Most of my summer days were spent doing the same thing - daydreaming.
Whether it was in my bedroom at our rented house somewhere in Kingston, Jamaica or lying on the rocks at the seaside with my childhood friend in Oracabessa, St. Mary, the dream was always the same.
A knight in shining armour coming to rescue me from the doldrums of my existence. We eloped for no other reason than it was the seemingly more romantic thing to do. Whisked off to a castle surrounded by the rolling fields of plants and flowers that I knew not the names of, my husband and I lived happily ever after, never aging and having everything a human could possibly imagine.
Either the screaming voice of my mother or the searing heat of the sun would break me loose of the dream.
Only in those years and moments, my life was romantic and idyllic. In reality, there were many times it seemed more like a nightmare.
"Why could life not be basked in such glamour, grace and glory as my dreams?" I would often ask to no one in particular but hoping God would answer.
Told that things would have been much different for us if this, that or the other did or did not happen by my mother, there was one thing I refused to accept. It was not my fault.
It just was.
From an early age, I knew that romanticizing or demonizing anyone or any part of life would not get me where I wanted, which was out of the doorways of poverty. I had heard enough times that education was the key but was confused by the push towards what required only booty power and I had an ample supply back then.
Living the tension of these arguments, I grasped every opportunity that came my way to enhance my educational level. As we all do in different ways, certain things, situations and people are categorised and stored in our romantic box. We pull them out, daydream and fantasize about them until they materialize in some way shape or form or we wake up. We do the opposite with those things, situations and people who scare and frighten us - we turn them into demonic forces.
Education became my new knight and the threat of being penniless my demon.
What most find challenging is living in "the between" place. Until we learn to appreciate the pure potentiality of every situation, circumstance and even people who come into our experience to serve as a teacher in some way, we develop rigid expectations. Life is either good/romantic or bad/filled with evil people.
In my case and to my mind, living humbly had nothing to teach me and education - the higher the better - was the only escape route. So, I fought against one and chased the other.
One of the greatest challenges is to play the hand we are dealt. There are many examples of people, heroes we tend to call them, who do just that. Limbless, uneducated, on death's bed, living in abject poverty or some other dire circumstances, we read stories or watch videos of such persons rising above their situations. They neither romanticize the banality of their surroundings nor do they sit swearing at the invisible demons that have cursed their lives.
Instead, we see these mainly unsung heroes embracing the miniscule to us potential in their situation and transforming their and usually their families' and communities' lives into mountains of greatness.
They embraced the what is.
Breaking Loose from the ties, chains and even threads that bind us to roses and/or demons require, in fact demands, such acceptance and allowing. Only then can Beauty break through and delight us in her mystery and grandeur.
It takes time, some effort and lots of willingness to arrive at this "in between" place. We each must daily ask ourselves "Am I willing to just let what is be?"
After gaining degrees, certificates, diplomas and rising to levels of great professional responsibilities and financial earnings, the beauty of a simple, humble life revealed itself to me. I have asked myself the question and daily the response is the same: "I am more free, happier and living my best life as I continue to grow!"What is your response? Share with me here or on my Facebook page and have a wonderful St. Patrick's Day!
