11/08/2025
Art can be incredibly useful AND it is not without its dangers.
As spiritual teachers will tell you, not every tip that comes from the beyond is actually useful and well-meaning.
Take the songs and books we liked the most when we were young - I find that almost all of the major songs I sang or books I read obsessively actually came true in my life - just that the songs that focused on tragedy and drama (which, for some reason a lot of us think is "higher art" and "deeper" than the uplifting kind of art) got me stuck in truly unhelpful mindsets, that determined my focus on aspects of certain situations that really weren't helpful.
It's like that scene in Star Trek Deep Space 9, where Cisco and Dax get stranded in the wormhole and Dax sees a beautiful garden, while the still grieving Cisco sees barren rock and a thunderstorm, yet they are standing just yards away from each other on the same simulation of a planet.
Well, one of the books I read obsessively as a teenager was "Perelandra" by C.S. Lewis. I liked the book before in the trilogy, and the book that followed it was so scary for me that I never finished it - until I was working for banks and trying to make sense of things - but Perelandra had hypnotic effects in me.
And did I end up having a life in floating islands, always jumping from one to the other?
You bet.
But it took a while to get the lesson.
See, the lady in the book doesn't see it as a drama. She knows that Maleldil has forbidden her to settle down on firm land, but she doesn't fret about it, even though she can't find her husband on them, who, she later finds out, is watching everything she is doing but isn't allowed to interfere, even when she gets tempted for a significant time by Weston, who tricks her and tries to manipulate her.
But she doesn't know that. She just trusts that all the new things every island brings are in some form designed by Maleldil for her good, and she is not alone either - she is followed by a whole bunch of animals who adore and delight her, and at some point, Maleldil sends Ransom to support her, guide her, and eventually save her from Weston.
Well, I got some of the lessons of the book, but it took a while to get all of them, and sometimes I am still learning to accept the new wave, too.
Appreciating the animals and nature was easy - some of the other lessons were not, and I was sure fretting for a long time that I wasn't allowed to return to firm ground, thinking that something must have gone badly wrong - and not enjoying the magnificent views and plants and environments that most of these islands brought.
You can miss a lot of life, a lot of beauty, a lot of joy when you are constantly afraid and don't trust that there is a higher purpose.
But each jump onto a new island expanded that trust, so when I find that I must jump to another one again, and I am STILL not on firm ground, I am much calmer now and actually at times look forward to the next one.
It helps to have learned some coping techniques on the way - and maybe that was its purpose.
Evolution rewards not the strong and unmoving, but those who are flexible enough to adapt to change and enjoy it. The dinosaur was much stronger, much bigger, and much fiercer than the chameleon - but look who survived.
Maybe, sometimes the floating islands are not just a preparation for us, but prepare us to teach the skills we learned and discovered on the way to those who have stayed on firm ground but are still flexible enough to not break in the storm that is coming.
Change, especially rapid change can be perceived like a storm - blessed are those with faith, who trust, and who have developed some tools to surf the wave and to sail the sky.
And if you want to see some of these tools, to prepare for the storm ahead, there is a guide that teaches them:
https://bit.ly/job-book-US
Sometimes, just one useful tip at the right time is all it takes.
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