Strange Allure

I have a weakness... it's the fact that Time often plays tricks on me, pulling me in, leading me on, lulling me into a quiet repose, until I am fooled by my own tenderness. I believe truly deeply that something calm has finally enveloped me, and I should be able to breathe in unadultered air. I exist in a natural bubble of honest innocence, and it's then, in that moment of absolute vulnerability, when suddenly everything goes awry and Swoosh! I'm picked up again by the storm that blew in, from the distant, churning waters of the sea. I remember things I am supposed to forget. I feel things I am supposed to supress. I act in ways from which I am supposed abstain.

The difficulty lies in the awareness of it all. I sense when the winds approach; I feel the hairs raise along my arms; I can smell the iron, mold and salt in the air as it hangs in dead stillness all around me. The charge that flows along my skin and causes a surge in my pulse is unlike any other. It signals a threshold between action and non-action that threatens to change the very course of my life -- all dependent upon what I choose to do. What I choose to say, what jokes I choose to make, how I send a look across the room, or knowingly drop my view to the floor. It's here that I balance... and can fall to either direction.

During periods of calm, I "behave", don't break the rules, accept responsibility, manage the turbulence of life, and through it all, still remain true to myself and to my loved ones. I feel civilized, proper, and quiet. I don't tell lies, but I also choose not to speak when faced with a challenging situation. When given the choice to reveal a hidden aspect of me, or remain silent, I choose the latter, for the safety of it all. I am socially conservative.

It's when I'm in the midst of an explosive episode that I yearn to be in diametric opposition to where I stand in safety. Yes, I want to be loyal to my husband, and I still feel all the desire for responsibility and civility, but the choice is that much more difficult. I don't know the reasons behind my swings in personality; they just exist. I have a feeling that my entire life will constantly be challenged by these very aspects of who I am. If I can stay clear and present with the change as it is occurring, then perhaps at least I can live a full life of awareness, and at most, with compassion.

Currently, I can sense a storm approaching. The tides are acting out, unruly, and unpredictable. The sea is coming for me, and from the way I've been thinking all day, I'm not so sure I can continue gazing at the floor anymore.