Embracing New Possibilities: Part 1

Image Courtesy of Karina Guerrero

“We cease clinging to the experiences of the past and instead become rejuvenated in the present” 

-Tao Te Ching, Translated by Jason Gregory

Who am I? 

Who are you? 

The dusty box of my own identity has been tucked away neatly placed upon a high shelf. No curious hands to marvel at the contents within or to ask about its hopes and comforts. Or even worse, expose it to societal pressures to change.

It was the same cycle - simple, ordinary, safe. But what could the curious hands do? 

If Pandora's box was opened, what would emerge? Newness and discovery? Freedom and peace? Or uncertainty and a deep sleep that had been disturbed? 

The curious hands snatched the dusty box before alarms could be raised, spirals of stardust lifting up from the top. The curious hands eagerly began to unwrap the faded colors that had protected the box for so long. 

Soon it was an ordinary cardboard box, just as so many others are. But what lies inside? 

As a child would, the curious hands peeled back the cardboard tongues. 

A seed.

Confused, the elation already evaporating from the room, the child stares down at their now apathetic hands as a single tear slides down their cheek. 

Pandora’s box was underwhelming and unfruitful. 

The curious hands began to close the box but not before their single tear fell and splashed across the old seed. 

By Arabella Davis