I have learned something profoundly important and liberating.
There’s no way I could have learned this lesson as a child.
Nor as an adolescent.
Nor as a young adult.
It is a lesson only time could teach.
Do you remember how you saw the world as a child?
I do.
I believed life was shaped like a plateau.
You grow, you learn, you find yourself.
You decide who you will be.
At least I was wise enough to know that happiness
is a recipe that changes by the person.
But I still believed that once you had your recipe…
it stayed.
And then enter that magical plateau.
With identity, purpose, and happiness achieved,
I would march through the years.
An aging body the only changing factor.
Now I see the truth of it.
Life is not a plateau.
It’s something entirely different.
Something more beautiful and brutal…
We all experience that first crash at some point.
Maybe it happens in our teens,
maybe in our twenties,
maybe later.
It’s the moment when your scaffolding
comes crashing down around you.
When the life you carefully and meticulously built
unravels without warning.
And despite all your frantic attempts
to reassemble the pieces raining down,
you can’t.
Sometimes you’re the one
who purposefully brings the scaffolding down.
The decision was terrifying,
but somehow you mustered the courage.
Despite the fear of all the unknown
lurking on the other side.
No matter how the change was brought about…
There it is.
Sitting squarely in your life, wreaking havoc.
First comes the numb shock.
What just happened?
Then comes anger and
– if you’re me –
blaming people (I know my faults).
But then comes the stage
that I have come to love.
Rebuilding. Revision.
Knocking at that door in my chest
and taking a step inside again.
I build a new nest
woven from brutal self honesty
and refreshing clarity.
It’s at once a
terrifying and exhilarating process.
And the thing is…
life is full of these changes.
Over and over and over again.
Life is no plateau.
It rises and falls, ebbs and flows.
Just as romances flourish, careers take off,
children are born, dreams are fulfilled…
Relationships also fail, loved ones die,
bank accounts wither, careers stagnate.
And each downturn is an opportunity
to revise and rebuild myself.
Til the day I die
I will be in the process of revising myself.
I understand this now.
And, oh, it is liberating and beautiful.
Does this story speak to you?
Share your thoughts or own unique experience in the comments below.
It may just be exactly what the next reader needs to hear at this exact moment.
hola Cora! me parecieron muy sabias tus reflexiones y me gustaría compartirlas, si es que tengo tu autorización, con el grupo de compañeros con los que estoy estudiando inglés. Estamos trabajando sobre “ageing” y “the elderly” y creo que les gustaría mucho leer lo que escribiste y conocer tus canciones.
Espero tu respuesta para saber si estás de acuerdo. Si no lo deseas, no hay ningún problema.
Un abrazo!
Hola Elisa,
Si, por supuesto! Puedes usar el artículo, mis canciónes, lo que sea. Es un honor que estes interesada en usar mis reflecciónes y mi música! Por favor saludame a todo el grupo. Les mando un fuerte abrazo! -Cora
Cora,
Very well said. Life can teach us well if we are willing to learn.
Thank you so much, Matt!
Life is always learning we do the wrong things and the right things. I’m 72 and I’m still learning my way through life. I can only hope I find my path and find happiness. Love what you do and see, I see life though your eyes…Michael
I truly love what you have written life has dealt us all beautiful innocence and some damaging circumstances. But in it all as we go through the process of life turbulence it manages to put us where we ought to be or windup. I love your songs and this beautiful getting to know you story and I love your songs as well. Since I founded Art we there yet! Has blessed me so much I’m an artist as well and you have inspired me to go harder and do beautiful work from my heart and most of all with Love, so thank you so much I’m a follower for life
This means so much to me. Thank you, Eric!
Hi Cora,
I know all too well hitting bottom spiritually, emotionally and physically! I am in recovery and have been sober for quite a while. It has been a terrifying and exillerating ride! But I have worked through my many addictions to become a new person. I am happy, hopeful and full of wonder!
Someone asked me if I had to do it all over again, would I? My response was that if it would lead me to where I am now, I would. But I do hope I will never experience that nightmare again.
With love,
Don
Hi Don!
Your honest and vulnerable reply makes me think about something that we all know, but often don’t really take into account during our day-to-day interactions…that you never know what someone else is going through. We are all in process with something or other in our lives, and that’s why it’s so important to tread gently when our paths cross. I appreciate when others share like you have done here, because it helps us remember to see the humanity in each other.
The 20s I spent contemplating what the most righteous life was, were filled with the cruel pain of love. I tried to understand that strange lump in my chest, that chaotic feeling of love, through the teachings of all the saints in the world, but I failed. No one spoke to me warmly about love. My world collapsed like that. For a bookworm like me, love might have been a luxury. This is truly a beautiful passage, coming to me like a warm, comforting poem. I also liked the wonderful website and illustrations. What is a plateau? I wondered, and then immediately understood.
❤️
Thank you for your beautiful words and songs. I just stumbled upon your music last week, and your voice and lyrics have brought such gentle calmness in the past week that I’ve fallen in love with each of the songs.
This makes me so happy to hear, Drea. It brings me a lot of joy to hear this!