Brighter Side of the Dragon

Up until that point when the “glass ceiling of the mind shatters”, and “we know even as we are known”; “the faith becomes sight”; and there is “nothing left to do but laugh”, consciousness, as a pure state, is under perpetual attack by anything that can draw perception into the shadows cast by its own light.

Life is an echo chamber. We may enjoy it as such, or we may get lost in it, forgetting that it was we that cast off those first soundwaves so long ago. We sleep forgetting that these dreams originate in our minds.

This is the essence of Badger the Witness. It is a log of ghosts we have set forth, and it is an effort to reconcile those echoes with their source.

Sometimes those echoes reverberate in the collective. Sometimes they’re personal. This one’s personal.

Badger

Two years ago I entertained a thought for just a moment too long. That moment-fed thought grew into circumstances quickly out of my control. I lost everything I valued because of a moment’s indiscretion. I became an addict and a slave to habits I never thought I’d have to wrestle. By the time I could see clearly the situation had morphed far beyond my capacity to set it straight. My creation turned on me and devoured me.

Starving a monster from inside its belly isn’t easy. Thanks to love, I was able to take incremental steps toward that end until the beast keeled over, and I crawled from its corpse reeking of my own shit.

The Witness

The stars are always a little brighter on the other side of a dragon. The senses are a little keener. Blame’s a bit looser. One carries more soul for their suffering.

Like a kid who’s hurt his hand on a hot burner, I’d like to think I’ve learned. But life’s a tough lover, and change seems to be the only surety. Stoic, I’ll rebuild my edifice sturdier for my experience, knowing that lightning will strike again and again until I understand that I am that.

Keep watching.