"La Dame del Lago," Antonio Mora
"If there's empty spaces in your heart,
They'll make you think it's wrong,
Like having empty spaces,
Means you never can be strong,
But I've learnt that all these spaces,
Means there's room enough to grow,
And the people that once filled them,
Were always meant to be let go,
And all these empty spaces,
Create a strange sort of pull,
That attract so many people,
You wouldn't meet if they were full,
So if you're made of empty spaces,
Don't ever think it's wrong,
Because maybe they're just empty,
Until the right person comes along.
-e.h.
Being
along can be incredibly uncomfortable. You are in the company of no one but
your mind, a mind unbound by the constraints that immediately wrap around your
truth whenever you enter the presence of another being. For when you are alone,
your thoughts are free to wander, free to tiptoe closer to the edge, to push
boundaries, to go somewhere uncharted. Sometimes they get tangled but it is in
this mess that art emerges—a compilation of lines and squiggles and
uncalculated turns that is completely unique and more part of your identity
than any inked thumbprint. When you are alone you can give in to the
unpredictability of the wandering mind, you can give up control and see where
your authentic self takes you. This is where some people start to squirm—their
mind takes them somewhere that they don’t think they want to go, somewhere that
is scary in its raw honesty, in its caustic truth. Some people prefer to live
on the surface of their mind, surrounding themselves with other breaths
exhaling out congruencies and ideas with straight lines and common shapes that
are easier to fit into their empty spaces.
But
it is only the ones who accept the gift of solitude that are permitted into
a space where the scariness of the world, with all its zigzags and
one-of-a-kind puzzle pieces that aren’t easily connected, can be interpreted
and turned inside out and made into something beautifully sincere. When you
allow yourself to stop the ever-present ticking of the other, to quiet the
stream of outside opinion that usually guides you through life like a fallen
leaf reliant on the current to move it from one place to another, you are free
to dive past the line of acceptance and outside the strangling arms of comfort.
Your solitary thoughts, in all their unpredictability, are the most veracious
instruments that you will ever be given to aid you in your life journey. But it
is up to you to move past the insecurities and the fears that come with the
lack of outside assurance and give in to the pulsing of the truth that is
hidden deep down inside yourself.
When
you have allowed yourself to be alone, to be truly removed from anything that
is not of your unique essence, then you can truly gain all of the wisdom and
happiness and perspective that is found in time spent with others. When you
know yourself, you are standing on solid ground that cannot be shaken by all
the risks and unknowns that come from engaging with the world. You are a firm
foundation, assured by the fact that you
are the only one who you know will always welcome you with open arms after a
lost battle. Your gravity is centered, so you can feel free to be swept away by
the rollercoaster that is external relationships. You can participate without
inhibition, and your outward actions will be an honest reflection of your inward
convictions.
So
today, I ask my unaccompanied self to engage me in what it only knows makes my eyes smile, what rocks my soul. The wisdom that
comes from being alone has taught me that I am actually more connected with the
universe than I will ever realize when I learn to relish the time spent with my
rare, incomparable self.
