Follow the path through the woods and lose yourself among the branches. The key to living an unimpeded life is having the courage to walk a different way. When you constrain yourself to following the paths already trodden by others, you lose a sense of the salt that gives life its flavor. You mustn’t worry about the reception others will give you – it’s more important that you take the chance to wipe your feet and walk in the way you are called.
…
“Dance until you drop,” she said. “Dance until your heart is about to burst from your chest and your feet are nearly numb with exhaustion. Then – and only then – will you know what it means to be free.”
…
Be my friend.
By my companion through life.
Be the one I turn to in distress,
the one I cry on in pain.
Be he who lifts my soul
to higher things
and lights my way with joy.
Be for me
exactly the person you are
and I will let myself revel in the garden of pure delight.
…
Ecstasy is what you desire, ecstasy is what you seek. How will you find it by crawling among the weeds, doing the same things you’ve always done and expecting a different result? Haven’t you heard that that’s the path of the insane? You must have the courage, my friend, to seek out richer terrain, to plant your seeds in fertile ground. Then you will taste the goodness of the sublime – forgetting yourself in the pursuit of a monstropolous Love.
…
When all we want is light, it’s a grief and a burden to find only darkness.
Where is the candle I lit an hour ago? Where is the lantern I’d laid at my feet?
Has the wax melted down so low that there’s no oil left to burn? Can you live your life and do your work in the dark?
Fumbling encounters, blinded attempts.
The life of a babe still unable to open his eyes to see his mother’s face.
But all is not lost. All is not taken away. The thing to remember is that there glows from the depths an unquenchable fire – neither water nor sand nor attempts to smother can put it out. It is the eternal flame – the stuff of stories, the prize of legends and myths. It is real, it exists – and it can be found by an honest attempt to seek it out. When you are ready to throw off the darkness you’ve been wearing – the shadow you’ve drawn about you like a cloak – speak aloud into the cavernous depths and proclaim your wish. The echoes of your desire will move you step by step along the road you must travel, and your eyes, slowly but surely, will accustom themselves to the light.
…
Once upon a time, a child was born.
His parents were older folk, and poor, and they cried to see his entrance into the world.
Their joy was simple and sure, but their sadness was equally resolute.
How could they bring a child – a little boy, full of light – into a dusty, darkened home where the winds blew through the door and the crickets chirped a constant refrain?
The mother sighed and the father hunched his shoulders in thought.
After a while, the baby cooed and his mother took him in her arms. The full moon shone through the curtains into the room and the stars glittered with light.
The mother smiled, the father relaxed, and the child stirred a little – in joy.