“…you are yourself a realm of contradictions and miracles. Inside you is love and hatred, beauty and vile, fear and courage, betrayal and faithfulness. You are a mirror for the universe with all contrasts and wonders, with its colors and manifestations.”
The 28 Mansions of the Moon by Motaz H Matar
Want to hear something strange? When I read this I thought of Michael Jackson in that song “The Girl Is Mine”
We’re all lovers and fighters, aren’t we? Depends on the circumstances. We’re beautiful when we are loved and turn vile against those that hate us. We full of fear when confronted with the horrors we see in the world but filled with courage when protecting those we love.
We’re a big bag of crazy contradictions,
every single one of us.
Is that what the universe is? A contrast of black and white and all the manifestations between, the infinite grays? The mountain top gives you a beautiful view of the valley below but makes you a target for lighting. The valleys are fertile for growing, but flood often. Animals are beautiful and dangerous. Some fruit is sweet and poisonous.
And love? We know what we’re in for. The best love comes through full disclosure and acceptance. What makes you the most vulnerable, what sets us up for the destruction of our hearts, also brings us closer to others and can build relationship that lasts a lifetime.
And what about sex? That glorious act of passion and pleasure?
The very idea of being naked and alone with another human, diseases, and pregnancy…the ultimate vulnerability. Is it worth it? Obviously, YES!
To be human means to live in constant contradiction, just like the rest of the universe.
I love the image this quote makes for me. We are simply a mirror of the complicated, contradictory mess around us that we call the universe. We all of it right here inside our hearts and minds.
Maybe our ultimate goal in this world should be to use that miracle of a brain to comprehend the wild world around us, to make sense of what we see and feel, maybe even make it just a little bit easier for the people around us to thrive, you know, those ones aren’t so “with it” as we are.
You can find this book and others at Motaz H Matar’s website. If you read it, let me know what you think!
I posted about this book when I started reading it at the beginning of January, “The 28 Mansions of the Moon.”
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[…] If you’d like to know my thoughts on this book, you’ll find them at the links below.What Does it Mean to be Human? Contradictions! […]