Paradise Lost

This is a shortened prose from Dreams of Paradise.

Paradise is a place that resides in the mind of an individual.  To describe it out loud would be to bring about varying opinions and objections. Many are in need of constant entertainment; our attention, our whole being, desperately searches for distraction in this modern world. We are unable to view our world as anything but a background whizzing past in never ending motion.  To find paradise, we must be willing to stop and truly see the natural world.

 

Stopping lets one become a part of the background: a whirlwind of life, energy, a magnificent warmth that only the spirit of the Earth can bring about. We will feel the universe within, as a living spark once ignited from an awe-inspiring explosion; not only of beyond time and space, but as the creator of all things known to us.

            Stop, and it is modernity that becomes the background to the enormity of all things being. Witness the natural beauty once disregarded as nothing more than a visual blur in passing. Beauty such as the way a beam of light shines through the early morning fog, illuminating a dew drop that is delicately perched atop a single blade of grass. Or the exquisite chrysanthemum blossoms softly swaying in sync with every passing breeze. Paradise is among the uncountable golden wheat stalks bending and rising with each gust over the vast rolling hills.

 

The heart searches for a connection once lost; the connection our ancestors had with nature.  The way we use to flow with time instead of fighting against it. Our hearts pull in the direction where we all belong; where survival is attributed to being one with the world.  Where joy is found within the simplicity of nature, and happiness in the complex workings of the universe.  

            Tranquility eludes us, but it’s always within our grasp. If we simply look beyond ourselves, we will see the whole network of life. We will realize how we fit in with such an amazing ecosystem; how all things ultimately function as one living entity.  

            Once we realize how miraculous simply being alive is, we will no longer view the world as only background.  We will merge with it; becoming a part of the beauty, the unbridled joy of life. We are all part of the universe, and the universe is part of us. We must open our eyes and let it all in.