This isn’t a test.
There are no check boxes
that you missed.
No arbitrary line
that you have already crossed.
No way to fail this.
This isn’t based on who is smarter
and who has more value.
This idea is a dangerous illusion.
This isn’t a race.
There isn’t a starting gate.
There isn’t a finish line.
There isn’t a prize for
going faster, better, longer.
There is no where to get to.
Exiting the race may
mean you enjoy this day
a whole lot more.
This isn’t a game.
There are no other competitors
that you need to beat.
No made up rules by someone
who didn’t have your best interest
at heart. No way to lose.
Even not showing up
doesn’t mean you lose.
This isn’t a game at all.
This isn’t a dress rehearsal.
You don’t need to spend your
time looking good and acting normal.
You don’t need to look like
you are the best one for the position.
Just being who you are, isn’t easy,
but it guarantees this isn’t a dress
rehearsal that you can fail.
You already got the gig,
the one for which you are perfect,
your own life.
This isn’t a fight.
There is no one to beat up.
There is no referee calling
the shots. There is nothing
to win. That doesn’t mean
there aren’t causes to defend.
Don’t enter the battlefield
with bravado and promises
of doom and dread.
It has never turned out well
for us in the end.
Start singing with your
whole heart about this.
There is no winner
if anyone loses. We know this.
The alternative is inherent
in releasing the
sword wielding mentality.
Reclaim your consciousness
from the over-culture.
Today would not be too soon.
Stop trying to get ahead
since it is costing you everything.
Is it time for a leap of faith,
without an objective to get ahead?
Who would you be being
without objectives and goals
to define your invented reality?
Maybe an even better idea
would arise. You never know.
Yes, we will die anyway.
Turns out that isn’t the point.
We might end up living
instead of racing, pretending,
fighting. That sounds lovely,
doesn’t it. Where is that
freedom…we know it exists.
We never stop looking,
yet it is closer than we thought.
Don’t make a bucket list.
There is no list. There is loving
what you love and in that,
everything. What if we missed
the point? Is there a point?
We keep making up new
stories to justify the cruelty.
Yet as cruel as we are to
ourselves, we should start
right. here.
This isn’t what we once thought.
Changing the contextual metaphors
may be one of the most important
decisions of our lives.
Shiloh Sophia
The word overculture is from Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes:
“I coined the word Overculture many years ago to speak about the grid that the overculture slams down or sometimes subversively dreams down over the spirits and souls of human beings… in order to diminish them, set them into matchboxes, exhort them to behave, or else.”
“If you want to change the world, you have to change the metaphor.”
~ Joseph Campbell |
Painting: Leap of Faith ~ Acrylic on Wood 2004 by Shiloh Sophia 
Exactly what was needed this morning. Thank you for the turn-on to this poet!