When somebody shows you
who they are,
believe them.
Don't make excuses
for their treatment of you,
or their treatment of others.
Don't try to bargain or argue
with that comfortable, familiar idea
of who you thought they were.
Don't try to shape them into
someone that they're not,
or someone that you hoped they could become.
That path leads only
to more suffering,
and more heartbreak.
Trust me, I know...
It is harsh, uncomfortable
and disquieting to learn
that there are be people in our lives,
whom we loved and cared for,
shared our secrets and dreams with,
who are so practiced at masking,
at pretending,
at putting on a show,
that they no longer notice
when they’re doing it -
and neither does anybody else.
Life has taught them
that this is the best way,
perhaps the only way,
to protect themselves from harm or danger
- real or imagined -
if they want to continue to survive.
And they want to survive,
so they do - at any cost.
But sometimes,
sometimes...
sometimes those carefully constructed masks and personas
will falter,
the strings loosen, the plaster cracks,
the facade becomes too heavy to hold
-just for an instant -
sometimes.
In those moments,
a curtain we never noticed before is drawn back
and we can catch a glimpse
of the so-called wizard,
feverishly working their levers and pulleys
putting on the show,
but the magic is lost.
Were you paying attention?
Did you catch it?
This was a moment of clarity, of truth.
This is who they really are -
behind the mask, behind the facade, behind the curtain.
This is the moment when you,
Dear Ones,
are faced with a difficult choice.
Now that they've shown you who they truly are...
you have to choose whether or not
to believe them.
Some things to consider...
Was the part they were playing one of protection,
to keep something (or someone) tender safe?
Or was it a play of deceit, a twisted story
to keep that something (or someone) tender under control?
Can you tell?
Does it matter?
Who was the target audience?
Was it you?
Was it the world?
Or perhaps,
are they maybe long gone,
a whisper of a childhood memory
pulling strings from the past.
Can you tell?
Does it matter?
Can you still love them,
respect them, engage with them
now that you've seen behind the curtain?
Do you still want to?
Because this does matter.
Can you understand?
Can you have compassion?
Can you relate to the fear of the person
crouching low behind their mask
hoping beyond hope
that you didn't see, didn't notice, won't add it all up.
And if you can,
do you still want to?
Get deeply deeply curious about how you feel,
how you really feel,
notice how your heart and mind and body feel,
now that you know,
now that you’ve seen the truth.
Because now that you know, there is no going back.
The way it was “before” does not exist
- was any of it real?
Maybe, who can say...
But you cannot go back,
you can only move forward,
only move onwards,
ony move outwards into the present
with how you feel,
with what you know,
with or without them.
Because remember, Dear Ones,
this is your One Wild Life
and it is yours to live.
You get to choose,
you always have a choice
who walks alongside you on this path,
and who is no longer welcome
on this journey.
xx
