I walk over the river Arno each day, crossing the Ponte Vecchio to make my way into the city center. Today it is finally cool. I had forgotten the feeling.
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The following paragraph represents a final summation of my entire trip. I cannot overstate how much its implications have helped me. I have been working on it, chewing it down to this digested form, over the course of many weeks. Last night it finally took written form after several attempts. If it seems strange to phrase it in terms of freeing myself from the world, bear in mind that once a soul is free what comes after, for him, needs little elaboration:
If we want anything from others, we create a dependence on their sanction in regard to that thing; for we have granted them the power to withhold it and must work to remain in their favor. However, there is nothing to be desired from other people. The qualities they possess are derivative of the same source as our own being’s value. Once we see that this value is all there is worth desiring, others become like companions in a great venture – but no longer foundations of its meaning. Such a foundation is not specific to any created thing, yet is approachable through all creation. Since the relationship of it to our being is the soul’s only interest, there is no need to contract for secondary gains. The soul, independently, finds its joy solely in pursuit of this essential reality.