Dear Empowered Wayers -
I wrote the following short story in the midst of COVID lockdowns, when fear was rampant and we had no idea of how it would turn out. Now that we’re on the other side, has fear taken hold again?
I hope you read this story to the end, because what is shared is our hope for the future.
“Once upon a time, in a land far away, humans believed in competition, comparison, and criticism. Although many experienced plentiful lives, their hearts were starving for something they couldn’t describe.”
“Grandpa, wait a minute!” My twelve-year-old voice couldn’t quite project the urgency I felt.
“Of course, Leah. What is it?” His low, gravelly voice softened as he looked me deeply in the eyes. I was sitting upright on my bed, pillows piled behind me like a soft hug, and he was next to me, in a chair angled so he could see my eyes. Reading this book together was our nightly routine and had been since I could remember.
He was reading “The Alchemy of Love,” a story as familiar to me as the smell of old man that was my Grandpa. Aftershave mixed with the hint of prune juice. He surely loved his prune juice.
I pointed to the picture in the book that showed people going about their lives, smiling on the outside but dead on the inside — empty shells of humans who were lost, alone, and forgotten.
I pointed to one woman in the illustration and asked, “Didn’t she know about “The Alchemy of Love?”
He laughed, deep and low. “That’s why they felt empty, isn’t it?” Patting my leg, he continued with the story.
“These people were kind and goodhearted, but they fell into a mental prison. They followed a formula dictated by the world to create their life. They never questioned it. Instead, they believed, ‘That’s the way it is’ and they accepted the life they created.” He smiled and continued reading.
“The results of living from this Formula showed up in their relationships with each other and to money. It even showed up on a global scale. Governments tried to legislate solutions, but nothing seemed to work because no one questioned the world’s Formula.”
He shook his head before continuing. “Parents shared the Formula with their young children, who adopted it as truth. The pattern continued from one generation to the next, and the Formula created more dysfunctional families, drug and alcohol addiction, racial prejudice, and political divisiveness. Separation grew wider between rich and poor, wealthy and needy, developed and undeveloped countries until it became impossible to bridge.”
He paused and glanced at me to make sure I was still paying attention. I took a deep breath to calm my body from the flood of adrenaline and cortisol. When I imagined what it must have been like to live in such a cruel world, it triggered my body’s survival response. Fortunately, I knew how to step away from the fear and move back into Love. After I had calmed my body and my breath returned to normal, I nodded for him to continue.
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