Awakening to Life

He had been asleep for most of his life. Unawakened to the passion for creative expression that lay within him. The sleeping self existed in a twilight zone of knowing and not-knowing that the life he lived was only part of what he could do, part of what he could be. His heart, which in its original form was very large, when applied to his immediate surroundings and, indeed, to himself, had shrunk to something small, something far less significant than it might have been.

Awakening came both slowly and quickly. A friend's voice, a meeting with others about plans for creating something new, a sense of bursting within. Suddenly, what was sleeping was awakened, what was dormant cried out to be heard.

Awakening can come like that. Both slowly and quickly, corresponding to the changes in consciousness that can deepen within the self. Then one day, it seems impossible to continue on the path one has been walking on for years and lifetimes. And suddenly, a new reality is born.