I So what does it truly mean to be free? In writing this, my debut letter as Editor in Chief of Beauty Come Forth - - to the tens of thousands of you worldwide in search of the answer to that inquiry, I had to delve into my own psyche and ask myself that very same pointed question and be prepared for any answer as it came.
What does freedom really, look like, feel like, taste like, sound like, smell like…? You get the point. At first it was quite a daunting task for me because I am one of those guys who truly don’t like to get too “heady” and psychological in self-discovery. Frankly, it scares me. Beneath the Alpha Male demeanor and the steely veneer is a creature as fragile as anyone else on the planet. I don’t want to discover something I don’t like. But this… this was a journey I had to take. I had no choice. I wanted to ask myself if I were truly free. Here’s what I discovered.
As a child growing up in Jamaica in the early 60’s, I remember, probably to the day, that my parents left my sisters and me in the loving care of our extended family in search of a better life in America. They were in search of a shift in paradigm and the liberation of themselves both physically and spiritually from what they felt was a life on the island, while often beautiful, lacked in the potential they saw for themselves and their family. I was four years old but a very wise four. Even as the second-to-last child and the only boy in the family it was my job to be a protector, a leader, and most importantly I had to do it all while keeping a stiff upper lip. Boys just weren’t free to cry, no matter how much it hurt to see them go. My parents would come to visit us as often as they could while living on the modest income they earned in the U.S. and trying to save enough money to get my three sisters and me permanently with them on American soil.
Throughout their absence I had to find ways to deal, to cope, and to look beyond the situation as it seemed to be, to a brighter future, the one they promised us when they left. It was then that I realized, even at that tender age that freedom is a state of mind. It starts from within, with the desire and the belief in all things possible. And as a child there were no limits to the things I could do in and with my mind. I realized then that my freedom was also strongly connected to my faith. I had to believe.
There was a massive emerald-colored mountain range behind our house in Kingston. It was lush, ominously beauty and impenetrable to my eyes. To me on the other side of the mountain were my parents, waiting on us. I wasn’t about to let that mountain range or anything else keep me away from my parents and the happiness I felt when they were near. So in my mind I would fly there every day. I would soar up over the mountaintops to America, the place where the streets were paved in gold. I would pay them a visit let; them know I loved them and then fly back just in time for supper.
My point is this. When we lose the invaluable perspective of our childhood, we lose our faith. When we lose our faith, we tragically lose our freedom. No one could tell me I couldn’t fly, because I knew I could! But it took that child-like courage to make it happen first in my mind.
On July 2,1972, I flew over that mountain rage again and had the most spectacular view I had ever had of that mountaintop. This time the view was from the seat of a jumbo jet as it flew my sisters and me (five years after my parents’ departure) over the majestic mountain tops of Jamaica and into their loving arms at New York’s JFK Airport.
What is your mountaintop?
Is the loss of a loved one, a difficult marriage or relationship, challenge with your children, an unfulfilled career, a health issue, financial difficulty, a spiritual struggle or just a question as simple as what will I prepare for dinner?
What ever it is, we won’t say that we have all the answers but in this, our premier issue of BEAUTY COME FORTH, we can certainly set you on the path to discovery. Let nothing stand in your way to unlocking that inner child within you who sees the world as truly free.
I am abundantly blessed, honored and humbled by this experience and by this publication. I hope you will be too. Join me on a monthly journey of unlocking the treasures that are within you… but first we have some flying to do, so let’s soar way up over the mountain tops and LIVE FREE!