We Build Our Own Cages

We build our own cages and live within them because we think they will keep us safe. It’s like building a wall around our hearts. Some of us are internal about it but I think in many ways that safety net is legitimate and physical. I think we see something that threatens our being, confidence, any sense of knowing that we’re okay—and we set up a bar. We know to not go there again. But when we start living within that cage, and decorating its steel bars with pretty little flowers, we’re brainwashed into thinking that it’s the real, free universe. That’s the stuff of breakdowns. We stop building cages and start digging graves.

It’s like the fear of someone or something or somewhere just penetrates our psyche and we’re following that dictator like we have no mind of our own. Some call it irrationality. To the extent that we’re able, we decide when we’re going to allow ourselves to be free, when the dictator is our own fear. We must free our minds. Even the caged bird can sing, if only he can find the tune.

I remember when I let my own world come crashing down on top of me. There was no cathedral to protect me, God did not reach down his hand and help me up. Scared, and defeated, I laid there and reached, begged, pleaded, that he wouldn’t let this happen. I had to break and shatter the idea that anything could be changed unless I changed it. Are there miracles? Sure. But at the very least, you’ll never even see it happening if you don’t get up and look.

Free yourself from the confines that bind you. Maybe you built steel bars around your heart because you thought they had to be there. You wanted to protect yourself from being hurt so badly again. Take them down. Walk out. This may be physical or it may be metaphorical. But either way, know that there’s nothing worse than not experiencing life for the fear of what it may bring.