Embracing Eros progressively increases the power of the involuntary until it subsumes the rational mind. Eros turns up the light so we see more clearly both our neuroses and our natural gifts.
Both the darkness and the light inside intensify, and it may actually be the light that is most painful. It makes us so vulnerable, open, and exposed to ridicule. That is a hard place to be.
We have been told in subtle and explicit ways that if we shine too brightly, we will be extinguished. We don’t acknowledge brilliance. We shame it because ecstatic brightness requires a responsive light from us, and we live in a world that wants utility, that wants us all buttoned-up. A world where being ultra-sensitive and aware is a dangerous thing. Yet Eros persuades us to expose ourselves, regardless of the projections we may incur.
Nobody wants confirmation that their disowned fragments are truly evil. They don’t want to win that battle. Winning would be a defeat. It would make life meaningless. Our true selves are looking for something else. We choose to demonstrate the resilience of innocence. We choose to open and keep opening. This is the only choice Eros reveres: our own free will. It is really all we have.
