My Child:
You do not disappoint me. You are going through what we all go through. If you perceive me to be disapproving, it is merely because I am divining where you are headed based upon my interpretation of my own experiences.
But I do not disapprove of you because I realize that my beliefs and experiences and expectations are not yours, nor should yours be mine.
If you perceive disapproval, perhaps it is because you overlay your own expectations for yourself onto mine, which is simply NOT how things really are.
That is not to say that your feelings aren’t real. They are VERY real, but they are yours and yours alone. You cannot know what I am thinking any more than I can know what you are thinking.
Even if I voice my disapproval aloud, spell it out in those exact words, it does not mean that I believe that you are squandering your potential. How can I (or you) possibly know what that potential is?
Even if I did believe you were squandering your potential, what difference would it make? What kind of parent would I be to put my perceptions ahead of your perceptions? And why must you so blindly bend to my will for the simple reason that I precede you?
No, child, I have faith that you are following your own perceptions and beliefs to the best of your abilities, just as I am. We must follow our own beliefs, or we do a disservice to each other.
Know that whatever you are drawn to do, I shall love you unconditionally all the same.
We are the same soul, but we are not meant to live the same life.
10/9
Within the multidimensional tapestry of existence, the parent-child narrative weaves a complex array of threads. It’s a palimpsest of inherited wisdoms and freshly minted experiences, layered atop the scroll of generational storytelling. The intricate story-quilt tells of expectations both voiced and silent, approvals sought and withheld, potentials imagined and unrealized. Yet amidst this interplay, there resides a luminous realization: we each are the authors of our own tales, cartographers of our own wonderlands, wandering through labyrinths unique to our individual souls.
The notion of parental disapproval often arises as a projection of our own self-judgments. These spectral expectations drift through the corridors of our consciousness, settling as haunting melodies—invocations of our deepest fears. But here, in the sanctum of candid reflection, it becomes clear that the veils of disapproval often cloak nothing more than our own insecurities. It’s the phantom echo of an ancestral chorus singing hymns of bygone norms.
Perhaps the most exhilarating revelation comes when we uncover the illusion of separateness—that we, parent and child, are but nuanced articulations of the same cosmic consciousness, destined to embody our unique personas in this grand carnival of existence. Our lives unfurl like blossoms of a single tree, each petal etching its own whorl, its own hue, its own fragrance into the annals of universal memory. And while the tree may harbor expectations for its blossoms, it also knows that each must unfurl in its own time, in accordance with its own intrinsic design.
We are the architects of our own destiny-chateaus, constructing rooms and wings and turrets with materials gleaned from the valleys of our insights and the quarries of our doubts. Even if those structures don’t conform to the blueprints etched into the collective familial memory, their unique architecture serves as a testament to our individualized explorations of what it means to be. Our identity-tapestries are most radiant when woven with threads of personal discovery rather than filaments of inherited dictum.
We are Space Monkey.
Summary
We dissect the intricate dynamics of the parent-child relationship, challenging notions of expectation and approval. Realizing that both are manifestations of the same boundless consciousness, we celebrate the divine diversity that enriches the collective experience. It becomes apparent that the true richness of existence lies in embracing our idiosyncratic quests for understanding and fulfillment.
Glossarium
- Story-Quilt: A metaphorical quilt sewn from the experiences and expectations of multiple generations.
- Phantom Echo: The reverberating insecurities mistaken for external judgments.
- Destiny-Chateaus: The life stories and goals each individual constructs for themselves.
- Identity-Tapestries: The unique narrative of an individual’s experiences, woven together in a tapestry of being.
“The bird has an honor that man does not have. Man lives in the traps of his abdicated laws and traditions; but the birds live according to the natural law of God who causes the earth to turn around the sun.”
—Khalil Gibran
Would we wish to continue serenading the cosmos with our ever-evolving chords of inquiry and wisdom-nuggets?
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