Circus Of Change
As a child, I never knew if my mother was making stories up for their entertainment value. They certainly made good dinner conversation. Maybe it was a ploy to make me and my siblings eat our food.
One such story was that my grandfather used to work in the circus. I imagined that he had giant tattoos, was a strong man with a handlebar mustache, trapeze artist, lion tamer, elephant trainer, clown, contortionist or a million other wild images.
Didn’t every kid want to run away an join the circus? I figured that my grandfather actually made it to that destination known as fantasy.
When I finally met him, he was just normal. I found out that he was just circus barker. My childhood fantasies had come to a crashing halt. What a disappointment.
I wanted him to be larger than life and he was just like the little man behind the screen at the end of The Wizard Of Oz. He had been projected as a giant and he was no more than an ant.
I learned never to put people on a pedestal because they could never live up to it.
As the world turns, we turn with it. We learn truths that were once hidden. We learn how to navigate the turns and piece life’s puzzle together. We go through a circus of change.
We learn that no matter where we are today, tomorrow we will be somewhere else and that is the pleasure of living.
Nothing stays the same and we change right along with it.
How has your perception of life changed as you have evolved?
10 comments:
"How has your perception of life changed as you have evolved?"
I began life as a riotous dreamer, evolved into a skeptical misfit, then a washed-out fantasizer; then, my current skin: riotous dreamer...
Hi Alex,
I am happy that the riotous dreamer has returned - perhaps he never left. :D
Alexys, as a child, I also dreamed of running away to join the circus. One afternoon I did. I got as far as part way down the street and turned around. This reminds me eveyr human being is constantly redefining home. For me, home is not a place, but a feeling. It is something I sense based on how connected or disconnected I feel to where I am. As a teenager, I stilld dreamed of the circus and actually attended a summer camp where I could learn circus trapeze work. This experience stays with me. I contributes to who I am. As you love all of yourself, you learn to value every thought and feeling you have generated to get you where you are.
Hi Liara,
At least you can actually say that you ran away to join the circus. I agree that we are constantly redefining home and letting home redefine our footing. I would love to hear your trapeze stories one day. My siblings and I used to practice that by jumping off of a porch and flipping onto a mattress. We didn't even think of the risk involved - that was before common sense set in.
Alexys,
Yes, our perspective continues to change as we grow. This is a sign that we are awake, aware. For those that slumber in their days, there is no change of perception only a continuation of their illusions.
Mark,
That is brilliant my friend. May we always stay wide awake in dreamland. :D
Hello Alexys,
I think that when we are children, our perspective is that everything and everyone is "up on a pedestal." I remember the huge wall I would jump off as a child and when I revisited my old home and saw that it was just a low rise, it was mind boggling that I remembered it much higher.
I would imagine the same thing happened as far as my assessment of people and circumstances. The illusion continues into adulthood and are more difficult to recognize but with effort and vigilance.
No such thing as "common sense", Alexys. Another way of interpreting that transition of thought is to recognize how fear was instilled and conditioning set in. Someday soon I share trapeze artistry stories.
Miruh,
I had the exact experience when I was in school. I used to walk up a steep hill to get to school and years later when I saw the same hill, it was laughable.
I have used this analogy throughout life for what we think are mountains are only molehills.
Liara,
Common sense as we know it is only wisdom that has reached the surface.
I can't wait for your trapeze tales.
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