Reawakening
Women in Motion for April 2005
Martha Jane Howe
Before we can “re” do anything, we must first accomplish the basic action. But every morning do we wake, awaken, or do we reawaken? My friendly pocket Thesaurus notes that “awake” and “awaken” are more commonly used in the figurative sense than in the literal, which is why we seldom say, “Mornin’ sweetheart! I was wondering when you would reawaken this morning.” Do we call it a “snooze button” because we have not quite achieved wakefulness despite the obnoxious buzzing? “Reawakening function” clearly sounds too esoteric.
Thesauruses are wonderful resources. The list of alternatives sheds new light and casts interesting shadows with forgotten or unexpected reflections:
Awaken: 1. Stimulate, provoke, alert, stir up, kindle 2. Awake, wake, revive, arouse, rouse.
Wake: 1. awake, stir, come to, arise, get up, rouse, get out of bed, 2. awaken, arouse 3. evoke, recall, renew, stimulate, revive, induce, call up.
Wake (noun): vigil, watch, funeral, deathwatch
Wake (2): slipstream, wash, trail, backwash, train, track, waves, path
It has been said that learning is reawakening, evoking, the knowledge we have accumulated through the eternal journey our souls are enjoying. It is interesting that the root of the word holds both the events around honoring death, and noticing the momentary trail left behind in passing. “Wake” holds together exquisite bouquets; renew, funeral, and backwash. Revive, deathwatch, slipstream. Rouse, watch, path. That’s a lot for one word to hold.
On to the pocket dictionary and the resulting daisy chain of definitions;
Awake: 1. to rouse or emerge from sleep 2. not asleep 3. Alert
Rouse: to stir up; arouse
Emerge: 1. to come into existence 2. to come into view.
Sleep: 1. to rest during the natural suspension of consciousness 2. the state or period of sleeping.
Exist/Existence: 1. to be 2. to live. 3. to continue to be or live.
So, to awaken, is to come into existence (to continue to be or live) after the natural suspension of consciousness.
I am reminded of the film “Awakenings” with its heart-wrenching story of people emerging from a suspended state into awareness, then inexorably sliding back into the suspension. It is a fascinating and terrifying story, and we can all relate to their journey. We forget our infant years, ignore the probability of our senility years, and expect a lengthy stretch of wide-awake life in between.
We have read the statistics on percentage of time spent asleep, at work, on-line, etc., etc. What are the statistics on how much time is spent truly awake and present in the moment? Those flashes when we are reawakened to the wonder that is around us in every moment? Or how much time is wasted resentingthe past and fearingthe future? How often do we take responsibilityfor our own awakenings?
Choice. Choice is the wildcard. Ever since the first, tart, apple-flavored taste of the knowledge of right and wrong, we have been continually choosing between the pleasurable and the beneficial. Sooner or later, in each life, we are all reawakened to a myriad of possibilities and we must start making choices, informed or otherwise. Those choices become the fabric of our lives, and our self-awareness or self-delusion. We are the end-result of our chain of choices.
The human mind can rationalize anything, and sheds rules rather like Houdini escaped his chains. The ten commandments are as simple as it gets, and if you can remember them all there’s a good chance you have danced around several of them at one time or another, perhaps even while you are preparing your taxes. False witness, lying, stealing that pen from work… we drift into the sleep of delusion. Hey, it all evens out in the long run. Everyone else is doing it.
One of the oldest topics for spiritual and metaphysical texts has been reawakening from the sleep of delusion, to become alert and aware of the qualities of our actions. To Emerge: 1. to come into existence 2. to come into view. To reawaken to the fact that we already ARE clearly in view, and are being held responsible for each and every choice. Given the all-too-human ability to rationalize away the consequences of unfortunate or uncomfortable actions, perhaps the occasional reawakeningbuzzer is not such a bad idea after all.