Reverse, Redefine, and Reconnect
Pen sketches | 07 March 2026
We constantly make sense of ourselves through subjective interpretation. It’s often not true that “___ happened, so I feel ___.” Sometimes it’s reversed: emotion comes first, and meaning is built around it.
Emotions act like an anchor, pulling us into a field of similar energy and past experiences in the present moment. The mind automatically constructs stories to make sense of inner feelings. As Alfred Adler suggested, we interpret experiences based on our present state, creating narratives that make emotions understandable.
The past may influence us, but it does not define us. Only we can help ourselves. By gradually reversing habitual ways of seeing and responding in the present, we can create new habits (automatic patterns) that move us forward.
Just like this drawing — the extending lines are like the meanings we create in life. Lines seem to extend endlessly from themselves, crossing, intertwining, and sometimes getting lost in the open space. As I drew, I could only focus on the area in front of me; only when the lines met could I bring my attention back and see the full image. Constantly creating meaning, we can forget the place of oneness from which all lines and meaning arise.
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Faith can lift us from the swamp, but only we can do the work ourselves. By letting the bigger power within — our Buddha-nature — step in where our limits reach, we find clarity beyond our own capacity. Praying is standing in this clarity, recognising our limits, and trusting your own Buddha-hood that we are only a temporary vessel for disturbing forces, this will pass. You pray for yourself, feel for others, and extend that prayer to all who may be walking through the same struggles.
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Life can be frustrating, but to pray and keep strengthening faith. The drawing of yours can never be ugly, just a reflection of the journey.
