How do you live a 'life beyond fear'? By carefully considering what you want and focusing on it. Without needing to explain, figure out, or even make sense of the past.
Personally, I am right here, right now, with the past fully behind me, and nothing but blank pages before me, waiting for me to continue writing upon them. I live in freedom from the past; in silence.
And truthfully, in the beginning it was a bit unnerving, even overwhelming at times with the realization of the power I have been given—that whatever I put my mind on, it will grow.
In silence, you realize that all depends on you; that your thoughts direct your life, and those thoughts are prayers that are being answered every moment of your life. And with that realization, you ask yourself, what 'noises' am I listening to?
How do you stop listening to the voices of the past?
Imagine them simply as 'echoes' of your past trauma, reverbing within a canyon, and that they will naturally fade as you emerge from its walls (you are walking through the 'valley of death' after all).
But even after you are liberated, the contemporary world has a lot to say about who you are and what you should be, and most of it stemming from their own unreleased trauma-based identities.
And the last thing you want to do is fight it, or worse, try to solve it.
The reason I say this? Because the world you see before you is a perfect example of what is known as a Quantum Entanglement. Which in layman's terms, means "an unsolvable riddle."
So my advice to you is . . . put down the Rubik's Cube and walk away (you will thank me later). And because I always give credit where credit is due, this is something that someone once said to me—I just finally did it.
What it boils down to is this . . .
. . . you need to be at peace with being at peace.
And this is something that most people want (covet even), but are too afraid to claim it for themselves; refusing to let go of the initial trauma that infused guilt and shame into their natural state of being (you know, the whole, "I can't seize the promised land; I'm a grasshopper" thing).
Self-sovereignty is found only in silence.
And what I mean by silence is . . . the quiet assurance of self, found only in the absence of others opinions that once littered and desecrated your temple (AKA: Your mind), AND, while still engaging in the world; standing in the center of the storm, knowing you can wave it away with your hand, but choosing not to, because you know the meaning of I AM.
Since birth, I have been a creator.
I have the natural ability to make the unseen seen, by using the instinct to use my hands, the reverence of craft, and the holiness of making.
When I create, everything falls away. And what remains is simply being.
It is not a flow-state. It is not focus. It is not concentration. I simply am.
My mother, driven by her own hatred and jealousy, tried to destroy my gift by plaguing my mind (and a hell of a lot more) with her own fear.
And when that did not work, she even tried to extinguish my existence from this planet.
In the aftermath of having to face the truth of my mother's nature (I couldn't ignore it anymore, obviously), something emerged, a life line that pulled me out of the chaos . . .
. . . Dumbo.
In this world, boys are forced into playing the game of extremes. Be hyper-masculine or hyper-feminine. Perform, or be rejected. And let's not forget the societal shaming for whatever choice he is pressured into choosing.
It is a game he can never win.
But there is a third way of being:
The way of curiosity.
The way of Spirit.
The way of being a Man.
And while a boy does not comprehend what is in store for him, with Dumbo, he sees a trustworthy friend; a guide that doesn't try to mold him into something he is not; someone who will help prepare him for what lies ahead.
Dumbo is able to do this because he has already lived through the journey of others' projected shame and their misunderstanding of being himself. He has lived the lie of the external power and the terror of letting it go; he has discovered the truth: the power to fly is within him, not the feather.
And that is why I am building him.
So here is the invitation . . .
Step into your own silence. Not the silence of withdrawal, but the silence of sovereignty—the place where echoes fade, the canyon opens up, and you finally hear yourself again.
Let the world keep its noise.
Let others keep their riddles.
You don't need to solve anything; you only need to create.
Walk forward with the quiet certainty that your life is yours now, and then, build from that place.
Until next time, be well and peaceful,
The Billy J
Your Perpetually Friendly, Neighborhood, Cosmic, Jedi-Surfer