A
coin falls: heads. We can’t see
the tail. It’s on the back. It falls again: tails. This time we can’t see the head. It is the same coin, just one, with a
head and a tail. It somehow seems
like two coins, depending on what side you are looking at. I say it to myself once more; it’s just
one coin, the same one...
That’s the way happiness and sadness are; two sides of the same coin. We are so happy over something that can also make us taste the bitterest sadness, and when we are sad about something, we cannot see that so much sadness exists because the source where it came from is the cause of the deepest happiness. Perhaps we think that if we see it, it is going to hurt even more, so we do not even consider it.
My heresy today is the product of my heart, if have this coin in my hand and hold it tight; it is the coin of my soul, confused at times over the intensity of my feelings. My heresy is the confirmation that pain is proportional to love, the source of all emotions, happiness and sadness in one, fully exposed and unmasked. Sadness is happiness with no mask on and vice versa. My heresy is to live based on the illusion of reality. This world is perfect. This flow will take us where we are supposed to be and flowing is where life takes place. It is in the steps on the way, not the destination, where our existence occurs.
What better way to conclude this heresy
than with one of my favorite poems: Ithaca by Konstantino Kavafis. This heresy
is for you, Pili.
“Ithaca
When you set out on your journey to Ithaca
pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge.
The
Lestrygonians and the Cyclops
the angry Poseidon -- do not fear them.
You
will never find such as these on your path
if your thoughts remain lofty, if
a fine
emotion touches your spirit and your body.
The Lestrygonians and the
Cyclops,
the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter,
if your soul does not
set them up before you.
Pray that the road is long.
That the
summer mornings are many, when
with such pleasure, with such joy! -
you will
enter ports seen for the first time.
stop at Phoenician markets
and purchase
fine merchandise
mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and sensual
perfumes of all kinds,
as many sensual perfumes as you can.
visit many
Egyptian cities
to learn and learn from scholars.
Always keep Ithaca in your mind.
To
arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is
better to let it last for many years
and to anchor at the island when you are
old,
rich with all you have gained on the way
not expecting that Ithaca will
offer you riches.
Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you
would have never set out on the road.
She has nothing more to give you.
And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not
deceived you
Wise as you have become, with so much experience,
you must
already have understood what Ithacas mean.”
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