Description and Video for poem #305
The difference between Despair
And Fear - is like the One
Between the instant of a Wreck -
And when the Wreck has been -
The Mind is smooth - no Motion -
Contented as the Eye
Upon the Forehead of a Bust -
That knows - it cannot see -
Emily Dickinson #305A "Wreck" is an event that happens instantly, "I do", boom you're married, it is the “Fear” and excitement of the unknown. Then 17 years later with two kids, no matter how good of a person you are, you will have dealt with “Despair,” because along with living and loving, comes despair and suffering. The excitement and fear of a new job you thought would solve all of your problems, only to find out your problems still exist but now you have a job on top of your problems/despair.
This poem is saying, do not think something, someone, or some event is going to solve all your problems. Marriage, kids, job, bigger house, fancy car, none of it is going to help you find contentment. You have to find that contentment within, and learn to see with your third eye, only then will your “Mind” be “smooth” as a marble “Bust.” "Contented as the Eye/Upon the Forehead of a Bust.” The third eye in this video is Mr. Kittles who is always the coolest content creature in the room.
In “The Naked Now Learning to See as the Mystics See,” Richard Rohr explains the Third Eye in a Christian context. He explains that it is not just one or the other human or divine, that Jesus is not just divine or God. “The result is that we still think of ourselves as mere humans trying desperately to become “spiritual,” when the Christian revelation was precisely that you are already spiritual (“in God”) and your difficult but necessary task is to learn how to become human.” Rohr goes on to say, “It is our humanity that we are still so wounded, so needy, so unloving, so self-hating, and so in need of enlightenment.” This concept of, “being both divine and human would take a very long time to absorb, understand, accept, or reconcile.”
“It is the third eye that allows us to say yes to the infinite mystery of Jesus and the infinite mystery that we are to ourselves. They are finally the same mystery.”
