the alchemist: potions & possessions

"what's the world's greatest lie?... it's this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate."  ~ Paulo Coelho

i left my phone at home this morning.

as walked my buddy, henry, i noticed all the sounds around me – the u.p.s truck, the moan of leaf blowers, the mason and the birds, the row of children from the preschool around the corner laughing, hand in hand – awake – shuffling their feet through the newly scattered leaves and sand.

i noticed how the sun poked peep holes through the branches of the trees above – how my hair felt in the breeze and how it moved across my brow – how the path was not crooked but beautiful, meandering ahead – not cracked or in disrepair, but playfully and organically patterned – not scrutinized by my critic, but celebrated with care.

i noticed how beautiful these words were – how they rose with each mindful step – how they celebrated as they danced, falling together and flowing apart like the colors and shapes in the kaleidoscope of all i know – and how my mind tried to keep them all in order – to possess them, to hold them, to carry them home with me to show.

i began to notice all of this – the observation, the celebration and the possession – how the choice was always mine. i noticed all this during a beautiful late summer day … all the while as the sunlight shined.

Awareness: the observation, the celebration, and the possession

When we are in a state of awareness we observe how our senses create a powerful potion, which, when inhaled openly – fully – allows us to enjoy the fragrance of our experience. However, if our mind leans in too closely to the sensation in discrimination – positive or negative –  we become swallowed in its possession.  

In this way, awareness becomes the alchemist of all experience - it is the return to the true self and it is the dissolution of the belief that anything is controlled by fate.