Thursday, November 4, 2010

Vicarious Living

Vicariousfelt or enjoyed
through imagined participation
in the experience of others: a vicarious thrill.
 
Vicarious Living.
What a concept! What possibility!
To live vicariously through others allows one to dream,
experience and live as they might not do on their own. 
You can live vicariously through movies, tabloids, blogs, and other media.
You can live vicariously through friends, family and those around you.
You can live vicariously through books, dreams, even rumors.
 
Vicarious living can be entertaining.
It can give us an escape.
It can be healthy if not overused.
 
It can also gives us an excuse.
An excuse not to live our own lives.
Make our own magic.
Have our own happy ending.

Vicarious living has caused stagnation in my life.
I am realizing that now.
 
I have spent much of my time on this planet imagining I had the life of someone else.
As a child I lived vicariously as a way to survive.
As a young adult, it was a way to dream and imagine the possibility of my life.
Even now I spend time on other blogs imagining how amazing it must feel to create,
 to succeed, to get published,
to own land, to do any of the things I wish and desire to do.

Silly me! All the time and energy I spent living vicariously
could have been spent creating exactly the life I want!
Of course I didn't always know what I wanted.
I learned a lot about what attracts me,
what moves me and what I desire through watching others.

From now on I vow to use observation
to learn
to appreciate
to get inspired

NOT to live vicariously.

no more excuses
no more fears

I vow to live my life.
full of action
full of love
full of passion

for Me!


How about you? Are you ready to live?
If you haven't already, start your journey today.
I dare you!


11 comments:

nacherluver said...

This post was written yesterday afternoon when the lesson started enveloping me. The words just spilled. It's amazing how great I have been feeling since putting it out there! Note to self: remember to come back and visit this one so I don't forget!
Isn't that path amazing? I love walking it!!!

Karen Wallace said...

Beautiful post. Love the images. Hugs Karen

Caroline said...

OMG!!! I love this post. It's all so true. I am sitting here smiling and thinking that this is such an Aha! moment for me. It's time to start living my dream too. Thank you for your words today...so beautiful...so authentic! And this photo *sigh* perfect.

xoxo

John said...

Wow Lynn!

What an inspiring post. So many get lost in other people lifes it makes it easy to ignore one's own! Fantastic!!! You should be most pleased with yourself!

aimee said...

and it looks like you are off to a good start by doing nanowrimo! good for you!!

Elena said...

Amazing words and gorgeous photo! Live vicariously oh beautiful one!!! And I'm sending you a squeeze hug for the great comment to my blog post today. You rock!

Shona Cole said...

so right! I have done a fair amount of vicarious living. today I spend the afternoon making real life goals and working out the small steps I am going to take to get there. dreams are always there, to strive for. it takes work, but worth it in the end (or the middle :)
good words.

beth said...

i want to live by walking down that beautiful wooden path/bridge and then run into the field beyond to see what hidden dreams it hides....

Shannon said...

YESSSSSS! i am loving living more fully than ever before. great post!

Jaime said...

Holy cow, I can't believe I am reading these words right now. Just over the last several days, I have had a few conversations with close friends about this very thing. I get caught up in wanting what other people have....and then something shifted, just like it did with you! And I started moving inward..looking on the inside, instead of observing everything on the outside. And I realized that so much of what I was wishing for, I already had!!! It's so much better when my focus is on my own life, not feeling less-than as I compare myself to everyone else...and just like you, I decided to use observation as inspiration, and nothing more.
It has been a huge week in this respect, and reading your post right now is the most wonderful confirmation that yes, I am finally getting it.
THANK YOU!
(and that photo by the way is absolutely divine. I want to step right into it...I wish that was possible.)

gypsysticks said...

oh, that picture is sooo perfect.
you're words are insightful and true...
here's to living!
=)

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