January 31, 2018

Here Is Your Bedrock

January 31, 2018/ Nick LeForce

Peel away the layers of time and all the ups and downs, all the varied patterns, the dips and creases, the swirls and swells, in the sea of life, are of a piece. What I see in the future sprouts from what is and what is lives in the future in the shape of things to come. The path I have been on, the ground I now stand on (here in early April, 2017) and the road ahead where you stand (on January 31, 2918) are of a piece. The world in which you live has me in it and the world in which I live is the history of you.

I may not know why I am here or what purpose I am meant to serve, but I feel its inevitability in my bones: I must take these steps trusting in the truth of my heart; I must walk this poetic path believing it has a purpose of its own even though I may not be privy to it. I know I am guided by something greater than me. I invest myself in you, in your being all you can be and in my becoming all that I am. I offer this image as you look back now, into the mirror of time, and see in this the shape of things:

photo taken at the cliff house in san francisco. the heart shape in the rock appeared only  when viewed from a certain angle.  To me, this symbolized our ability to frame the world in soulful ways. one meaning of the word soul is "coing fr… — photo taken at the cliff house in san francisco. the heart shape in the rock appeared only when viewed from a certain angle. To me, this symbolized our ability to frame the world in soulful ways. one meaning of the word soul is "coing from or belonging to the sea" (etymonline.co). one version of the word for soul in chineses translates into "sea of heart." This image combines the foundational symbolism of rock with the fluid imagery of sea: The heart anchored inthe soul.

Here is your bedrock: A Heart at home in the world, secure in itself because it beats for life. A heart that endures tides and time, that is kissed by waves, caressed by water. A heart that, no matter how cold the world or challenging the way, knows you belong to a great sea of life. Rest in this truth and the world you dream becomes the world in which you live, walking in wonder, wide-eyed and in love with it all.

Although I spend very little time in or near the ocean and I am not much of a swimmer, the sea and sailing metaphors serve a major role in my archetypal landscape. The sea, with its tides and waves and hidden depths, with its underworld of alien life, seems to me a perfect metaphor for one's self in life. We sail the surface of an unknown world within us and around us. We are at the mercy of, and cradled by, the greater forces of life. We must find a way to navigate in a world that frequently changes and often do so without any clear signs for how to direct our ship of dreams to that shore we call home.

What is your bedrock?
To what or to whom is your heart anchored despite the shifts and changes in the sea of life?

I wrote this on April 5, 2017 as a Letter To My Future Self to be read on January 31, 2018. For more in the series on letters to my future self, click here or the tag below.

Please share your thoughts an comments below.

What is your metaphorical landscape:
a desert, a garden, a cityscape, a jungle, a wetland?