The crossroads within.

NP: Whitesnake – Don’t Fade Away

Took me a lot of time, songs, people, jobs, seasons, feelings and so much more to get here and realize there’s more to life between the lands and the skies, light and dark, happy and sad, than our vain philosophy.

There’s a meaning to the moment, there’s a meaning to everything we live and it’s all about the balance we keep between things.

It’s like standing in the middle of a crossroads, seeing everything happening on many different roads, and not being able to move. We just hang there, watching. And it should be scary.

But there’s beauty in waiting. There’s something grand in just standing there, watching all the madness that surrounds you.

If there was a way to explain it, I’d say it evolves from patience. But not really. It also comes from peace and being centred within. It comes from realizing everything has a time and place to happen, and if it hasn’t happened yet, it’s because it’s not the moment.

Because there’s more to life than words and explanations. Because an image is worth indeed more than a thousand words. Because everything we wish for comes in the shape of happiness, but not always do we reach it. Because nothing perfect ever happens without an effort. Because the waiting should be felt and hard, and there should be growth out of it. And if there’s not, it is not worth it, nor recognized.

That’s what winter’s for. Ponder, always. Consider the weather, the facts passing you by, consider your mood and will. Consider whatever feeling comes to surface; consider the beat of your heart when you think about what you want. Consider your breathing. Consider all the roads that lead to you, and consider where each of them comes from.

Consider the wind and its directions… consider your thoughts. Consider what’s above and below, and all of their colours.

Consider what you have to leave behind, and what you’ll achieve. Consider every change that’s implied in getting what you want. Consider, more than anything else, that this might not be for good. Ponder. For longer, again and over again.

And when you’re standing there in the crossroads, watching all the madness around you, after pondering for so long, realize it’s just a moment. Everything is happening around you and even if it all seems twisted, find the peace inside yourself. That’s the only way you’ll find to be standing there without being harmed.

Because you’ll never be alone. You’ll never live one thing at a time, it will happen altogether, making you feel there’s billions of you inside trying to get out in so many different ways… because you’re not just one. You’re so many. Take that into consideration, and when you do, right there, that’s the time when you can be in the middle of turmoil and yet you’ll be in peace within yourself and all that chaos will seem serene and it will change everything. That is when you see the beauty in chaos.

Maybe you’ll never leave the crossroads, but it won’t matter anymore. Once you’ve achieved that state of mind, you can be anywhere, and you’ll always feel home and in peace and it’ll always seem to be the most peaceful scene.

“As I stand at the crossroad,
I see the sun sinking low
With my cross of indecision,
I can't tell which way to go

Now I have seen the seven wonders
And I have sailed the seven seas,
I've walked and talked with angels,
And danced all night with gypsy queens

All in all it's been a rocky road,
Twists and turns along the way
But, I still pray for tomorrow,
All my hopes, my dreams
Don't fade away, don't fade away

I have painted many portraits,
Memories of love and pain,
Though cut down by life's deceptions
I found the strength to start again

All in all it's been a rocky road,
Twists and turns along the way
But, I still pray for tomorrow,
All my hopes, my dreams
Don't fade away, don't fade away

Heaven help a man
Trying to make up his mind,
With the darkness closing in,
I feel I'm running out of time

Shine a light for me,
Help me find the way to go,
And take me where I've never been before

And so I stand at the crossroad,
Watching the sun sinking low
With my cross of indecision,
Trying to find the way to go

All in all it's been a rocky road,
Twists and turns along the way,
But, I still pray for tomorrow
All my hopes, my dreams
Don't fade away”