
by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of
owning yourself.”
Friedrich
Nietzsche
When you set your feet on
the path of spirit, you will notice that things change for you. I
don't mean that you will begin to prosper and be enriched by the
blessings of the material world. Actually, just the opposite. You
will notice that it is harder for you to fit in, harder to make small
talk while drinking champagne. You will have more difficulty with the
values of a culture that says you must strive to “succeed”, which
means make as much money as possible, and place yourself among the
people who can further that agenda. Here in the South, it's
important, as well, to belong to a church where you will be most
likely to meet such people.
The lure of the
collective is strong. For one thing, you may have grown up in a
family who bought into the idea that success is synonymous with making money, so it seems normal to you to strive for that kind of good
fortune. Many of us spend our whole lives committed to that effort,
only to find that it really doesn't bring us happiness or
contentment. Regardless of that, when you pull up stakes and set your
feet on a different path, don't expect support from the tribe.
When you decide to forgo the cocktail parties and the raves for
something more meaningful, you will likely not be applauded. You may
even be thought...well...strange.
The payoff is owning
yourself; refusing to sell your soul to the values of the tribe.
Beginning to see yourself as a spiritual being having a human
experience means that you are comfortable enough in your own skin to
befriend yourself. You can choose your relationships based on heart
connections and kindred spirits, rather than for the purpose of
furthering your network. When your heart opens up, you see all people
as having equal value, and equal purpose, whether they look like you
or not. You do not fear the stranger for they are no longer strange.
They are your brother or your sister on the path to wholeness.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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