“I paint life the way I would like it to be.” Norman Rockwell
Sometimes sentiment and nostalgia scew our view of the reality of what was. In our minds we do what Norman Rockwell did. We paint our lives the way we would like them to be. Sometimes this takes a wee bit of denial to accomplish. Sometimes it takes a LOT of denial to accomplish. Either way, we always know that the painting we are creating is a lie. Have you ever looked into a body of water, like a lake or river, seen a stone at the bottom and wanted to scoop it up? If you have you will know that the illusion of closeness that the water creates is much like a magnifying glass. The rock is always much further down than we think.
Our minds can act like the body of water. They magnify what we want them to magnify and distort the things we don’t want to address. This then makes one ask some questions. For example, is there any such thing as an accurate memory of the past? There is, after all, a reason why eye witness testimonies are considered to be unreliable in a court of law. We remember things according to our personal persepectives. Did the shooter have a hoodie on? Or was it a jean jacket? Was the hood up or down? Was it blue or black? Did the jacket have a tear in the sleeve and, if so, which sleeve? We all miss details. THAT is a fact.
So, knowing this, what details of our past have we missed, suppressed, blocked out, been completely unaware of throughout the rest of our lives? Were the relationships with the people we knew back then really what we perceive them to be? Are there details that we never knew? Are there things we have simply forgotten?
In Medicine Wheel teachings we are told about the 4 directions (north, south, east, west) and their meanings in terms of a map for how to be in our world. The teachings for the directions may vary in accordance to which direction is assigned which meaning, depending upon the tradition from which the teachings stem. But the core teachings still remain the same, which is a testament to the consistency of the teachings themselves. I won’t go into each of those teachings here at this time. But I will address the teachings of the CENTER STONE. The center stone position is in the middle of the entire wheel. Sometimes this position is occupied by a stone, sometimes a skull (like a buffalo skull or a deer skull). The position of the center stone represents the axis mundi of reality. This is also echoed in the Celtic and even the Hebrew teachings regarding the World Tree. I have often found myself aware of the energy of the World Tree in the center of my Medicine Wheel.
This position is pretty much a vortex of energy connecting the Universe with the Earth, and connecting us as humans to those energies. The teachings for this position have to do with respect, responsibility, and authenticity, all of which are summed up with the statement, “I follow the Path of the Heart.” This statement has NOTHING to do with sentiment or nostalgia. Those are traps for the mind. They trap you into a concept of what always was or what could have/should have/ would have been. None of those things accept the reality of what IS. In order to accept the reality of what is, one has to go through a LOT of shedding of the old stuff that we carry…stuff that weighs us down and does not allow us to grow beyond the old concept.
For example, there might be a family whose members have all worked in the medical field for a number of generations. Then along comes a free spirit born into that family who really wants to become an artist. The family freaks out and imposes their views on how useless art is in a world where medicine is so important. “Become a doctor! You can always do art in your spare time!” As if doctors have an abundance of spare time! The free spirit, in order to be authentic to him/herself, has to shed those familial and social conditions if s/he is going to persue their Path of the Heart. Falling into the trap of what always was or what should have/would have/ could have been or allowing oneself to fall into the illusion of how others would like life to be, would be soul-sucking and eventually destroy the person who is wanting to bring art into our world!
But isn’t the persuit of art also in a way painting life the way he/she would like it to be? Sure! But it is not doing so at the cost of someone else’s dreams. We have to be able to honor who we are and to follow our dreams if we are ever going to find fulfillment in life at all. There is nothing wrong with someone dreaming of becoming a doctor and saving lives. There is also nothing wrong with someone dreaming of being an artist and inspiring people’s lives. After all, an idyllic life is one where you can feel fulfilled, content, and loved. How you achieve that is up to you. So, are you going to follow someone else’s dreams and demands of who you are going to become? Or are you going to follow the Path of the Heart?