Escape. To paradise? Where exactly is ‘paradise’? Who and what gets to enjoy this special place, this ideal environment? The educator Esther Hicks observes that in all our fantasizing about the perfect home, we forget to imagine the leaky faucet. We dismiss the possibility that our paradise requires bug spray. These logical errors happen because the concept of paradise is that of an external place. “When I am there, I will be happier than I am now.” Paradise, whatever it may be, is not an external location with leaky faucets and bugs; it is a mental state of ever increasing awareness. It is, as some called it, raised consciousness. Our minds attain a greater and greater awareness of our thoughts, behaviors, and feelings so we are the masters of our minds, rather than at their mercy. You are the only one who will ever think your thoughts. They can lead you to greatness, or trap you in the deepest cave of despair. This painting is a representation of the fluidity of self-mastery. Self-mastery is not a “place” that one arrives; it is a continuous process in every moment. “You never step in the same river twice,” the saying goes. So, too, with self-mastery. It is a fluid process over your lifetime that brings the mental state that so many of us believe is paradise. My hope is that every time you sip from this mug, you feel compassion for yourself as you move through the paradise of expanded awareness.
• Ceramic • 11 oz mug dimensions: 3.8″ (9.6 cm) in height, 3.2″ (8.2 cm) in diameter • Dishwasher and microwave safe
