Animals rely on scent to survive. Yes, it requires them to get up close and personal, but I also think it is how they develop such unconditional bonds with us. There is nothing fake or misrepresented, you smell just who you are, and all emotion and talent become accounted for in one whiff. That connection between us also explains some of the $50 billion dollars and cents, annually spent on man’s best friends – and that my friend ain’t just chimp change!
Humans on the other hand are very visual. In order to accept and succeed, we have to see and/or hold what we desire. This of course explains EBay, QVC, lap dances, subliminal advertising and maybe even backmasking, even though I always knew Paul wasn’t dead. However, that is for another day.
One visual we all reach for are “the stars.” We see them as a celestial challenge, mocking our inability to rise to their level. So we elevate Athletes, actors, and sadly politicians to the level of “superstar,” as they eclipse our own self esteem challenged ability for greatness, with their achievements. We watch them, emulate them and envy them, as they accomplish what appears to be out of our reach, not unlike a galaxy far far away (one where George Lucas was told he’d never make it and was rejected albeit.) If we see it, we believe it and we want it, never seeming to notice what it took for them to get there. Humans lose track of that aspect quickly, which is probably why we need bloodhounds for search and rescue. Question is will you get rescued before your search is over?
If you ask a child to draw a star, initially it is a series of four lines that make more of a “starburst.” Later, the lines become more defined, although crooked and later a five pointed star emerges from under the stub of a yellow, No.2 Iowa Standardized graphite. That star will become the first visual “acceptance” in a child’s life. They will wish on them, glitter them, place them on Christmas trees, accept them with pride on school papers and draw them in rapid spirograph succession across paper which will eventually become a night sky of implied lighted security. More often than not however, it isn’t encouraged, assumed or taken into consideration; they themselves are already stars, just waiting to light up life with imagination, emotion and promise. Children need to have it pointed out, as they stand straight and tall with arms outstretched either direction to the future, feet firmly planted in commitment, they are indeed the true visual of a 5 pointed superstar! (Sorry president Bush, no points of light just yet.) Encourage those “when I grow up…” enthusiastic impossible dream moments, which are given a whiff of hope in kindergarten! Why are they so quickly forgotten just because someone moved the cheese?
I think as with everything in life we are prone to miss the obvious, no matter how pointed it is, making our journey that much harder to complete. Why do we waste time wishing on stars (not to mention paying them!), wanting their fame and fortune, which causes us to become disenchanted with what we have right under our noses? If we took a moment and listened with our hearts like those four legged friends, ironically “scent” from the heavens to protect, love and keep us, it might become more obvious. This is of course one of those stop and smell the rose’s and touch Zuzu’s petals comments, in case you are needing something subliminal.
Today I drove to see my daughter, who was waiting on her front porch. My grand daughter who is almost a year and half saw me first, becoming as animated as a Mexican jumping bean on a cheap hotel lamp bulb. She knew it was me and she couldn’t contain her happiness. I didn’t want to tell her I hadn’t won the Nobel Peace Prize, Academy Award, Lottery or Judicial Seat in the 6th district somewhere. But then again commercial success is really just that “commercial,” something that just a breaks the stream of reality and the meat of the moment. We set DVR’s to bypass such 30 second interruptions in our viewing pleasure and quickly zap them with a pop-up stopper on our computers, because they keep us from what is really important. So why don’t we see that same need in life?
If being in a school taught us anything, it was in the values of “Finding Nemo” and not “Waiting for Godot,” because the 5 pointed Rosie message, was from a starfish who regardless of her humble beginnings on EBay, knew to look for the happy place in life. I know such a happy place, and when I got out of my car I stood a little straighter with the knowledge I was important, just because I was me, and as I walked towards the chubby legs running in my direction, I knew the shadow falling behind me, may not have been gold, but it was indeed the shape of a star
****For a humorous read – check out my new book, “My Life Has Been A waist”****
http://www.authorhouse.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?Book=318939
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