“Wexford knew that so many people are their own prisoners, jailers of themselves, that the doors which to the outside world seem to stand open they have sealed with invisible bars. They have blocked off the tunnels to freedom, pulled down the blinds to keep out the light.” The Veiled One
I have been listening to The Veiled One, (wonderfully narrated by Davina Porter) and was struck by this quote. It got me thinking: what are the ways that I am my own jailer? Where in my life am I not feeling, thinking, moving outside of the box? Why? What are the limitations that imprison me?
Here is a partial list: habits, assumptions, laziness, fear, complacency, fear, rigidity, fear. discouragement, distraction, fear, confusion, sloppiness, fear, desire, expectation, fear, reputation. And oh, did I mention fear?
Imprisonment can masquerade as rigor, diligence, obsession, duty, even love. Right now, I need to go outside and look at the peonies and take a breath.
The angel card I just picked was “freedom.” Where is this freedom? If I close my eyes and feel into that, it is a multi-sensory, expansive, receptive experience of this moment. So simple. So easy to forget. Dropping into that puts me in touch with this:
