The (Little) Important Things

Important - of great significance or value; original and influential 

This is an account of some of the (little) important things to me, in my life and which allow me to live it to the fullest. These (little) important things are also partly the reason I write, paint, why I am who I am, and why I am making my way on the journey that is Common Routs. 

There are many points in life in which one can stop to think about what’s important; so ask yourself “What’s important, really?”. Take the time to jot those elements down.

When we come to these questions, we can usually safely say that these are the moments which differentiate the stuff, the riff raff from the important things in life. I find it useful to go back to such questions at certain points, either to remind myself or to somewhat re-ground myself. It is so easy to get caught up and to prioritize the stuff, the other things over that which really matters. 

I have seen myself change over time, probably and quite rarely fundamentally or in essence, but my outside layers have become affected by experience. That is a beautiful thing for us to be able to do - take a step back to appreciate what and how we are moulded, anew, consciously as well as unconsciously. And once we are able to do so in retrospect we will also be able to pause (so to speak), in the moment, which is quite freeing if you give yourself the chance. 

Our power is usually felt most poignantly in these moments of pause, these moments between cause and effect, between action and reaction. This is the same power Viktor E. Frankl discovers and writes about in his book Man’s Search for Meaning (1946), which I’ll elaborate on in a blog of its own.     

You’ll notice that I talk about Joseph Campbell a lot, it’s because reading his work was a turning point for me. I started to understand things in life in a way I couldn’t before - and from that moment I could appreciate and recognize not only the power in knowledge, but also the power of literature living within me! Certain points of the reading were truly “Aha!” moments which will remain with me forever. From then on, the importance, the mattering of literature, of meaning and of life was lit in a very different manner. 

One of those moments came upon reading a Sanskrit phrase, tat tvam asi (or tatvamasi, pronounced tat wam asi, as the ‘v’ is pronounced as our ‘w’ in Sanskrit). This is one phrase of 10 principles in the Upanishads which are used to enlighten the pupil. Translated simply, it could mean different variations of ‘thou art that’, which is to say that you are the mystery you seek, all is within. There is the recognition that deep within the human soul is a mirror of divine Reality. This allowed space for me to appreciate life and myself from a more spiritualistic perspective, which is timeless and universal. 

This metamorphosis (to hint towards Franz Kafka) - gradual as it was and is - is what describes our never ending journey for that which makes up our authentic Self. There is great passion and fulfilment to be recognized in such a journey. 

We all have to deal with our own rites of passage and in many ways they all lead to the fundamental unity at the heart of nature. Through Campbell, myth, science, religion or spirituality, and art are weaved together to reveal our common psychological roots - which is a lot to take in and experience but which also opens up a whole new perspective to life and togetherness. 

Thanks to this journey, I find myself at a junction most days, though now I know the path I have chosen. At the start I had the choice - follow my heart, follow the mystery, or follow security, follow the norm. Following the latter was (at the end of my master's journey) not even an option for my creative soul’s quest - I had to live the myth, not let the myth live me. But the two paths were open to me. 

“We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” - Joseph Campbell 

My life is full of gratitude for all the little (and the not so little) things, we sometimes or rather too often take for granted. Common Routs is my way of sharing this gratitude. I will also be sharing the different journeys we may embark on, the exploration of myth and what it means to us today, philosophy, ethics and my infamous boundarylessness!, writing and thinking, painting and singing - everything is ultimately intertwined.

So what’s important to me? The little things - from a smile in the morning to everything in-between - that happen to me in a day, nothing at all, moments - to be grateful for and moments which are harder to be thankful for! All are important - we all need to take care of our energy or our quality, which extends to others: family, friends, strangers… nothing can or should be taken for granted. This is not easy to live out every single moment, yet when surrounded by like-minded people it does help.

Little steps, that’s all it takes, from all of us.    

Let us begin the call to adventure … with gratitude.