"Your task is not to seek for love,
but merely to seek and find all the
barriers within yourself that you
have built against it" - Rumi
This poem always make me think of the classic break-up line "it's not you, it's me". And whilst that is often used as an excuse, it is probably more true than the user is willing to admit.
I firmly believe that it is through our interactions with other individuals that we get one of our biggest opportunities to grow. We learn from them, we get triggered by them, but most importantly we get a chance to observe our own behaviors and reactions and change them to the better. And the key to the whole things is adopting the attitude that "it all starts with me".
Wanna read more about this? I found a great article by Lisa Firestone, Ph.D. whilst googling the break-up line: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/compassion-matters/201012/it-s-not-you-its-me-the-truth-behind-the-excuse. I love her idea of people unilaterally disarming (in short: not being reactive and lashing out even when one is provoked) and what a better world we would have if that was the case.
Finally, a little word on the picture! It's a photo of a homemade dried COUPLE (get it?!) of figs made by my landlordess. You take two figs, slice them almost all the way through, and then put them together facing each other, sprinkle with fennel seeds and then put out to be sun-dried by the hot summer sun. Utter deliciousness
