World 1
Where is Jarad now?
You may recall, some time ago on Logon, meeting Jarad. Our young friend who became aware that he was awakening to a new world while still being immersed in the old. He called them World 1 and World 2. In the morning when he awoke, he would be aware of which world he was in. He was not able to consciously choose, but was able to identify that his sleeping state and previous day’s activities determined his fate.
So where is Jarad now? What has been happening for him? Life has continued on, as it always does, but now his awareness of things, of situations, has changed. He has become more conscious of his life state, conscious of there being a path between both of those worlds, the new and the old, that he must travel. A path upon which he is in fact, now in the present, walking. A path – sometimes barely a trail – that felt at times perilous like walking across a cliff edge, that was confusing to say the least (was he actually still on it?) and yet at the same time held an air of safety. Frustrating. He couldn’t understand it! He experienced a war raging within himself, with consequences to his health, both mentally and physically. When was it all going to end? He was conscious now, more than ever before, of being a stranger in an even stranger land which he had once thought of as home. But now that land felt distinctly hostile at times, he could no longer bear to live in it. He found he no longer identified with it, with it’s so-called “reality”. More and more it became unreal, distant from him – or was it he that was distant from it? There seemed to be nothing that was real any more, nothing that was tangible, that he could see or sense. He felt totally at a loss. Nothing except that something within him, that something that somehow guided him, that kept him out of harm’s way amidst the chaos he perceived in and around him. Something that was suddenly apparent just when he thought he would have to give up, when he thought he was lost. At those times he could only surrender.
He started to trust this something, this inner force, more and more. To heed it – to need it! To realise that it, and only it, took him along a safe and peaceful path through all the outer turmoil. To the degree that he accepted this, and trusted to his inner guide, his newly-found inner companion, it grew stronger, became more real, brought him in touch with his long-desired new world, his World 1. His cherished world. More and more now he began to awaken in the morning, spontaneously in that world, began to realise that he had somehow crossed (or was he still crossing?) a bridge between the two worlds. There was new hope.
And so where does he actually find himself? Where do we find Jarad now? He is conscious that he is entering a truly new world, a totally new experience and yet there is a sense of familiarity about it. A recognition, a feeling of returning home. But again he is out of touch, a stranger, but now not in a strange land at all. He is entering into a new reality, like a fledgling perched on the side of the nest, straining to fly. There is joy and a degree of apprehension.
And that is where we find him now – on the edge of the nest, ready to learn to fly!
So here he sits, our friend Jarad. With much contemplation, much speculation about his wonderful future; much wing-flapping and joyous squawking. But also a sense of trepidation, of cautious speculation – can he do it? Can he fly? And the moment arrives. Stepping out of the nest. Flapping furiously, don’t look down! But suddenly, with a rude shock, down is where he is – flat on his back in the dust at the base of his tree. The realisation hits that this is not going to be as simple as he thought, that there is no going back, no longer the security of the nest high up in the tree. It’s definitely a case of sink or swim, or in Jarad’s case, die or fly! Very, very humbling. Obviously the place to learn to fly is at ground level, from the bottom up. Not the opposite as he had supposed. At least not initially.
So we find Jarad, our friend, in a seemingly lonely spot. Many helpers, all around, urging him on, but it’s plainly obvious to him that nobody can do it for him, nobody can make him fly. He is going to have to find the way for himself. Obviously the first task was letting go of his secure nest, his attachment to the world he knew and thought of as home. He no longer has access to it. It becomes a strange place he no longer lives in. Then there is the need for some haste as being grounded and flightless is not exactly offering security. He can see where he needs to be. He remembers all his preparation so perhaps that can be put to good use again. He tries. He feels his soul lift. His excitement returns. Something within him urges him on, something he has almost forgotten. As his efforts become more and more fruitful, this inner motivation becomes more and more real, more alive. More capable of lifting him above the ground, above anything of the earth. And suddenly, wonder of wonders, he is airborne! Free! Or so it seems.
For the moment he is in a new world but quickly the reality dawns that to stay in this new world he must take care, must heed a new way of living, a new reality. There are many things to avoid, as he quickly discovers – things that can attract him to his old world, his nest. Things that can knock him to the earth, can pull him down. Old friends, old ideas, old ways of thinking and acting. With much perseverance and practice he learns to overcome them, he learns to soar above all hindrances. To trust the guidance of that something within himself and the help of others who can also fly. He has entered a new reality, a new life.
His World 1.
