I spent about a year or two of my life trying to see the divinity in people. I didn't find a whole lot of peace. (Well, maybe we see what we look for.) Over time, what I did start seeing was this sense of vitality in people, something like what we recognize easily in happy dogs and playful kids. Only, beyond what dogs express, there was also some sense of development or maturity, more individuality, more something. I'm a dog-lover, so no one needs to convince me that every dog is unique, but there really is something amazing about adult humans, too. It took me a while of trying in order to really see it. Anyways, it made me really consider just how many people want something more along the lines of inspiration rather than serenity. Maybe it's easier to feel one's desire for inspiration than the desire for serenity--like it's louder or more vibrant or something along those lines. When I stopped hoping for serenity in others, it became easier to cultivate it within myself and I became more interested in others even when I wasn't trying really hard to be. In one sense, it really feels like growing towards some deeper simplicity.
I see you
bathed in ecstasy.
Eternity opens
inward like a flower
becoming again a seed.
I can't say then,
"We are one."
But open inward.
We are one.
Copyright 2007 Todd Mertz