"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet,
regardless of time, place, or circumstance.
The thread may stretch or tangle,
but it will never break."
There is a belief here in Japan that everyone is tied to someone else, someone important in their lives, by a red thread of fate. A bond that exists whether you are aware of it or not, and will eventually draw the two of you together- for good or bad. Tied to your smallest finger, this blood red cord connects you, ties you intimately with someone else and while it can be broken, it is dangerous to do so. Defying fate is a treacherous business. I don’t know if I am tied to anyone- I don’t know if the hand of Fate is upon me, but lately I have begun to feel that I am desperately in need of some direction. From on high? Perhaps. From friends and family-thanks, but no. You’d have me spinning like a needle in a compass. From my own thoughts-? Maybe- if I could ever get them straight. At times like this I feel the need of something to tell me where to go, what to do. Something that would pull me toward my goal, like two magnets, pulled together through the power of attraction. But there is no one who can make my choices for me but me. And indecision is still a decision in and of itself. At some point, whether sooner or later, I will be leaving this place, this time. And I don’t know what I will be going to. I’ve traveled halfway across the world, cut all sorts of ties, cast myself loose....and I’ve experienced great things. Times of great beauty and terrible loneliness, and the awakening of my own inner strength. I needed to live this adventure- to be taken outside myself, to live a life bigger than what I was before. But now...where do I go? It’s one thing to travel away from something- to leave a too small chrysalis behind and to move forward. But what’s the next step? Where do I go from here? Who am I still becoming? A needle needs a lodestone to find a direction. A sailor needs a star to find the shore. I know the future is out there waiting, that something new, someone new is waiting too. I choose to believe that my red thread is real, connected to someone in a new place, waiting for me to be ready for a new life. It’s a tangled skein and I don’t know how long it will take to unravel, but when I do, I’ll be in the place I belong, living the joyful life I have dreamed of endlessly. I believe that. I believe that. So I won’t lose faith. Just, if I forget for a little while...if I get stuck and don’t know where to turn next, I ask the universe, my family, my friends...don’t give up on me. We too, are connected by that precious thread. I know. Just, every now and then...give me a little tug. I might be lost, but I’ll still be there, waiting to make my way to you.
“Accept the things to which fate binds you,
and love the people with whom fate brings you together,
[and] do so with all your heart.”
Marcus Aurelius quotes
Post a Comment