[Drawing by Leah Pearlman of Dharma Comics]
You probably never thought you’d discover The Answer To Life whilst staring at a computer screen on some weird site called The Unlost.
But then again, you never thought you’d like that new Justin Bieber song, either, and it turns out you do– so just trust me on this one, K? Let’s get this story rolling.
. . .
It all started when I was walking my sister’s roommate’s dad’s girlfriend’s dog the other night (long story) and having a total freakout fest about this whole weirdo journey I’ve embarked on.
“I HAVE NO CLUE WHO I AM ANYMORE!! WHO AM I AND WHERE AM I AND WHAT AM I DOING HERE AGAIN???!” I shouted while looking Lola The Dog straight in the eye.
Lola didn’t answer. (That bitch never answers!)
And so of course I kept walking. And walking. And walking…
Until all of the sudden a thought washed over me and I stopped dead in my tracks.
OMG, I DO KNOW WHO I AM!!
In fact, I left home precisely because I have a deep knowing of myself! And although I may feel lost as heck now, I had the clarity and purpose and direction to leave behind that which no longer mattered to me– to leave behind my life that was good, but not great.
Today more than ever, I know who I am!
HOLY BEJEEZUS!!!!
I felt as if I’d suddenly woken up to life for the first time.
“I KNOW WHO I AM!!!” I yelled at the top of my lungs with pure joy. I LOLled and OMGed and skipped down the sidewalk like a crazy person!
The dude walking his dog across the street stopped and stared, but whatev. I’m sure weirder things have happened– this is California, after all.
. . .
A man crawls for years on his stomach with his eyes closed. Then one moment he opens his eyes, and he’s in a garden. It’s Spring.
- Rumi
. . .
It’s time for us to open our eyes, guys.
It’s time for us to WAKE UP to the life that’s all around us– to WAKE UP to the garden that is life, to the bagel that is
already
right
in front
of
our
noses.
DELISH.
Whether I am aware of it or not, I already know who I am.
Whether our eyes are open or not, we are already crawling in the spring garden of life.
Whether we see it or not, the bagel is already chilling right here.
And not only is the bagel already here, but get this, guys:
The hole doesn’t have to go away in order for the bagel to arrive.
Pause for a second and think about this one.
Seriously– just stop.
(Hammer time.)
If you think that the hole has to go away before the bagel can arrive, then you’re freaking delusional!
In fact, this is complete and absolute nonsense, right?! The hole and the bagel coexist perfectly and without conflict.
Holy bejeezus! We’ve all been totally delusional our whole lives!
The pain doesn’t have to go away in order for comfort to arrive.
The confusion doesn’t have to go away in order for clarity to arrive.
The hole doesn’t have to go away in order for the bagel to arrive.
In fact, the bagel can never arrive, for it is already here. It already exists.
The hole doesn't have to go away in order for the bagel to arrive!
The strength, the love, the happiness that we seek has always existed, right here and right now– and not only does it already exist, but it exists right smack-dab in the midst of its so-called opposite.
Open your eyes.
Wake up!
It is all right here, right now– that which you loathe as well as that which you seek.
. . .
“I do know who I am! I do have clarity and purpose and direction!” I realized while walking the bitch on that fateful night, and this notion still stands truer than ever.
Funny thing is, at the same time I am totally lost– so much so that I often find myself consulting a dog for The Answers.
Life, as it turns out, is amaze-balls like that: we are totally starving AND there are bagels all around us. We are totally poor AND there is money freely flowing all around us, being exchanged by millions of people as we speak. (There are also quarters under our couch cushions.) We are lost AND we are found, and the two can (and do) coexist without conflict or tension.
This life is far stranger– far more joyful and painful, far more difficult and yet easier than we can ever imagine.
This life is bagel-and-hole all in one.
# # #
Not how you think.
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