Vision

“A lot of things broke my heart but fixed my vision.” Freddie Gibbs

By: Gabriela Yareliz

That’s the way it is. Often, through suffering, we find salvation and clarity. Clarity requires humility.

When we don’t learn through suffering, it’s often because we are clinging to our own hopes, delusions and sometimes, ego. A lot of things can cloud vision. We humans love to invent things and call them reality.

When we release these things and let go, that is when the clarity comes. It’s like being plunged in a deep or murky body of water. Let’s be real, suffering and heartache makes us feel like we are drowning sometimes. We can’t breathe.

A friend of mine recently showed me that she helped design classroom decorations for “sea week.” It consisted of a deep blue plasticky cloth draped over the fluorescent lights and cutouts of silhouettes of fish and sharks. From below, the kids feel like they are underwater. The light shines dark blue on them. They see the shadows of the creatures “swimming” above. Wildly creative.

Imagine— being plunged into the East River. God help us. Disgusting. I can see it from the bridge as I write this. Once submerged, you only start to see as you emerge and near the surface of the water. That is where the light is. When we let go of the anchors and come to the bubbling surface, we can see.

Submerged, we see shadows, threats, lurking creatures, things that appear to be one way and may be something else. Vision, clarity and light require us to let go. It requires us to float back to the surface after we have dealt with what is in the deep. We belong in the light.