PRETTY LITTLE BOXES

A series of essays.....

"THERE'S A BOX FOR THAT!"

.....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E. Hughes

Life seems to be charging at me in fragments. 

They are small, broken pieces that float in the air like tiny feathers at the mercy of the afternoon breeze; sunshine enhanced bits of reality and imagination intertwining with each shift and subtle nuance of emotion. They are multi-colored cotton threads of fact and fiction that float along in a suspended state, oblivious to the passage of time or thought or movement. They are waiting, waiting.....for me? Shrugging my shoulders abjectly, I attempt to carry-on as a functioning adult.

It is imperative that we set aside the time to assess our lives, take a personal inventory of our emotional possessions, even when (especially when) the fragments feel more like shards of glass rather than innocent feathers. We are human. We bleed. The lifeblood from our wounds spills down upon the soil at our feet and gravitates to the small streams and rivers that flow out to the sea....from whence we came. We have traveled full-cycle.

I spend many days collecting my life's fragments and placing them in tiny boxes. Some of these boxes hold dozens of pieces while others may be limited to only a few, even one. If the feather/shard is an enormous challenge for me, it might remain in 'solitary confinement' within its cardboard prison until I can, finally, come to terms with it. Its label of importance scribbled in crimson with the blood from a recent wound....

Am I good enough?

  Will this major change in my life be for the better?

     How well do I deal with people who hate?

       Am I strong enough to handle conflicts with my adult children?    

           When is it time to try harder or time to give up on something?                       

               Why do I allow self-doubt to control me?

                  Does contentment, and personal sanity outweigh a ten-year-old dream?       
                     Self worth...                      

                     

Issues..issues..issues! Yes, there's a box for those!

                         

If I am lucky, the containers are neatly stacked and labeled with most of the "t's" crossed and the "i's" dotted. Over time they begin to resemble 'old fashioned,' hand-painted, wooden blocks tucked away in the corner of a child's nursery, sometimes neglected but never, truly, forgotten. Because, how does one forget about his own soul? 

Unfortunately, spiritless, often cruel, and unsympathetic examples of soulless figures do exist throughout history and the melodic tempo of time.

History has a way of proving that it is possible to exist without a soul, without a personal check and balance system that, normally, comprises our individual emotional and moral standards. Some people exist to nourish the body alone. The soul, having been sold to the highest bidder for shiny, earthly trinkets, has been professionally extracted and replaced by soulless eyes that define this extreme lack of rational behavior. Placing one's self at the mountain's highest peak in order to look down upon the living souls groveling beneath you, characterizes an inhuman, callous being and justly epitomizes 'soullessness.'

When an example of this behavior happens to be a major political leader who consistently guides the people down a winding and certain path of destruction with open notes of malice and contempt being his preferred Pied Piper's melody, we must become deeply concerned! We must be aware of the long term, negative consequences attached to his current actions, and how they will affect all of us within our own mental and physical capacity.

With everything hanging over me like a 'Sword of Damocles,' I understand how important it is to sort out the contents of my 'little boxes' whenever I can. 

The collective fragments form larger pieces as they settle within the boxes. Will time and purpose allow my thoughts to unite and form their own boundaries and shapes like puzzle pieces waiting to be snapped back together recreating their original picture and meaning?  Cut from one cloth, the multi-colored threads of my life reunite into manageable sizes that, with my help, complete a coherent picture of the journey I am to continue to follow.

Patience. Time. Understanding. Joy. Happiness. Hope. Balance. Spirit. Desire. Healing. Wisdom. Love.

The fragments keep coming. They are not shy! Learning to categorize, label, and sprinkle my efforts with showers of patience and love will reward me in the long run. The true payoff is understanding that our dreams, hopes, and desires really can come true if we remember to believe and trust in the kindness and love that surrounds us in our daily lives.

Copyright © 2017 by Jacqueline E. Hughes

All rights reserved