Fireworks

I started thinking about a blog I would want to write and all of a sudden I hear the fireworks from Disneyland booming. I'm a good 15 miles from Disneyland but they are still pretty loud. Anyways, the fireworks captured my attention. What captures your attention? What do you hear that sticks out from all the noise? What do you see that blinds you in comparison to the dark? What do you feel that reverberates through your bones?

I believe that 90% of our days we operate at 10% of our capacity. We just don't seem to be aware of what is going around us. Think about the times when you have gone through your day and all of a sudden realize that it is a beautiful day out. We live in a state of semi-awareness. I think there are three things that reliably awaken us from our trance.

The first is pleasure. Whether it is sensory or emotional, pleasure brings us into reality. Suddenly for the sake of fully enjoying life we decide to engage in what is around us.

The second is pain. For some reason when we are in pain we suddenly start fighting vehemently to find the answer. It's curious because it seems impossible to deny reality when we are in pain. I'm thinking of Fight Club where Edward Norton tries to visualize the cave with the penguins to escape the pain. But he just can't do it, the pain brings him back to reality.

Pleasure and pain are the fireworks for our souls.