On a Bike and a Prayer

So, what do YOU see in the tortilla? A simple stain-mark? A scorch-patch? Or an apparition of . . . .? Is it a face, or simply a silhouette of a head? Whose head? Is it facing forward, or away? Is it Asian, African or Anglo?

I was reminded of this phenomenon of recognizing famous folks in food when I read a quotation* from French-Cuban author Anais Nin: "We do not see things are they are, we see them as we are". And that led me to recall the line from the U2 song "Walk On" in which Bono refers to "home' as "A place that has to be believed to be seen". And from there to a line from the movie "The Santa Clause II"- "It's not 'seeing is believing;' its 'believing is seeing.' " If I believe that that's the head of John Elway or Harrison Ford or almost anyone else (Bono?), I can hold that tortilla as a miracle in masa harina!

I don't want, however, to focus on flat-breads. I want to muse on how I perceive events and their implications. Is my encounter with a friend any "better" than an encounter with someone with whom I have "issues"? Certainly I approach the encounters differently; I almost can't help it. But my hesitancy in the latter situation can very easily (and often does) blind me to the possibilities before me. I "believe" that the meeting might go poorly. Why, then, am I surprised when it does?

I'm in the business of co-creating my future. And I can "walk on" into that future with hope or resignation; that's a choice I make. It doesn't necessarily come naturally. I'm having to learn new habits of being, habits that see potential in each engagement. I have to learn to believe in a better outcome to see it emerge. Resignation, I've come to understand, is a recipe for stagnation.

We're seeing this borne out in the news almost every day as governments in the Middle East are being toppled by folks who believe in a different future, who act, and who are now seeing that new reality emerge. Hope is in the driver's seat, not the status quo. And now the figures in the North African sands are taking on new characteristics. What will WE see in those sands?

Hope, not despair. Expectation, not resignation. Belief in a place that might be seen.

Faith.

Blessings,

 Gary