"Reach out through the flame..."

This is what Mr. Plant tells us while he describes dancing in heaven. What a wonderful task for us all! How greatly we would benefit if we just forced ourselves through the searing pain of the fire as it licked around our wrists, with the sole intention of discovering something new and free on the outside...

Problem is, Rob, is that it's really hot. This isn't walk-in-the-park-on-a-summers-day-with-no-shirt-on temperature we're talking about. We're putting our hand towards the wall of flames and pulling back a good few times before we decide to throw ourselves straight into it.

So what happens when we do then? I'll tell you - We get burned. A lot.

Our skin peels back and we scream and we cry and we beat ourselves for ever considering such a preposterous idea in the first place. Still, we do see the outside, right? Totally. We see it, then we draw back from it, knowing it's within reach and then get even more bowled over when we realise that we might never get to spend any time out there because of all this pain.

I'm not trying to be negative. Really, I'm not, I just want to assure you all that I don't try to convince myself that I need to throw off the shackles of oppression to get to the next point. I think, the more I breathe, the more still I am, the more the fire dies down, the more I see of my surroundings and, gradually, I hope I'll be able to step over the line.

I think I know what I mean - I'm trying to convince myself that there's still potential for some of my dreams to work out. Maybe I'm being pretentious.

Regardless of how much this may read like a pile of fatuous arse-bilge, I stick by it, because otherwise I've got to start running at that bloody fire again.

'tonm
xx


Book of the Moment: n/a

Song of the Moment: "Road to Zion" by Damien Marley & Nas