Vachon Imagined

We were all raised in a world that suppresses and represses life in one way or another. Much of it is done in the name of survival. In this, we are not so different from the rest of the animal kingdom. We carry within us the capacity to nurture life, to destroy it, and to bring forth something entirely new.

I was raised in such a world.

A world of religion.

A world of systems and rules.

A world of the military, where certain thoughts could not be spoken without consequence.

That is the nature of the world we inhabit.

We live in consequence.

Even in stillness, life is moving.

You emit your thoughts before you speak them. You communicate through your presence before you utter a single word. Your emotions ripple outward long before they become action.

Creation always precedes expression.

Action is simply the visible portion of something that has already been unfolding within.

Consequences, then, are not merely punishments. They are the natural movement of cause and effect. Every thought invites another. Every act opens the door to what follows.

Speak, and there are consequences.

Remain silent, and there are consequences.

Choose, and there are consequences.

Refuse to choose, and there are consequences still.

Consider a marriage. A person may one day notice attraction toward someone else. The attraction itself is not the affair. It is simply another possibility appearing within consciousness. Whether that possibility grows depends upon attention. What we continually feed begins to shape us. What we repeatedly imagine seeks expression.

This is true of every desire, every resentment, every fear, and every act of compassion.

Attention gives movement.

Movement becomes expression.

Expression becomes consequence.

Often we do not pause long enough to notice the process. We simply act. Sometimes wisely, sometimes impulsively. Yet even our impulsiveness becomes a teacher.

This is how life unfolds.

No one escapes consequence because no one stands outside of life.

Every experience becomes both a seed and a harvest.

What we receive tomorrow is often the flowering of what we have been cultivating today.