The Magic Within Us
On people, perspectives, and how easy it is to pass whole worlds by.
Hello again, there.
It's another good day to do a lot of things - work, eat, sleep, think, and generally enjoy life's little beauties while you learn how to breathe.
Oh...and read + subscribe to this newsletter too, just in case you've forgotten how to breathe in the middle of the madness that so often tries to drown us.
Anyway, these past two weeks have been a whole mix of experiences. From trying to get some work done (I work remotely as a content/technical writer, by the way), to studying, to learning to be better as a proper person, to thinking about what I would write as another fortnight approached...only for it to - as always - hit me in one of the most mundane moments, at one of the weirdest places: a YouTube video's comment section.
So there I was, seeing a beautiful video of a guy playing Hanz Zimmer's music on - specifically Time from the Inception; on the street. I love piano and Hanz Zinmer so I took the time to watch him play.
But I wanted to do something else so I decided to scroll down and see the comments instead. And I see something that completely hits me.
I stopped dead in my tracks - because that comment (see above) was so profound and so true and so simply said and I completely understood. It made me think, as all good things do.
I have always thought that all men are and have beautiful stories, and you could sit side by side with magnificence (didn't say popularity), and never know it. All men hold within themselves doorways to entire worlds, entire sets of experiences that may or may not overlap with ours. A universe of successes and failures and reputations and pain and dedications and skills and talents and people and places and most importantly, story. In that sense, all men have magic within them, or at least are a door to a world where it is expressed.
You ever hear the saying, 'never judge a book by its cover'? It's no cliche, and the ones who made that proverb definitely knew what they were saying. Life is full of biases, and from the moment we are born we are trained to look at the world from a certain lens, a certain perspective. We have parameters that decide who we talk to and under what circumstances, even if those parameters are centered on ourselves. We may or may not be snobby, or bossy, or haughty (I rhymed!), but many times, we are no less selective than those who are.
We are proud so we don't talk to people who are dressed a certain way, who don't have qualities (often externally perceived) that we consider important. We are shy so we are constantly afraid of approaching people in public spaces, terrified that we won't be ranked attractive or beautiful or funny or smart. We do all these things and whole worlds we could have seen pass us by on a daily basis. Supernovas fail to collide, and magic is hidden.
And we do this everyday, without fail. Our brains are constantly sending signals framed by a mindset and it becomes the subconscious rudder with which we are constantly driven...until we seek a change in perspective. Or metanoia, as the Koine Greek word often used in the Biblical New Testament often calls it.
Metanoia refers to the turning away of the mind, a shift in the way a man think. Metanoia is the word used to describe what Christians call repentance, which is more than turning away from sin. Metanoia is to see from another perspective, to change the way you think of a matter. Metanoia is to alter your view, your framework, your mindset.
What are the subtle things in your life that form the screen that filters who to say hi to and who to ignore? What are the little or large experiences that now define your view?
There are whole worlds of magic in the people all around you, in the seemingly simple and ordinary that you daily meet. Perhaps you'd be able to open to the possibilities of a whole new world if you allowed yourself to just...change the way you view.
Metanoia. As always, I leave you with these thoughts. It's something to think on for the next two weeks, or perhaps, a lifetime.
See you then.
Yours in the World of Words,
James, TheDescriptor
Sorry this took a while to arrive, y'all. Do hold on to it I hope it makes you a little more lightened, a little more aware, a little more open to the beauties, the magic, and the stories that lie within every man.
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