Reflections:

The following has been taken from the Prologue of The Alchemist.

The alchemist knew the legend of Narcissus, a youth wo knelt daily beside a lake to comtemplate his own beauty. He was so fascinated by himself that, one morning, he fell into the lake and drowned. At the spot where he fell, a flower was born, which was called the narcissus.

But this was not how the author of the book, the alchemist had picked up, had ended the story.

He said that when Narcissus died, the goddesses of the forest appeared and found the lake, which had been fresh water, transformed into a lake of salty tears.

"Why do you weep?" the goddesses asked.

"I weep for Narcissuss," the lake replied.

"Ah, it is no surprise that you weep for Narcissus," they said, "for though we always pursued him in the forest, you alone could contemplate his beauty close at hand."

"But...was Narcissus beautiful?" the lake asked.

"Who better then you to know that?" the goddesses said in wonder. "After all, it was by your banks that he knelt each day to contemplate himself!"

The lake was silent for some time. Finally, it said;

"I weep for Narcissus, but I never noticed that Narcissus was beautiful. I weep because, each time he knelt beside my banks, I could see, in the depths of his eyes, my own beauty reflected."

"What a lovely story." the alchemist thought.

And that's only the beginning. This book is a jewel on perception. We all look at things differently as I've been complimented and accused of; for which I'm grateful. What world are we creating in our eyes? What are we reflecting back out into the world? With this short one I'll leave with a haiku:

Our imperfections
Like the snowflake in winter
Shines through each of us