Moments of Clarity

Have you ever had a moment of clarity - a time when the stars seemed to align and you clearly knew the direction for your life? The occurrences of these moments in literature and film are numerous.

One of the starkest examples occurs in Herman Hesse's novel Siddhartha. Siddhartha is struggling with his privileged life and haunted by the terrible poverty around him. He has searched far and wide, in every faith for the answers to his questions. As he sits by a river, everything comes together. He realizes that he is completely alone - a faith exile. Instead of shrinking from this realization, he decides to embrace it and this sparks a profound awakening:

I, who wished to read the book of the world and the book of my own nature, did presume to despise the letters and signs. I called the world of appearances, illusion. I called my eyes and tongue, chance. Now it is over; I have awakened. I have indeed awakened and have only been born today.

So, what about you. Have you ever had a stark moment of awakening? Can you recall a moment in film or literature? What is the meaning of these watershed moments?

Join us Thursday night, at 7pm for a conversation about epiphanies!