Changes: For Good

I'm limited
You can do all I couldn't do,
So now it's up to you
For both of us...
I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you...

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good

It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend...

Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good

And just to clear the air
I ask forgiveness
For the things I've done you blame me for
But then, I guess we know
There's blame to share

And none of it seems to matter anymore

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a bird in the wood

Who can say if I've been
Changed for the better?
I do believe I have been
Changed for the better
And because I knew you...
I have been changed for good...


(Courtesy the song "For Good" from "Wicked" the Musical)

Avatar

So the word "avatar" has had quite the journey; from being a very ancient word to portray God and God's many incarnations and energies, to the biggest film in world history. However when I began getting interested in the movie I was misdirected to a Nick-toons (Nickelodeon cartoon channel) series called Avatar: The last Airbender. For the longest time I thought James Cameron directed a movie based on the Avatar: The last Airbender. Turns out I was wrong because the movie was totally different, yet I, personally, enjoyed the storyline. Then M. Night Shyamalan is now directing his OWN version of Avatar: The last Airbender. ~Le Sigh~

The cartoon has been most enjoyable for it is truly creative and cute, and has a good message about love, and friendship, however like everything these days there is a lot of violence. I was thinking about the many small lessons the cartoon teaches, and it really does combine a lot of eastern teachings, and my biggest question was, why is it called avatar?

Avatar is a depiction of one's true self. In Avatar the movie, the avatars were the humans' alien selves. In Avatar the last Airbender, Aang the Avatar was the incarnation of all the Avatars before him. Basically he was the one soul but who had lived as many others before him, and now he is a boy. The cartoon depicted it as the little boy having many souls, or so it seemed. I was meditating at a lecture by Sri Sri Ravishankar (the founder of the Art of Living Foundation) and I was deep in meditating when I realized that my body was nothing but the Avatar of my higher self/spirit/soul. Slowly as my body breathed I disengaged from it. It was just my body. It was a strange experience and indescribable, but it kind of changed me. I look forward to doing more meditation, I need to find a quiet place however.

So my definition for Avatar will not be defined by any popular culture thing, however it will remind me of Aang, and remind me that we are all just depictions and embodiments of our higherselves.

Now let us admire the beautiful world around us and realize that it depicts something of a higherself in its own ways, and some people call that heaven.