Chapter 10: My Wishing Well

BOOK OF SAGES

 

A path is a way especially designed fora particular use … it is also a course of conduct.

 

Whenin doubt, act. Action frequently leads to decision.

 

Bewarethe honeyed tongue of rulers too long in power. Listen to the words behindwords and choose then your own path. Beware, however, of sedition, hold your tongue.

 

Fortitudeis the most terrible of all virtues.

 

Tellthe truth, traveller, or you create issues hard to overcome later.

 

Wordsof power should never be underestimated.

 

Whatis fair? Answer that, and you solve the riddle of universes.

 

News ofarrival, when wished for and hoped for, spreads swiftly and requires no magic.

 

 

A youngsoul cannot distinguish between a lesson and an insult.

 

The mostbeautiful is also the most intangible. Often true beauty resides only inmemory.

 

Evenin utter darkness is the path present.

 

Freedom is more a state of mind than a condition ofcircumstances. Of course there are factors that need be in place to ensure theprocess, whether physical or emotional, and yet freedom is of and for the soulfirst before all else. In darkness and confinement a soul can yet experiencefreedom, although few will know ... and few will agree. There is another typeof freedom and it is flight. Free of gravity a soul is also free of cares.

 

Even afterall has changed, time has a way of bringing forth the familiar. One day youlook around you and remark, “Nothing has changed.”

 

Trust yourmind to reveal the truth. See it, feel it.

 

Every desertis special, for in its lifelessness it contains the secrets to life.

 

Thewise tell us home is where one’s heart is. This, I believe, is to still thelonging when one is in an unfamiliar port. Home is home, is it not? The stone,the earth, the sky above, the rustling tree of our first steps, of growing up... of leaving. If one is blessed, one may return ... if only for a moment.

 

Thesurprise of fresh surroundings engenders insight.

 

Everyplan feels like the best strategy, but every plan has an alternative and eachcan twist out of control. The best-laid plans refer to those sketched in brief,ever allowing for the unforeseen.

 

Do not attempt to inhabit another’sskin.

 

When a team functions in tandem, it isan effective tool.

 

Nothing exists in a vacuum. What thisstatement means has little to do with the likelihood of life in an airlessspace. It means all is connected, that function results from mutual reliance.

 

One cannot wander old paths withoutfinding them altered.

 

Subterfuge, whether a small lie or alarge manipulation, eventually turns back on the wielder.

 

What is true justice? Ifsentience is subjective, how does one measure true justice?

 

Every journey is different.Choose wisely before you embark.

 

Profess a willingness tochange … and discover it is not as easy as belief engenders.

 

Thought is matter. A void,therefore, cannot ever be empty.

 

Magic in themost unlikely places has the power to astonish.

 

We are made foropposites. We are part of the multiverse, after all, and it cannot functionwithout action and reaction.

 

Listen to theold and wise. They have experience youth cannot fathom.

 

The bestadvice anyone is able to share, when advice is sincere and may be regarded asless than criticism, is to be yourself always. On the other hand, to follow it,you have to know yourself.

 

Memory issubjective, personal, misleading, encompassing, and is the stuff of life. Weare because we think, yes, but we are also the result of the years, events andexperiences residing in memory. Without it we are born anew, and it is hard tostart building a personality again … can one ever be the same?

 

Friendshipis first in the call to duty. Aiding a friend is aiding yourself.

 

Catharsisis an intangible gift, and yet is a gift, a healing of the soul.

 

Same sex partners areas ancient as time. Many frown upon this and others are not affected. The truthis no one has the right to judge and there is no wrong where love is supreme.And now the codicil, reader. High rank sorcery is dangerous to wielder andbystander, and should thus ever be contained. But who are we to judge? Stepforward, however, when two powers seek to meld, whatever the ideal or purpose,for then the danger is manifold. Unfortunately, for manipulators of the realmsof sorcery, this means keeping same sex partners apart.

 

The past iswith us always. We are the product of experience.

 

Oblivion takes manyforms, although one can say only a minority attains it consciously. Sleep is aform of oblivion, but is regarded as imperfect, for the unconscious is moreactive during that period. When drugs are used, the user claims oblivion, andyet this cannot be. Too much changes within for that to be true. Death is notoblivion, for new journeys begin. What, then, are the forms of oblivion?

 

Coma can mimicoblivion, but this is rare. Degeneration of brain tissue heralds oblivion, aphysical enforcing. Forgetting is oblivion.

 

Not knowingsomething is oblivion. Unawareness of truth is also regarded as oblivion.

 

Freedom must be paidfor, whether by blood or terrible understanding. Freedom, true freedom, cannotbe borne by weaklings.

 

How do you grapplewith slippery nuances and then hold onto a facet long enough to affect thechange required to alter a situation or perception? Faith, reader, andself-belief.

 

Delirium isn’toblivion, but it can feel that way to the healthy mind.

 

To forget is sometimes the easieroption. This is akin to stating ‘ignorance is bliss’.

 

Forgetting is also difficult toovercome. A state not only physical, but emotional, and it is emotion thatcreates the greatest obstacle.

 

A dual nature is of no use when evil isparamount. Duality, then, sickens the vessel.

 

Everything isrelative, given sufficient distance, whether of actual miles or the march oftime. Hark to that, friend, because something hurtful this day may becomesomething else along your road.

 

Listen with ears and heart and thentake the time to dissect the new information. Do this whether confronted by afamily secret, a friend’s confidence, a stranger’s unwitting slip. Do thisespecially thoroughly when you are surrounded by your enemies. All has meaning;your task is to find the straight in the twist. Only then might you act in amanner to solve an issue.

 

If you would be counted, by others, byhistory, by yourself, place your mark where it is ever visible.

 

Abandonment teaches hardlessons.

 

Connections between us areimperative for sentience to function. Not all connections are benign, however.

 

Heat is able to arise froma mere thought. The chill of fear comes from a heart beating out of rhythm.

 

Memories are never what youexpect when you examine them dispassionately.

 

Grief creates currents hardto swim from.

 

Love is a choice, as choice is part of love.

 

A simple touch is able to alter time.

 

Turn your back on the past if you wish for a joyful future.

 

Ignorance is bliss, some preach, and prefer a life of stasisto maintain such a state of ‘bliss’.

Knowledge is bliss also, the informed reveal, and seek to knowever more, thereby discovering chaos.

As in all, balance is key.

Tread lightly, seeker.

Wake up, lazybones.

 

No one needs more gods. Youare, each of you, a god.

 

Love is a precious gift.

 

Thought is matter. A void,therefore, cannot ever be empty.

 

New paths are determined by new choices.

 

Rocks tend to keep secrets.

 

Turn the tables on others at your peril.

 

The winds of change are not always benevolent, but theyshould be welcomed, no matter the state, for it is in change that we discover renewaland purpose.

 

When you read your future, know that there will be bothgreat moments … and heartache.

Available in print only: My Wishing Well