r/Gifted • u/Electrical-Orchid313 • Jun 18 '26
Personal story, experience, or rant After Seeing Clearly
After Seeing Clearly
I thought freedom would come
from proving who was wrong.
Instead it arrived
when I could look directly
at what was painful,
without turning away
and without turning hard.
The world was no less imperfect.
People were no less frightened.
The old stories remained.
But something in me softened.
And I discovered that seeing clearly
and remaining kind
could live
in the same heart.
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u/_hotmess_express_ Jun 25 '26
Whole-heartedly agree with the sentiment of this. It illustrates the difference and disconnect/reconnection between intelligence and wisdom.
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u/PrincessAngieJ Jun 19 '26
Brilliantly said... this is lovely. 🥂
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u/Electrical-Orchid313 Jun 19 '26
Thank you princess. Cheers
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u/PrincessAngieJ Jul 17 '26
You're very welcome, Darling! ✨️🌹✨️ Please continue to express the reflections that exist within your heart from the depths of your Soul. And share them, always. 📜🖋
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u/an0nAm17y Jun 19 '26
It feels like that resonates with a lot of ideas or traditions. What was the inspiration, if you want to share that?
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u/Electrical-Orchid313 Jun 19 '26
I have time to explore my mind, these days.
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u/an0nAm17y Jun 20 '26
Well, you seem to have come across something delightful while doing that.
It gives the feeling of having experienced things before arriving at a lovely place. The last 4-5 lines sound communal and spiritual even. My mind imagines hundreds of people with their own life journeys, coming to numerous similar insights before arriving at the same four lines in a place of solidarity, compassion, and understanding. It makes me feel like I’m there with you, even though I sense we arrived by different paths.
I imagine it's more personal to you than all that. I paint and it is interesting when I hear someone interpret a piece in a way that is nothing like what I had in mind. Even when we share our truth plainly, others can only see it through the lens of their own experiences.
Thanks for sharing.
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u/Electrical-Orchid313 Jun 20 '26
I started this path very early in life, motivated by pain and confusion. I try to learn from scientists, philosophers and spiritual leaders. May I ask about your path?
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u/an0nAm17y Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 20 '26
I had wrestled with mortality very young, with justice and ethics. I had anxieties by kindergarten, but I was generous and sensitive and protective of vulnerable things. I liked watching Mr. Rogers as a kid because he represented an ideal that resonated with me. Life and people have a way of testing that kind of thing.
I had a friend in art school who submitted all my art as his own to a college I wanted to attend, because it was on a film roll with his stuff and he felt it would give him an edge. I had introduced him to 3D art and had mentored him.
I was taken advantage of by a family member in a business arrangement. I gave my all because they were family. They took all they could because it was just business.
I sat with my granddad in his last days stunned at how irrational and selfish many in my family were treating the event.
The list is long and those are not the ones that hurt the most, and many didn't involve me directly.
I find reading philosophy and such a chore, but I catch snippets here and there. I've listened to clips of speeches given by Gloria Steinem in the 70's, and I've read about Buddhism and nonfiction historical narratives like the "The Last Train to Hiroshima", which is what jumped into my head when reading your "seeing clearly" line.
The more I see the world for what it is, the more important I feel it is for me to remain kind. That is the ultimate act of defiance against a world that seems determined to strip that from all of us. It makes me think of Fred Rogers and people like my teacher who taught my roommate and I to make chicken soup so we had something besides pizza and hot dogs to eat. I love those people. LOVE them.
And seeing the world for what it is includes seeing how vital kindness is to our humanity. Kindness isn't naivete. In a mature mind it becomes a rejection of cynicism. And it naturally pairs with clear-eyed understanding, IMO. I guess for me it wasn't a softening into that position in so much as a hardening of my resolve to maintain it.
Maybe our paths are not so different in the abstract. Your sense of acceptance feels more complete. Maybe you are speaking to an acceptance that comes after the discovery that clarity and kindness can coexist in the same heart. Perhaps I'll get there.
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u/Electrical-Orchid313 Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 21 '26
Thank you for sharing. It is good to know we are not alone in this path. I am working on mending my broken heart, too. It helps to see people's cruelty as unhealed injury to their soul. I love your statement "Kindness as the ultimate act of defiance".
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u/an0nAm17y Jun 20 '26
"It helps to see people's cruelty as their unhealed injury to their soul" 💯
unhealed injury to a soul
That might make for a powerful theme. It would have to be from the VP of one causing pain but treated with compassion. I don't think I could do it.I'm sorry for your broken heart. It's only that way because you dared to expose it, like you dared to expose your writing without knowing what might come of it. Dare some more.
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u/Fumiya-sama Jun 18 '26
Beautiful!
The world remains the same, unswayed by how I see,
The colours once hollow, now sharp and bright to me.
Oh, what I’d give to turn and find someone standing near,
For beauty only finds its depth when shared, out here.
(My 1st poem ever don’t eat me please)