We All Have the Power to Fly

This is one of my favorite stories off all time, and pops into my head at various times of my life. It's just another along the line of "use the Force" images. It's all there for us. It is we who resist out of fear. Conquer fear, use the Force, and you become the rarest of creatures, a Savior, a Jedi.

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Once there lived a village of creatures along the bottom of a great crystal river.

The current of the river swept silently over them all – young and old, rich and poor, good and evil, the current going its own way, knowing only its own crystal self.

Each creature in its own manner clung tightly to the twigs and rocks of the river bottom, for clinging was their way of life, and resisting the current what each had learned from birth.

But one creature said at last, “I am tired of clinging. Though I cannot see it with my eyes, I trust that the current knows where it is going. I shall let go, and let it take me where it will. Clinging, I shall die of boredom.”

The other creatures laughed and said, “Fool! Let go, and that current you worship will throw you tumbled and smashed across the rocks, and you will die quicker than boredom!”

But the one heeded them not, and taking a breath did let go, and at once was tumbled and smashed by the current across the rocks.

Yet in time, as the creature refused to cling again, the current lifted him free from the bottom, and he was bruised and hurt no more.

And the creatures downstream, to whom he was a stranger, cried, “See a miracle! A creature like ourselves, yet he flies! See the Messiah, come to save us all!”

And the one carried in the current said, “I am no more Messiah than you. The river delights to lift us free, if only we dare let go. Our true work is this voyage, this adventure.”

But they cried the more, “Savior!” all the while clinging to the rocks, and when they looked again he was gone, and they were left alone making legends of a Savoir.

Richard Bach, “Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah”

What do you think? Meaningful, or just a bunch of hooey?

Year in Review 1: Spitting in the Eye of Fear

Happy New Year to everyone. I got back from Guam with Nava and Arman on the 31st. Our family got a call from Boni, inviting us to her house for the New Year. Arman and Nava were too tired, so Mara stayed home with them, and I went up with the younger two. It was nice to finally meet Tony and the rest of Boni's family. We left around 9, but it was the most we've done on a New Year's Eve in a long time. Thanks, Boni for a great time, great food, and great company.

The New Year and my birthday come around the same time, so it’s always a doubly opportune time for me to review the year. This has been one of the most important years in my life, because it signaled major shifts for me on many levels. I suppose the changes have been incubating for the last year or two, but this year they seem to have hatched, and I’ve set out on a new course of sorts. Over the next few days I’ll write a bit about some of the big shifts of the year.

At various times in my life, I’ve designated what I considered to be, “life’s most important skill.” At one point, it was “discipline.” At another it was “the ability to effectively set and pursue goals.” This past year, I came to realize that one of life’s most important skills is to face your own fears. What scares you? Face it. Stare it down. Spit in its eye. The rush, the sense of accomplishment, the internal strength that comes from it is amazing. It has nothing to do with the “success” or “failure” of what you undertake. The success is in simply facing your fear. In my case, if I fail, all the better, because one of my biggest fears has always been the fear of failure. This realization has been huge for me – realizing that my own fears limit me more than any external forces or any intrinsic abilities. This is what was so invigorating about taking my guitar down to the acoustic idol contest at GIG. I knew I sucked. I knew I would flop. But the glee was in leaning into the fear and conquering it. And amazingly, with each new fear that I face, the next one seems trivial. Now that we’re putting together the stand-up comedy night, I’m not in the least bit scared. When I think about what scares me the most right now, I realize it has to do with having a specific conversation I don’t want to have. That conversation for me is like engaging with the dark side of the Force. I know I'll have to face it.

So, this is one of the big lessons of this year. Be daring when it comes to my own fear. Lean into it. Seek out my fears, and one by one, free myself from them. Find out what scares you to death, and then do it. It’s one of the most fun things (and scariest things) I’ve every undertaken.