speaking of onions...

I had a long conversation with a friend who often helps open my eyes when all I can see is the obstacles that I generally build in front of myself.

We talked about the roles that people play in each other lives. My excellent, big-picture friend, likened each person's world to an onion. The layers of the onion are the people in our lives. At the centre of your onion, reside the people who are closest to us, who mean the world to us, and who make the biggest contribution to who we are. There is only a limited amount of space at the centre of our onion (for me, 5 or 6 people), and it is impossible to fit more than the limit in.

Everyone else in your life, makes up the remaining layers of the onion. Some are closer to you, and make a bigger contribution than others. Some are just on the peripheral, outer layers. They may dry up and peel away, no longer playing a role in your life at all. New layers grow in the middle. New people may come into the central core of your life, pushing others out to a less significant role.

This prompted me to think at length about the people in my life. Who is in my inner onion? Who is on the periphery? Something began to make sense. There are people in my life for whom I am at the centre of their onion, even though, they may be on the dried up periphery of mine. Likewise, there are likely to be people close to the centre of my inner onion, for whom I am an outer or middle layer in their onion.

I am concerned about being the inner core of two people in my life, for whom they lie on the very edge of my life. Several times, while I was away, I was concerned about the way these people viewed me. I see now that it is important that I peel these layers away very carefully, for the sake of the other onions.

I also am learning to accept that there is one, perhaps two people in my life, for whom I have drifted toward the outer onion layers. Not through any specific event, but just the natural succession of people in each other's lives.

I am thankful that I have several people in my absolute inner onion right now. I would be delighted if these people remained my inner onion for many years, however I also know that I must remain open to that which grows from within. I am open to accepting the new in my onion, delighting in the constant and letting go of the older layers that need to be set free.

posted by gone2canada @ 8:54 p.m. Comments: 0