These men are at ease with themselves.
It is a shame if you are a sham.
A couple being themselves.
For true recognition drop the act, be yourself. Pretending to be something you are not is not a good idea. Because we cannot take the credit, the applause go to the actor. We know we are pretending and we cannot deceive our self. We cannot feel right about a complement when we know we do not deserve it. We have to earn it to enjoy it.
He is happy being himself.
To be trusted we have to be trustworthy and honest. To be respected we must be respectable. To be loved we must give love. Our lives reflect our actions.
Respect and appreciate beauty.
All the acting, the splendid performance, is for nothing when we know we are not the hero. We know when we are a minor part of a performance, we need to get real.
Pushy not really part of the beauty.
Our ego is the villain in the act, wanting the applause by fair means or foul. The ego is not really you and when you realize this, the acting ends. Reality takes place no more stage props are needed. The powder and paint, the fancy garments are not necessary. We can be our self and relax. All the costly stage props advertised to tempt our ego are unnecessary. We are free to make our own choices of what we need. Not what a greedy ego wants as a status symbol.
All part of the act.
Being an actor is not an easy job. It is like being a politician. You have to learn your lines and be in the limelight under the public scrutiny. All the publicity and hype can be overwhelming. Just too much for the ego that now cries out for peace and quiet.
The ego can never be satisfied whether it gets what it wants or not it is unsatisfied.
A quiet corner.
We need quiet time to appreciate the beauty of reality, to clear our mind of worrying thoughts that disrupt our contentment. Time to savour, chew and digest the nourishment, if greedily gobbled down the goodness is lost.
Do we need all this to be happy.
Slow down, life is not an action movie full of turbulence. With understanding it can be an enjoyable true love story. Not an unreal hectic TV romance. That is not what we need, we need the real thing. It is no good acting, you have to honestly carry out those noble deeds. That is what is needed to get true joy in life.
At the end of the day what do we need?
Your visual of sun’s rays filtering through the clouds is symbolic of the cloud of ego concealing the clear light of reason; and it as well answers the question as to what is required at end of the day; we need the brilliance of reason enlightening our paths, not the false euphoria of drifting on clouds of ego. Yet the tragedy is that a great portion of people’s lives are wasted, living on ego driven pretensions and the futile struggle to sustain it. By the time truth dawns, it is mostly late, even though it is better late than never…best wishes.
The relationship of the clouds photo and ego is a fitting comment well noted Raj.
There is lots of wisdom in your post Jack! Saw an article about how unhappy people can be when they can’t live up to the false image they create of themselves on their social media. Some great people shots here!
Thanks for your kind comment, When I write a post it is also to reinforcing ideas in my own mind. The I love candid, caught in the moment, photos of people.
I delight in the way you write so directly and clearly of what is truly important in life Jack, and think you have a real gift in this. Your articles are always such a pleasure to read and reflect upon. _/\_
It is real complement to hear this from a person who has such a wonderful way with words and experience wisdom life’s wisdom. _/\_
Good words. They make me stop, think… and re-evaluate what I’m doing. Good words – not often I say that!
Thank you for the compliment.
Wise words Jack and the girl with the flowers is mesmerizing!
Thank you Cindy I mostly just take snapshots caught in the moment. Some times I catch it right.
“Our ego is the villain in the act, wanting the applause by fair means or foul. The ego is not really you and when you realize this, the acting ends. ”
Oh so true Jack.. So loved your thoughts here Jack.. and how you illustrated your thinking within your photo’s too.. Especially loved your reflection in the bauble .. Who among us has not admired our reflection! .. And I have at last learnt to wink my way and say ‘I love you’ to myself which has taken years to do… And I have learnt it matters not who loves me.. but that I love myself..
So your words when you said
”
To be trusted we have to be trustworthy and honest. To be respected we must be respectable. To be loved we must give love. Our lives reflect our actions.”
The more love we give others and ourselves the more we receive and is ‘reflected’ back at us… If only we could learn this one fact.. And stop our judgements, finger pointing, and realise what we are contributing to the whole by way of our thoughts and actions..
Great Post Jack..
Enjoy your new week
Hugs Sue _/\_
Sue It is wonderful to know you think along the same lines as I do. Nature Boy sang it The greatest thing you will ever learn is just to love and be loved in return
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQerH4nRTUA “Imagine” if everyone could hear the music and sing along. May the Force be with you. _/\_
I grew up with a great deal of sham surrounding me. After 44 independent years of country living, I am completely content to be free from artifice of all sorts. And I love connecting with like minded souls. Peace, Jack! Glad to discover your blog.
You are welcome._/\_
Wow that was full of a lot of wonderful nuggets for life! I love the affirmations!
Also love the guitar in the corner, the sunflowers! Now that is some happiness! 😄😄yay
It is good to get comments like yours Michelle Marie (What a nice name) as it lets me know I am on the right Path. _/\_
You know what even if we are on the wrong path rabbit trails can be fun! It’s the walk back to the path that gets me every time! Note to self stop chasing rabbits! ✨✨