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Valley of Falls | luke_jclark

Pursuit of Peace

Life is hard. While living out my days I see that there are many dimensions to who I am, and what I am. As events unfold day by day keeping oneself grounded comes down to balancing all of the variables that make one up. This balance begins with awareness of those variables that contribute to who we are and the actions that we commit to. And though one can identify much of oneself through introspection and meditation, it is through others that we can find the deeper truths about ourselves. Meaningful relationships, where kindness, compassion, patience, understanding and love are constantly expressed, are like wind to the sails of the inner progress of ones being. Through others we can reflect, and find better perspective to the realities about ourselves, that even though being right under our noses, we fail to see.

As an introvert, I value solitude but I see the significance of good company and interaction with the like minded. The spiritual path at times may seem similar at face value, where one congregates with the like minded for the sake of growth and fulfillment. Still, as every life is a subjective world, so is the spiritual path unique to the individual that pursues it. This is because what we are really doing is reconciling our darkness with our light. In achieving this we begin to witness the natural byproduct such action: Peace.

The dark variables of our persona are most often repressed or disowned aspects of ourselves. And though subconsciously we repress the darkness within us, it does not keep it from being expressed in the everyday. It is like a pressure that builds within the psyche that needs to be released. In my experience with "shadow work" I have found that the negative qualities of myself have lost power. I do not give in to anger as easily, people do not frustrate me or annoy me like they used to, etc. I find that it is easier to be compassionate and understanding with others bc of the compassion and understanding that I render onto myself. But the greatest gift comes from seeing how differently life unfolds when there are few if not any negative "fillers" when interacting with others. One comes to view ones neighbor as a mirror of oneself. So through awareness of self through, the gift of good company, dedicated honest introspection, shadow work and self love, one can begin to cultivate moments of peace day by day and thrive thusly. Happiness is nothing without inner peace to support it. May all living beings learn to cultivate peace in their lives. OM.