Close the door. And keep it closed.
Close the door to the storms with their blustery winds, pounding rains, and flashing lightening.
Close the door and put up a façade, a bold scarlet portico so that others cannot see the messiness that lies within.
Close the door to your mind, and keep out those pesky, scary, conflicting opinions and viewpoints that do nothing but muddle and distract our feeble minds.
Close the door to your heart, and shelter the splendor of your complexities, strengths and weaknesses, for certainly others will abuse your strengths and prey upon your vulnerability.
Close the door to the dark corners of your soul, for they will only make you cower in shame.
Close the door to others, and protect yourself from the pain that accompanies surrender and attachment.
Close the door to compassion, to empathy, to forgiveness, and to contrition, for they are signs of fragility that create the potential for misuse.
And, yes, by all means, close to the door to truly knowing yourself and others, for you will only be disappointed by our human shortcomings.
Close the door and keep it shut so that you don’t let in the hurt, sadness, anger, frustration, and confusion and you don’t let others see the intricacies of what lurks behind the pretty façade.
Or…maybe…
Just maybe…
You could open the door.
Maybe you could open the door to the bright sunshine and the soft cool breezes.
Maybe you could open the door to your mind, finding that your delicate psyche doesn’t collapse under the pressure of multi-faceted issues and divergent opinions, but is expanded and bolstered.
Maybe you could open the door to your heart, letting others witness your vulnerabilities, admire your courage and revel in the vastness of your complex character.
Maybe you could open the door to the hidden corners, discovering that, under the cobwebs and dust, there are marvelous hidden gems of hope, bravery, and resiliency.
Maybe you could open the door to the spirit of others, feeling the power that lies in surrendering to love.
Maybe you could open the door to compassion, to empathy, to forgiveness, and to contrition, using them as tools for building bridges and connecting with others.
Maybe you could open the door to truly knowing yourself and others, allowing yourself to be swept away by the amazing power of human understanding and bond.
Maybe you could open the door – and keep it open – letting in the joy, sadness, pleasure, pain, excitement, pride, peacefulness, chaos, awareness, and knowledge that come with a living a truly authentic life. And you would find that what lurks behind the thick heavy doors is even more beautiful than the pretty façade you had kept closed.
This post is part of the weekly Photo Inspiration Challenge. Special thanks to Angie McMonigal Photography for her fabulous photos. Make sure to visit her website or facebook page.
5 Comments
Beautiful post. I think you portray wonderfully the truth that when we close ourselves off to protect ourselves we actually end up causing more harm than good. Too often our souls feed on themselves when we choose to leave the world behind.
The first part is so fabulously melancholy. Heavy and dark in a way to familiar way. The second part is such a contrast. Full of sunshine, hope, and warmth.
Thanks so much for sharing. Stopping by from SITS.
Thank you for visiting! And thank you for commenting as well. I’m glad that you enjoyed it. That was exactly was I was going for sarcastic bitterness in the first half, and vulnerable hopefulness in the second half. Thanks again!
Really liked the post. Although I like to think I should open the door. I probably won’t. But I’ll give it a try. Thanks for the words.
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