Let’s talk about wolves, angels, and devils, shall we?
But first, I apologize for my absence of writing for a few days.
Business, writer’s block, laziness… what can I say?
But I’m back, for better or worse.
But first, I apologize for my absence of writing for a few days.
Business, writer’s block, laziness… what can I say?
But I’m back, for better or worse.
So, what do wolves, angels, and devils have in common?
Not much, really.
Except that, in some way, they all illustrate a battle that goes on inside of us.
It’s the, well, I’ll say, supposed battle between good and evil, light and darkness, yin and yang...
However you want to put it.
Not much, really.
Except that, in some way, they all illustrate a battle that goes on inside of us.
It’s the, well, I’ll say, supposed battle between good and evil, light and darkness, yin and yang...
However you want to put it.
So, let’s talk about wolves, shall we?
You've probably heard the story about the Native American boy watching two wolves, a white one, and a black one, fighting it out. The two wolves are about evenly matched, and no clear winner is evident. So, the boy asks the grandfather, “What’s the deal with the two wolves? Which one is going to win? They’re both equally matched.” And the grandfather answers, “That’s easy. The wolf that wins will be the one I choose to feed."
You've probably heard the story about the Native American boy watching two wolves, a white one, and a black one, fighting it out. The two wolves are about evenly matched, and no clear winner is evident. So, the boy asks the grandfather, “What’s the deal with the two wolves? Which one is going to win? They’re both equally matched.” And the grandfather answers, “That’s easy. The wolf that wins will be the one I choose to feed."
So, the two wolves represent the white and black within us. The dark and light. The yin and yang. And, according to the morale of the story, whether we choose to “feed” the good, or the evil, will determine which one wins. We “feed” one or the other by what we put in our minds, what we choose to focus on, and so forth. At least that’s the prevailing wisdom.
So, let’s talk about angels and devils, shall we?
We've probably all heard of, or even seen, in movies perhaps, the concept of the “angel on one shoulder, devil on the other”. The angel whispers in our ear, (the RIGHT one, of course!) and tries to get us to do what is, well, right. The devil whispers in the other ear, trying to get us to do what is, well, LEFT after the right choice is discarded. Again, the classic battle between good and evil, according to the prevailing wisdom.
We've probably all heard of, or even seen, in movies perhaps, the concept of the “angel on one shoulder, devil on the other”. The angel whispers in our ear, (the RIGHT one, of course!) and tries to get us to do what is, well, right. The devil whispers in the other ear, trying to get us to do what is, well, LEFT after the right choice is discarded. Again, the classic battle between good and evil, according to the prevailing wisdom.
But what if the prevailing wisdom is wrong? What if we do not serve our own best interests by fighting this seemingly never ending battle between the light and the darkness in us? What if the answer is something else?
Here’s the truth; we, you, me, and everyone else… we are a constant mass of contradiction, an enigma wrapped in a puzzle and bound up in a conundrum. Yes, we’re all like that. We all, at any given times, have a wide variety of feelings, emotions, opinions and actions inside of us. We feel conflicting emotions. We can be happy and sad at the same time. We can be a wonderful person, or a terrible one, sometimes at the same time. We can be an angel. Or we can be a devil. Again, sometimes at the same time!
We can have deep faith while feeling deep doubt. We can be a crusader for equal rights for all, yet still harbor deep, dark prejudices. We can extend the hand of friendship while holding the club of revenge behind our backs. We are, it seems, neither angel nor demon, neither dark nor light, neither yin nor yang; we are, it seems, both. And that’s not only fine, that’s actually good.
The white wolf/black wolf-angel/devil choice is really a false dichotomy. It’s a fake choice. It’s a spurious comparison. Here’s the question; WHY waste time and emotional energy (of which we have just a limited amount) fighting between light and dark, trying to be one or the other, when the reality is, both have their good points and bad points? Both are useful, at different times. Both, like everything in the Universe, serve their purpose.
I have PTSD (but PTSD does not have me!). There are some negative things about PTSD. Hypervigilence is one. That means always having my “head on a swivel”, always scanning my environment for dangers, most of which aren't really there. It’s not the best thing to struggle with. But it has saved my life. Not only in combat situations, but in civilian life as well. I've avoided being struck by vehicles because I’m always watching, always scanning. It’s a negative, this hypervigilence, but it can be a positive, as well.
Perhaps the GOAL isn't to maintain a superiority of one over the other, light versus dark. Maybe it’s a waste of time to try to be either a superhero or an arch-villain. Perhaps the wisest goal is to realize that we have both tendencies within us, and they both serve a purpose, and the best use of our time and energy is to bring good and evil, light and dark, yin and yang into a state of cooperation so that we can expend our energy on working towards a common goal. A good goal. A positive goal.
How? Well, I don’t have that answer right now. I’m working on it. I’m realizing that I have both good traits and bad traits in me, and instead of working to elevate one over the other, I’m just working towards figuring out the answer. I’m just… oh… wait…. perhaps that IS the answer. Perhaps that is the answer.
Peace be upon you.
