Release the river.

No more home and, therefore, no physical place I can call my own other than my body.

No more job and, therefore, no livelihood I can call my own other than my quest for love.

No more relationship and, therefore, no person I can call my own other than myself.

Remove these three attributes of life and you remove most of who we say we are.

If it's not about being happy with where we live now, it's about where we wish we'd live or about the place we wish to leave behind. If it's not about the job we are happy with now, it's about the job we wish we had, or the job we wish to quit. If it's not about the relationship we are happy in now, it's about the one we wish we had or the relationship we wish to end.

Picture these three aspects of life as antique Greek jars decorated with happenings of life. Born into this world we were shown how to make pilgrimage to the pond of our spirit, so that we may rob its waters and pour them into these jars. Look at the jars long enough and we forget that within them pure water is contained. Look at the jars long enough, and we forget that the sole function of these jars is to contain that which is within. Look at the jars long enough and in time the jars themselves have become more real than the water they contain.

Pick up those jars, throw them to the ground and release the river. Our true nature is the water within: a spirit shapeless and clear. Let us not measure our being by our attributes, but rather by the courage of our spirit and the honesty with which we long for love.