How to Get Real

In the fairy tale of "Pinocchio," Geppetto makes a wish upon a star that his marionette comes alive. The blue fairy comes down and grants his wish, giving life to Pinocchio. Pinocchio asks her if he's a real boy and she tells him that it's entirely up to him. If he proves himself brave, truthful, and unselfish, then someday, he'll be a real boy. She instructs him that he must choose between right and wrong by following his conscience. Only then can he become a real actor on the stage of life.

There's so much symbolism in this fairy tale that I could probably write a book about it. However, for the purpose of this blog, I will focus on the symbolism of a marionette. Many years ago, a friend of mine, Elmer Unruh, was a master puppeteer who made his own marionettes and gave shows. Even without a stage and curtain to hide behind and the strings clearly visible, he was able to make his marionettes come alive with words and graceful movements and even gave them tangible personalities.

If a human body didn't move or speak, you couldn't tell it apart from a lifeless corpse. But once the body awakes, moves, and speaks, it appears to be alive, just as Pinocchio appears when the blue fairy first touches him with her magic wand, giving him life. But just because it moves and speaks doesn't mean it's real. A human body has invisible strings of needs and wants that pull it this way and that. These can be emotional attachments to people, places, things, outcomes, opinions, etc. Even though Pinocchio no longer has wires attached to his body, he soon becomes attached to vices that control his life. In the same way, many people are attached to addictions: food, drugs, gambling, shopping, sex, etc.

To become real means to let go of our attachments. In The Way, taught at awarenessnow.com and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpEddc-IJl6113tM7hVg0_Q this is the first pillar of Acceptance and Nonresistance. We let go of all resistance to what is, all our prejudices, preferences, complaints, and wanting things and people to be a certain way. We accept that "no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul," as is written in "The Desiderata."

Getting uptight about something means one of your strings is being pulled. When you can feel that tension, connect it to a thought or emotion, and deliberately relax your body and let go of the thought or emotion, you're gradually letting go of the attachment and cutting the string. It doesn't happen overnight, but over time, with continual clearing and rewiring of The Way (perhaps it should be called unwiring), you can be cut free of all attachments and be a real Self-directed "child of the universe," as "The Desiderata" declares.