Second Story

I'm currently reading Don Miguel Ruiz's book The Voice of Knowledge. His teachings really mirrors the way I've been perceiving life in the past year, and I'm so glad that he's able to put into words what I've been feeling in my heart.

Last night I was reading the chapter where he shared the Toltec wisdom called the dream of the second attention. This happens when all the lies we've been taught growing up is revealed, and the whole edifice of knowledge collapses, and we lose the human form. Then we can use our attention for the second time to base our stories on the truth instead of on lies. Ruiz calls it our second story because it's still a dream, it's still a story. But now it's our choice and our will is free again.

I've experienced this truth in my own life since February 2009. It felt quite unsettling at the beginning when I realized that the truths I've been taught were not all true. I also seemed to be on a lonely road, because I didn't know anyone else that had been freed from the voice of knowledge. But life/love is good and brought me to this Toltec wisdom that resonates so strongly with me, and I know in time I'll meet others on the same journey. Here's a poem I wrote, inspired from what I read last night:

Second Story

I like my second story
much better than the first.
Freed from the lies that
entangled me in the past,
I feel free as a bird
flying into a horizon,
the cerulean sky my blank canvas.

The journey to this state of mind
was my hardest experience yet.
My old reality crumbled to the core
and I died along with it.
But love rose me from the grave
and breathed new life into me.

Revived, the whole world seemed new to me,
and I was given the gift of words
to create a story of my own.
Instead of fear I choose love
and I trade in hate for understanding.
Life is blooming again in my story
and love is there too,
so take my hand if you' like
and we can explore this wonderland called life together.