Still the Same
There is a classic song by Bob Seger called “Still The Same.” Every time I hear it, I am reminded of a boyhood friend who has always lived on the outer fringes of life – a thrill seeker. Many have called him a hopeless drunk but it goes deeper than that.
The alcohol is just a medication. He’s trying to make the “pain of same” go away.
Same for him is perceived as not achieving cultural rewards or positions and being stuck in mediocrity. He has abundant talent but could never get ahead. One step forward, two steps back is his dance. The life he wants is different than the life he has. That goal is shared by many but it’s how you go about the transformation that decides whether you move forward or not. It’s a frame of reference.
Our ego wants us to be different so we can be seen as an individual – separate and apart from others. Same to the ego smacks of communism, uniforms and boredom.
This is not a rant on anti-individualism. I think that being a unique individual is part of the grand plan that adds just the right amount of spice to the dish known as life.
Accepting our shared sameness allows us the freedom to be an individual. The difference with this angle of approach is that you don’t perceive yourself as separate and apart. All of my old friend’s exotic efforts are to set him apart from others because he thinks that’s what he needs to achieve the elusive rewards that never come. Then he buys himself a fake blue ribbon known as a bottle of spirits to hide his shame of being the same.
The self image of someone who suffers from “sameness” is always missing something – depth.
They are stuck on a surface level where the rewards, even when achieved, seem hollow – setting them on another frantic quest for the “Holey Frail.”
The stillness that lives within everything is always the same. It never changes. It fosters change in us but it is always the same. It never evolves but is the source for our evolvement. It’s almost like Bob Seeger’s song title is an ancient Chinese aphorism about this essence of life – Still The Same.
The “out there” is really “in here.”
Stillness is the father of all manifestation and the motherly womb where it is conceived. The ego is but a test tube trying to replicate creation.
Discovering the deep essence of being the same gives life to all of our endeavors and takes us past the superficial wants of the glitz dazzled ego. We find richness in our life that can’t be put there by riches.
I have come to the knowing that earthly desires are fruits born from stillness rather than from chasing the horizon, and that dissatisfaction in life is the offspring of the ego’s seed of separation.
“Trying” to be different is a whole continent away from allowing your difference to evolve. One leaves you wanting and the other keeps you in the natural flow of life which never varies. It’s still the same.
All the best,
John
http://cdbaby.com/cd/johnmorgan
http://www.cafepress.com/grasshoppernote/3580301
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