I'd like to say a word about the term "introspection", rather in the way that the television show Sesame Street is sponsored by various vowels and consonants. I'll take a moment, first, to say that if all media functioned as effectively as Sesame Street then I would not rush to change the channel from cable news shows to Turner Classic Movies whenever I get the chance.
Introspection is a word like introvert that gets a far worse rap than it deserves. Introspection is emo.
Introspection is awkward. Introspection is naive, but also somehow a bit worldly and perhaps on the borders of pompous.
But don't you believe it.
Introspection is not merely an exercise of the eye and navel. It's not a diversion or a sidetrack. It's an essential part of the journey. Introspective moments are where we gain insights, and find missions, and select, like picking an essential song on a jukebox during an essential night out, just what melody will be the melody of our lives.
I was oblivious, until I thought a moment. Then I was changed--and far better.
In meditative moments we sometimes find the passage to an inner kingdom--and we savor the sound of our footsteps, as they seem to almost glide, in thought, towards the doorway--the doorway in.
I do not know much about those alabaster cities which gleam unstained by human tears. Blood, sweat and teaars seem particularly necessary sometimes. But I know about purple mountains and majesty and the power of a thought to be a force for good--a thought I believe one encounters in thoughtful silence, and grasps onto for joyous, dear life.
