Friday the thirteenth
while bad luck for many, has
always done me right.
The photo above is of our tiny native Tennessee blue butterfly, and yes, it is a true butterfly and not a moth, even though each wing is only roughly half an inch wide.
They are lovely little creatures, particularly beloved by me as blue is my favorite color, and it's always made me curious that on hot days they often congregate among the cold ashes in our outdoor fire pit; but then, from their perspective, the grey ash is close enough to their light blue wings to give them some modicum of camouflage.
In any case, I always welcome their first appearances in late spring, both as harbingers of warmer weather to come, and also as symbols of good luck, which I've always considered all butterflies to be.
Particularly in recent years, with so many toxins and poisons that have been spread across our land, the fact that these tiny blue butterflies still appear on our place in growing numbers, along with many of other kinds of butterflies and other pollinators, seems a very good thing indeed.
Which brings me back to Friday the Thirteenth, and whatever bizarre circumstances made people from long ago decide that this particular date had negative connotations, which in Europe at least has been part of the collective conscious for several hundred years, if not far longer.
I did, in fact, have one person close to me, who shall remain nameless, who was convinced that Friday the Thirteenth was the worst day ever, and could rattle off several awful things in his life that had occurred on Friday the Thirteenth, as if it was a personal attack perpetrated upon him by a universe that had it out for him.
For my part, I thought his attitude was fairly ridiculous, though I'm pretty certain that I never told him that, at least not in those terms, as I was raised to be more polite than to ridicule others' beliefs.
That said, when I ultimately left him, and it (unintentionally on my part) turned out to have fallen on Friday the Thirteenth, I have to admit to first finding it funny, which was certainly not the kindest thought I might have had.
In my own life, however, Friday the Thirteenth, whenever it has occurred, has generally been a good day; perhaps nothing to write home about, but also nothing dire, or to fear in any way.
But then I made a decision early on that I was going to take each day as it came, with as little judgment as possible, and to look for the good in others, and in the circumstances in which I found myself; a viewpoint which has served me well throughout my life.
And, considering the particular Friday the Thirteenth that I made the split from the man in question, I must say that for myself, that was one of my better Friday the Thirteenths, because my life became instantly FAR less stressful.
So, on balance, not a bad day in my book.
Then again, I had the advantage of parents who exposed me to a wide variety of thinkers over the years, and of schools of thought.
I have written before about how my father became a Buddhist when I was twelve, and how my mother introduced me to daily guided meditation at age seventeen, and to yoga at age eighteen; all of which taught me to value stepping outside of my own thought processes, and to embrace that which was within, still, and incorruptible.
As just one example is this quote, which I've shared before, and which puts much of Buddhist philosophy into immediate perspective:
"All that we are is the result of what we have thought.
The mind is everything. What we think, we become." --- Buddha
This is an advantage that many in our society have not had, and it shows, both in the ridiculous levels of stress that people subject themselves to, the intolerance they show others unlike themselves, and in how badly they treat themselves, usually because at some point along the way they were taught that they are "less than," or in some way undeserving and/or unworthy.
I am in no way immune to this mindset; it is pervasive in our society, taught in our schools, blared from the bullhorns of various national and international media, manipulated by our governments, and now bludgeons us daily via social media.
But that in no way means that we must buy into it; or give it any power.
We can, each of us, choose to turn away, choose to travel inward, choose to be still, and present, and true to ourselves.
We can, each of us, practice kindness, and tolerance, and peacefulness, especially toward ourselves, our loved ones, and members of our communities.
We can, each of us, choose to listen to others without judgment, to allow others to be fully themselves with our acceptance, and to be, to the best of our abilities, a part of the solution, rather than a part of the problem.
We can, each of us, take back the reins of our own lives, and refuse to grant anyone authority over us, or our decisions and actions, who does not have our best interests at heart.
We can, each of us, create our own reality, and our own good fortune, because we choose to do so.
To that end, I would like to share a song I have also shared before, because I think that listening to the song and its lyrics may inspire others as it has me, and help to bring about a better and more rewarding life for us all.
The song is "Discard Your Fear," by one of my longtime favorite bands, Poland's Riverside, and it speaks directly to precisely what I've been alluding to throughout this piece.
The song is sung in English, and is from their excellent 2015 album, "Love, Fear, and the Time Machine," which I recommend highly.
I clearly own no rights to the song, but offer this only as a means of introducing more people to their work, and to this fabulous song, which I honestly believe could help many people in their personal journeys to release whatever is holding them back, if they choose to allow it to do so.
This is the official lyrics video, produced and released by Riverside's record company, Inside Out Music, and I hope you get as much out of the lyrics as I have, because this is one of my go-to songs that I put on whenever I need a positive mood change, and FAST.
Life is wonderful, and is getting better, better, and better.
With this post I'm endeavoring to get back to regular posting, which may or may not be daily, but which I'm planning to be a minimum of at least a couple of times a week, with hopes to increase that as time allows.
Have a wonderful day/evening, whenever and wherever you find yourself reading this, and take care.
Stay safe out there. Thank you for being you. Love you all.
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