The Farewell, taken from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

"For often have I put my finger in my own wound that I might have the greater belief in you and the greater knowledge of you.

And it is with this belief and this knowledge that I say,

You are not enclosed within your bodies, nor confined to houses or fields.

That which is you dwells above the mountain and roves with the wind.

It is not a thing that crawls into the sun for warmth or digs holes into darkness for safety,

But a thing free, a spirit that envelops the earth and moves in the ether.

If this be vague words, then seek not to clear them.

Vague and nebulous is the beginning of all things, but not their end,

And I fain would have you remember me as a beginning.

Life, and all that lives, is conceived in the mist and not in the crystal.

And who knows but a crystal is mist in decay?

This would I have you remember in remembering me:

That which seems most feeble and bewildered in you is the strongest and most determined.

Is it not your breath that has erected and hardened the structure of your bones?

And is it not a dream which none of you remember having dreamt that building your city and fashioned all there is in it?

Could you but see the tides of that breath you would cease to see all else,

And if you could hear the whispering of the dream you would hear no other sound.

But you do not see, nor do you hear, and it is well.

The veil that clouds your eyes shall be lifted by the hands that wove it,

And the clay that fills your ears shall be pierced by those fingers that kneaded it.

And you shall see

And you shall hear.

Yet you shall not deplore having known blindness, nor regret having been deaf.

For in that day you shall know the hidden purposes in all things,

And you shall bless darkness as you would bless light."

The Farewell, taken from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

This work 'The prophet' is the greatest book of writing I have read to date, and I believe Kahlil was both supremely inspired and a prophet in his own right.

Many of my brothers and sisters are imprisoned in cages built around their minds and find themselves trapped in cycles they neither choose nor control.

The key to these bars that hold the mind prisoner is knowledge, and writings like these (which could easily be considered seed knowledge) are excellent places to start, and even better places to live.

Why I share this is because I truly believe that an informed and conscious people will not be herded like mindless masses in service of anyone else's agenda, and would instead forge new futures and lead the way forward for us all with open hearts and open minds.

Our people need to be open minded and free, free from emotional reaction and ego, conscious of the purpose of the energies of life and the part we all play in it.

As the new year begins it is the perfect time to resolve to wake up and open your mind so that you may arrive at peace and happiness.

My wish for you is that you find your way...