"It’s dark because you are trying too hard.
Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly.
Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply.
Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them.
I was so preposterously serious in those days, such a humorless little prig.
Lightly, lightly – it’s the best advice ever given me.
When it comes to dying even. Nothing ponderous, or portentous, or emphatic.
No rhetoric, no tremolos,
no self conscious persona putting on its celebrated imitation of Christ or Little Nell.
And of course, no theology, no metaphysics.
Just the fact of dying and the fact of the clear light.
So throw away your baggage and go forward.
There are quicksands all about you, sucking at your feet,
trying to suck you down into fear and self-pity and despair.
That’s why you must walk so lightly.
Lightly my darling,
on tiptoes and no luggage,
not even a sponge bag,
completely unencumbered.”
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-ALDOUS HUXLEY-
i first read this poem while backpacking in europe-- and it often goes with the universe-- it came at just the right time.
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i was inspired by how bluntly Aldous Huxley describes his path through life: this dance between being light and being deep. the art of finding a balance between the two, honoring and making space for both.
i took his poem as an invitation to appreciate the depth of this human experience while also reveling and seeking out its lightness.
i hope my words can help your journey through this deep and light life.
-brie