The world is a prison and we are the prisoners:
Dig a hole in the prison wall and let yourself out! -Rumi
Many years ago I had a dream that I was in prison and that I had been there for some time. At mealtime, my jailer brought me food and I noticed when he came into my cell that he didn’t unlock it and when he left he didn’t lock it. I had never realized it was unlocked and I felt unsafe at that realization. I hollered at him that he was supposed to lock the door! He replied that it was never locked, and I indignantly asked “what kind of a prison is this?” to which he replied that it wasn’t really a prison, more like a hotel for those who felt they should be there.
After he left, and after a bit of fuming that this was no way to run a prison, I felt a deep sadness that my “jailer” had to spend a portion of his life in this prison only to take care of me, someone who apparently was choosing to be there. And I wondered who really was the prisoner and who the jailer as it was my “choice” that kept him there.
Then I noticed everyone rushing past my “cell”. So I tentatively walked to the cell door, opened it, and stepped out, half expecting someone to yell at me to get back in the cell. When they didn’t, I went out to the central courtyard where everyone was gathered with great anticipation. Shortly, a woman, along with her entourage, walked into the courtyard. All of us “prisoners” and “guards” were swept up in her radiance that was so dazzling that it was difficult to look at her for too long. We were all suffused with awe, devotion, and a perfect light filled our bodies, heart, and mind. From previous visions, I knew her to be Earth Mother, herself, and, as everyone, was breathless in her presence.
She walked through the courtyard and her presence uplifted us all. Then she climbed a set of stairs that led to a doorway. At the doorway, she paused and looked back directly at me and gave me a dazzling smile that was filled with love, freedom, and an invitation to join her. My heart was transformed by that smile and I was infused with a freedom that would never accept boundaries again.
Perhaps you, too, feel yourself bound and imprisoned within your life. I am here to tell you that the doors are not locked in your prison cell and it is only you that is keeping you there. As Rumi says, ‘dig a hole and let yourself out!’ How? start where you are and begin to dig through the mass of beliefs, judgments, pain, fear, anger to release them. They are the bricks of your prison; remove them and you will be free.