Perhaps Life Is . . . . .

By Farinaz Parsay

In this book, Farinaz Parsay takes the reader on a journey of looking back at her life and reviewing the lessons learned in the process of her own transformation. Based on that, she concludes the following:
Perhaps life is the story of not reliving the past but
letting it go by seeking the gifts of healing.
Perhaps life is having more compassion for oneself and
the courage to face and embrace our fears while moving
through the healing process.
Perhaps life is listening to the messages of our poets who have long been telling us to get out of the self and to live with greater awareness and respect for the wholeness of life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Jul 12, 2016
• ISBN: 9781504358026

Farinaz Parsay

Farinaz Parsay is a specialist in educational sciences and is a registered nurse. She received her master’s degree in educational research and her doctorate in educational sciences in Paris, France. She has worked as a consultant with the World Health Organization in Southeast Asia region for a period of fourteen years. At present, she lives in the United States.

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Copyright © 2016 Farinaz Parsay.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-5043-5801-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-5802-6 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date: 09/02/2016

CONTENTS

Introduction

I. Perhaps Life is a Short Story

1. I Am Your Mother

2. Leaving Home

3. Oceans Apart

4. The Revolution

5. Risking it All

6. I Am a Survivor

7. The Joy of Acceptance

8. Home Again

9. An Extraordinary Alien

II. Perhaps Life is Pathways to Awareness

Are Humans Self-Centered?

Writer’s Collection

1. Being the Source

2. Feeling Connected

3. The Eye of Spirit

4. Nothing to Hang on to

5. Am I Resisting Something?

6. Set Them Free

7. Is My Language Effective?

8. The Freedom to Look at Myself

9. A Proper Cup of Tea!

10. Yesterday I Had Tomorrow

11. Amazing!

12. Teachings of Abraham Hicks

13. All That We Have

14. Living in Awe

15. Thinking in Mythological Terms

16. FEBRUALIA!

17. Persian New Year

18. Seven Best Ways to Communicate

19. There Is No Cure for the Facts of Life

20. The Night at CIBO’s

21. Who Am I That My Sufferings Are

22. Light of Truth

23. Through The Mirroring Eyes

24. In Search of Reality

25. How to Stand in Your Possibility

26. On Leadership

27. Trust Is a Declaration

28. Choosing to Enjoy Life

29. Which Track Are You On

30. Once Upon a Time – Nepal

31. Humanity

32. On Being Tolerant

33. This Story Makes You Smile

34. Stress or Distress

35. The Ending Year

36. Be the One Who Shows up for You

37. Psychological Trauma Is Not Just an Event

38. The Other in Me

39. Where You Are Going Is Where You Are Standing Now!

40. Love Is What We Were Born With

41. There Is So Much to Do and to Be!

42. Singularity as a Vision of Human Capability

43. Evolution in Brief

44. Autism Awareness

III. Perhaps Life Is Poetry

One Message

1. The Love Religion

2. Only Breath

3. I Have Learned

Poems by Rumi

A Year With Rumi. Coleman Barks

1. One Swaying Being

2. The Taste of Morning

3. Sky Circles

4. An Evolving Course

5. Move Within

The Essential Rumi. Coleman Barks

1. This We Have Now

2. Dance

3. A Just Finishing Candle

4. Say I Am You

5. Wean Yourself

6. The Guest House

7. All Rivers at Once

8. On Being Woven

9. The Water Wheel

10. A Community of the Spirit

11. How Finite Minds Most Want to Be

12. I Honor

13. Be Melting Snow

Rumi With a View. Shahin Motallebi

1. Pilgrims

Poems by Hafiz

The Gift. Daniel Ladinsky

1. WOW

2. I Got Kin

3. Covers Her Face With Both Hands

4. How Do I Listen

5. It Felt Love

6. Please

7. The Sun Never Says

Poems by Omar Khayyam

1. Today

2. I Stood Alone

3. The Door

4. Come With Khayyam

Modern Persian Poetry

Poems by Forough Farrokhzad

1. Window

2. The Bird Was Only a Bird

3. Another Birth

4. Gift

Poems by Sohrab Sepehri

The Eight Books. Bahiyeh Afnan Shahid

1. If

2. In Search of

3. Morning

4. Lanterns

5. Friend

6. Freshness

7. House of the Friend

8. Life Is

9. That Night

10. Purity

11. Dream

12. The Birds

13. A Voice

Poems by Farinaz Parsay

1. Isness

2. Humanity

3. Friendship

IV. References for Poetry

Dedicated to my dear children

Behrad and Lily

with gratitude for making this journey possible

INTRODUCTION

My goal for writing this book was to create the opportunity to reflect on my life and to write about the process of my awakening and the transformation of my consciousness. I wanted to visit the past and stay with its pain long enough to receive the blessings and tools I needed for healing and manifesting a better future.

I had a difficult childhood which left me feeling violated, abused and abandoned. As a result, I learned to stay away from people and keep my fears and feelings to myself. I never talked about any of my experiences, almost as though they never happened, and I never grieved anything either. This also affected my relationships as an adult and yet I wouldn’t confront my wounds. I would escape my thoughts and emotions and therefore was rarely present to myself or those around me. I was clearly protecting myself by denial and dissociation but at the same time remaining at the mercy of my traumatic childhood.

While working in South East Asia I raised my children with limited support, and yet I was successful in accomplishing my goals as a provider and as a mother, to the best of my abilities. At the same time I was also aware of my traumatized inner child and knew that I needed to go through a healing process as soon as I could. I needed to find the courage to face my wounds and feel the emotions I had run from for many years. I knew that if I didn’t, I would repeat patterns that were not serving me. That’s why I embarked on a path which included getting professional help, reading many books, and attending various workshops. All of these avenues enabled me to embrace my past memories, talk about my childhood traumas and be compassionate to my inner child. I now have the social support that I need and I am mindful of my automatic defensive habits and attitudes. As a result, I don’t succumb to those habits as often as I did before.

According to psychotherapist and author David Richo:

We know we face the challenge of becoming adults who can hold opposites with equanimity. We cannot unlive our painful history, but we do not have to relive it. We can’t let go of it, but we do not have to hold on to it. There is a path to love among the ruins.

An important lesson for me in this process was realizing that the deepest part of me has always been engaged in doing things and providing for others instead of being there emotionally and being consciously present. In fact, doing what I had to do was my only saving grace in life because it kept me busy and helped me cope. What I am learning now is to shift from doing to being which means being present to myself, and others, and opening my own heart to more connection. This will lead to having more compassion for myself and will give me the courage to face and embrace my fears and to successfully move through the healing process.

Looking back I can also see that my life has always been devoted to awakening the awareness in myself and others. I often thought to myself that I am only here to carry on and do the tasks that are needed to be done but at times that left me feeling empty, lonely and as though something was missing. This void has yet to be filled and as I continued to look for more meaning and purpose, I thought perhaps the suffering and loneliness I encounter are doorways to my awareness to look more within than without, and to become selfless. As I worked with courage in the most difficult life situations across the world, I also learned to pay attention to the things that I could cherish and appreciate, instead of only seeing the sorrow and sadness. I leaned on my creativity which lit up my heart and embraced the work in progress that I was. I trusted the universe and I let my intentions guide me. I also empowered myself by continuing to read and learn from those who shared their wisdom by writing about their life experiences. My focus and goals moving forward are to continue increasing my awareness and sharing what I learn with others.

***

PERHAPS LIFE IS:

A SHORT STORY

I Am Your Mother

It was a beautiful spring day in Tehran – Iran. I was seventeen years old and in the last few weeks of high school education. We were