In a scene from the movie Generations based on the series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Data, who is an android, has an “emotion” chip installed into his hard drive. For the first time in his life he was able to experience a vast array of emotions. His first stop was to sample a beverage in Ten-Forward, the ship’s pub. He pinched his face in an array of grimaces as he swallowed the liquid, trying to figure out what the proper response would be. Guinan the bartender chimed in that she thought he hated it. “YES! I HATE THIS!” he agreed enthusiastically in his detestation of the drink. He claimed it was “REVOLTING,” all along continuing to smile. Guinan offered him more and he shoved his glass towards her as quickly as he could saying matter-of-factly, “Please.”
While it was a funny scene, I realize now there is more to this story than simply a few laughs. Data’s happy participation in the drinking of something revolting was simply about having the experience, no matter what the experience was. This fictional character was representing what we humans do in real life every moment of every day. What is life all about if not the accumulation of various experiences; the good, the bad and the ugly all included.
I often find myself brushing my hand lightly against various plants, trees and flowers as I sojourn on my daily walks. This is a wonderful way to connect with Nature. In my mind I am giving the world a big ‘high-five’ as I walk passed each leaf I touch. I know plants can’t talk back, but the truth is we are all connected and this is my way of saying hello to the Universe.
Sometimes I feel the soft contours of a wild rose, or perhaps, I sense the rough edges of the bark from a tree. Both feel differently. One is pleasant to the touch, while the other is not. Yet, I touch both to have the experience.
I know a couple who are going through a divorce. Emotions are flying high and they are not all pretty. As someone who has been there myself, I empathize with their pain. It’s not enjoyable. The full gamut of emotions show up starting with blame, then sadness, on to anger, then the single, or what I refer to as the ‘slut’ stage, which is actually pretty fun and finally settling down back to normal. It’s all part of the process. Everyone goes through it. We get to feel the highs and the lows.
The end result is a happier person. Once the plethora of emotions are sorted out and settle down, each party hopefully realizes that the divorce was the right thing to do. They can be thankful to their former partner for teaching them a great deal of who they are and who they are not. I am thankful to my ex-husband for starting out as my friend, for marrying me, for leaving me, for not talking to me for five years to finally going full circle and becoming my friend again. We mirrored one another and were right for each other at the time. And then we were not. It was time to move onto something else. It was and still is all perfect.
With the passing of a few celebrities last week, many tears have been shed by family, friends and adoring fans. One thing that springs to my mind is the documentary one of those celebrities made to show her battle with cancer. Farrah Fawcett displayed in full view the horrors of her pain. After chemo, she revealed her balding head where her signature beautiful locks once rested. With all the trauma she endured my first reaction was to wonder why anyone would want to go through cancer. My second reaction was to know that on a spiritual level that is exactly what she wanted.
Before thinking I am being cruel, try to look at this from a Higher perspective. We are here for many lifetimes and in each one we have different experiences. We learn with each step we make who this soul actually is. How do we know that we don’t want to be a criminal, if we have never experienced being one before? How do we know we do not want to have a fatal illness, unless we move through the process of going through one ourselves? Each of us has been a criminal and has gone through a terrible disease along with a vast array of other experiences in a host of many different lifetimes; each time enabling our True Self to expand from the knowledge it has learned. We must know who we are not before knowing who we are.
For Farrah Fawcett the pain is now over. She has moved on. Her three year battle with anal cancer may seem like a long time to us linear thinking human beings, but to the soul it is a mere moment in eternity. Her True Self can now move on to learning something else the next time around.
So, when you are in the midst of experiencing something beautiful or something painful, look at it from an observer’s position. How does it feel? What emotions are you experiencing? And most importantly, what are you learning? When we look at life from a grander view, we can see that all of life is beautiful. Our experiences, all of them, are what makes life a true adventure.
Thank you for reading and Namaste! (The Light in me recognizes the Light in you!)
While it was a funny scene, I realize now there is more to this story than simply a few laughs. Data’s happy participation in the drinking of something revolting was simply about having the experience, no matter what the experience was. This fictional character was representing what we humans do in real life every moment of every day. What is life all about if not the accumulation of various experiences; the good, the bad and the ugly all included.
I often find myself brushing my hand lightly against various plants, trees and flowers as I sojourn on my daily walks. This is a wonderful way to connect with Nature. In my mind I am giving the world a big ‘high-five’ as I walk passed each leaf I touch. I know plants can’t talk back, but the truth is we are all connected and this is my way of saying hello to the Universe.
Sometimes I feel the soft contours of a wild rose, or perhaps, I sense the rough edges of the bark from a tree. Both feel differently. One is pleasant to the touch, while the other is not. Yet, I touch both to have the experience.
I know a couple who are going through a divorce. Emotions are flying high and they are not all pretty. As someone who has been there myself, I empathize with their pain. It’s not enjoyable. The full gamut of emotions show up starting with blame, then sadness, on to anger, then the single, or what I refer to as the ‘slut’ stage, which is actually pretty fun and finally settling down back to normal. It’s all part of the process. Everyone goes through it. We get to feel the highs and the lows.
The end result is a happier person. Once the plethora of emotions are sorted out and settle down, each party hopefully realizes that the divorce was the right thing to do. They can be thankful to their former partner for teaching them a great deal of who they are and who they are not. I am thankful to my ex-husband for starting out as my friend, for marrying me, for leaving me, for not talking to me for five years to finally going full circle and becoming my friend again. We mirrored one another and were right for each other at the time. And then we were not. It was time to move onto something else. It was and still is all perfect.
With the passing of a few celebrities last week, many tears have been shed by family, friends and adoring fans. One thing that springs to my mind is the documentary one of those celebrities made to show her battle with cancer. Farrah Fawcett displayed in full view the horrors of her pain. After chemo, she revealed her balding head where her signature beautiful locks once rested. With all the trauma she endured my first reaction was to wonder why anyone would want to go through cancer. My second reaction was to know that on a spiritual level that is exactly what she wanted.
Before thinking I am being cruel, try to look at this from a Higher perspective. We are here for many lifetimes and in each one we have different experiences. We learn with each step we make who this soul actually is. How do we know that we don’t want to be a criminal, if we have never experienced being one before? How do we know we do not want to have a fatal illness, unless we move through the process of going through one ourselves? Each of us has been a criminal and has gone through a terrible disease along with a vast array of other experiences in a host of many different lifetimes; each time enabling our True Self to expand from the knowledge it has learned. We must know who we are not before knowing who we are.
For Farrah Fawcett the pain is now over. She has moved on. Her three year battle with anal cancer may seem like a long time to us linear thinking human beings, but to the soul it is a mere moment in eternity. Her True Self can now move on to learning something else the next time around.
So, when you are in the midst of experiencing something beautiful or something painful, look at it from an observer’s position. How does it feel? What emotions are you experiencing? And most importantly, what are you learning? When we look at life from a grander view, we can see that all of life is beautiful. Our experiences, all of them, are what makes life a true adventure.
Thank you for reading and Namaste! (The Light in me recognizes the Light in you!)
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