Windows

​The window is my favorite invention created throughout mankind's history. Nearly 2,000 years ago, people dwelling in a Roman-controlled Egypt likely were the first to use glass panes in their home holes. Thereafter, man need not exit his domicile to check the weather or reflect on the surrounding landscape.

Windows mark a transparent barrier separating the controllable interior of a manmade structure to the undisciplined exterior of the outside world. A resident governs their dominion and the appearance of it.  Man dictates the environment he inhabits. I may move my possessions where I please. Modern technology empowers me to control the temperature of my home. The incense I burn and the music I play are choices I may make whilst encompassed by my walls. But gaze through the window and name me a man who can command rain to fall or wind to blow or birds to tweet.

Windows are a precise allegory to the human body. The body signifies a barrier separating the controllable interior of the mind and soul to the uncontrollable exterior of the outside world. With gestures of thought and meditation, the mind contemplates, rekindles lost experiences, spawns ideas and fantasies, and formulates dreams and visions; these acts partially dictated by your conscience and partially dictated by your soul. But gaze through your eyes and name me a man who bears the strings of another’s will.

What does this mean? I can manufacture conclusions but cannot conclude for somebody else, for they are under their own jurisdiction and not mine. Therefore, the opinions of others will not cause my mind to anguish as I never could control their thoughts in the first place. I was given this body and not theirs, so why should I weep over a thought not of my own? If another wrongfully casts judgement upon you, do not give in to sorrow. Let them carry the burden of a hateful creature, for their maliciousness or ignorance reflects their struggle. Instead: process, learn, grow, and do not let the uncontrollable influence what you can control.
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It is within my power to end my own anguish because my anguish is my own. It is within my power to seek to end the anguish of others; but I can only act as far as I am able, for their anguish is not my own. Any attempt to end the anguish of others outside of the possible realm will be an act against the will of God and the universe He administrates. I can never best such a formidable opponent, therefore I shall not seek to manipulate what I cannot control.
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Windows are a stern gateway; they permit the sunshine to enter but never the rain. Therefore, let your body be as a window: do not let the outside storm influence your mind and soul, but welcome the sunshine so that your perspective of life never succumbs to rust.