Fire And Light
It is more than coincidence that the sun illuminates and blinds at once. What the coincidence says is a matter of opinion.
That the sun makes the world visible is a warming fact. Our star is, in great part, who we are and why we’re here. It determines how long or short our days are, what we wear, what we’ll do, sometimes how we’ll feel. The sun grows our food, holds us in orbit, and goes to bed with us at night.
But, that orb is also destructive. It starts fire in our hills, burns our bodies, dries our lakes. It holds other planets at lifeless bay, scorching their surfaces and condemning them to fates of gaseousness.
At one point or another, we all yearn to be that holy.
I hold disdain for most pomposity because it’s ignorant. But, there is a difference between pomposity and bravado. It is the latter of these two I find myself consistently drawn to.
Pomposity can be dull-witted, usually is, and shows one who esteems him or herself more than one should. The result is a grating feeling, like a sandy finger stuffed and twisted in your ear.
Bravado, however, feels good. It inspires you as it humbles. There is more security in its touch, though the force of the gesture remains as it prevails upon your senses.
I wonder which of these two I am and emanate; the sandy finger in your ear? Or am I the smooth, hard pang in your gut?
If I notice bravado in another, I want to claim it. Somehow, I feel it necessary to show that person I have it too and that mine is as strong or more so. Because it is impressive, I am compelled to be. And I am compelled to inspire it in others.
But, everyone sees things differently. My blue could be your green, though we’ve learned to call it by the same name. And how could we ever tell the other that they’re wrong? Or even know they might be?
So, I am curious if this applies to bravado. Where I see valor, do you see blindness?
You cannot be everything for everyone. But you can be everything for some, and something for others, and this is my wish. Heard by many, swayed by few, seen by all.
Better to be seen than be invisible.
So, better the fire with the Light, than the cold of anonymity.
