Journey

by Ralph Grover, MROP 2010, Aravaipa Canyon Ranch, AZ

I walked alone into the night.
Not aware of my loneliness.
Not aware of the darkness.
One day I took a step,
one step too many.
No ground was beneath my feet.
I fell, in terror.
Nothing I could do stopped my fall.
Oh the pain!
My flesh was tearing,
my bones were breaking,
my self was dying.
Then came the silence, the kind after all the screaming stops.
From within the silence I heard a call, felt a touch, saw a light.
They said, “Here I AM.”
And the Journey began.

 

"The Pretender:"
True Self Calling False Self

by Timmy Gallagher, MROP 2006, Frost Valley, NY

This song, to me, is simply awesome. Great sound, great lyrics (see below), and the video is great, too.  

I dig the title, "The Pretender." It reminds me of Joseph Campbell, mentor to George Lucas. Campbell both studied and taught on the transformational power of myth throughout his life and gave many talks on the masks we wear.

keep you in the dark you know they all pretend
keep you in the dark and saw it all begin

send in your skeletons
sing as the bones come marchin' in again
the knee you buried deep
the secrets that you keep are ever ready, are you ready?

I'm finished making sense
done pleading ignorance
that whole defense
spending this energy
but the wheel thats spinnin' me is never ending, never ending
same ol' story

what if I say you're not like the others
what if I you're not just another one
look at your face, you're the pretender
what if I say I'll never surrender x2

in time I'm so I'm told
I'm just another soul for sale, oh well
the pages I repress
they are not permanent, they are temporary, same ol story

what if I say you're not like the others
what if I you're not just another one
look at your face, you're the pretender
what if I say I'll never surrender x2

I'm the voice inside your head you refuse to hear
I'm the face you have to face mirroring yourself
I'm whats left, I'm whats right, I'm the enemy
I'm the hand that takes you down and brings you to your knees

so who are you, yeah who are you, yeah who are you, yeah who are you
even in the dark, you know they all pretend

what if I say you're not like the others
what if I you're not just another one
look at your face, you're the pretender
what if I say I'll never surrender

what if I say you're not like the others
(even in the dark, you know they all pretend)
what if I you're not just another one
(even in the dark, you know they all pretend)
look at your face, you're the pretender
(even in the dark, you know they all pretend)
what if I say I'll never surrender x3

so who are you
yeah who are you
yeah who are you
yeah who are you...

Dave Grohl, formerly of Nirvana, leaves the lyrics open for interpretation. As for me, I hear the True Self calling the False Self out, that it is time for the True Self to break out—to fight.

      keep you in the dark,
      send your skeletons in,
      not like the others,
      who are you?

Wow! The true self is calling the false self out. Truth both calls us to recognize the limits of our external selves and invites us into the internal struggle to know and experience our larger identity. Now that's men’s work.