Safety in Flight

Scott Williams — Wed, 23 Aug 2017 19:26:33 +0000

If you are traveling with a child or someone who requires assistance, secure your mask on first, and then assist the other person.

I find it fascinating and deeply concerning that people often build a life around a commitment to be good to another, but make no such vows to themselves.
The self is not a static point in the universe. It changes shape, character, and mood hundreds if of times a day. I prescribe you keep with you a fixed point around which all your forms may take shape; acting as a reminder to the vision you have for yourself. A photo, a simple band, an earring, a tattoo, a timepiece, or a pocket stone. It can be anything as long as it’s with you always.

It sounds obvious, but I often find it helpful to remind myself that unhappy people do unhappy things. The cruelty and callousness exuded by unhappy people is only a stream off the roaring undercurrent of pain and confusion concealed within. Escaping that vortex of negativity is immensely difficult without a fixed point to grasp onto.

Make a commitment to be good to yourself and allow a fixed point to choose you. Once it becomes habit and neglect becomes the exception instead of the rule, you’ll be compelled to help others achieve this sort of inalienable resilience.
Be good to yourself, and you’ll be good to those around you.

The River’s Gift

Scott Williams — Wed, 23 Aug 2017 14:55:48 +0000

I feel as though I am floating on my back down a great river. I can hear people living near the banks. If I turn my head, I can see them. When I tried to move closer, I found I could not change my course. I cannot reach them and for my efforts, I am left tired. Believing I belong with those on the banks, I felt helpless as I floated along, unable to grasp anything solid. It was isolating living as a witness to the lives of others.

With time I learned to accept my situation and enjoy things as they were to me. I found I enjoyed watching simple patterns blend together into immeasurable complexities as though they were placed in motion at perfect balance. The patterns I see and hear among the people, plants, animals, and stars along the river fill me with ineffable awe. Tangible lives within grasp, these motions between moments are merely a backdrop in the lives of shore folk. I don’t expect them to understand; I only hope they’re as in love with their gifts as I am with mine.

I am happiest when I let go of the urge to live another’s life and enjoy the river’s gift. The gift of perspective and weightlessness if I choose to accept it. The gift of being more in touch with the movement of the river than the solid ground at the bank. To resonate with movement and change instead of the static. My gift is in seeing the world as a series of changes instead of a set of states.

I am a child of the river. I am a citizen of time.

DEV Community: Scott Williams

Safety in Flight

The River’s Gift