Those Doors…

Be open to new experiences… be open to trying new things and meeting new people… open all the doors you find in your way and something good will always come of it… and if you cannot open the doors yourself, do everything in your power to find some way or someone who can do it for you… have your doors, much like your arms, open to everybody, nothing bad can come of it… How about knowing when to close those metaphorical doors – on a chapter of your life, on a person, on a situation? Isn’t that sort of knowledge underrated, the same way both the open doors of our heart policy and the people who can open all sorts of doors for us are often overrated?

The older we get, the more difficult it becomes to be open to new challenges, but to actually close the door and put an end to undesirable situations in which we might find ourselves. Instead, we fool ourselves into thinking we might fix everything, we might change whatever isn’t working properly, when in fact we do know when something has escalated to a point beyond return or repair. But doesn’t one determine the other? Aren’t we afraid to close the door on certain people or contexts simply because we dread the moment when yet again we have to start over? The routine of disappointment mixed with stubbornness and hope can sometimes blur out the warning signs and we fail to see and/or accept that we need to move on once more… close some doors and open new ones.

Walking away without looking back can prove challenging these days… it used to be different. I remember how easy letting go used to be. It took two ballet lessons to understand that I wasn’t meant for it and move on to something else. When I was in kindergarten, it took me 10 minutes to understand that the boy I liked for months was a bore, once I mustered the courage to go and play with him; as soon as I realized that, I stood up and left, to never care about him again. Sure, we’re not children anymore, the complexity of our lives can often be overwhelming and nothing is either black or white, all the shades in between become unbearable and suffocating at times. But when have we forgotten that any doors we might have opened willingly (or otherwise) at some point can also be closed? When have we become so unable to just close the door behind us and walk away?…

Thank you, Tina, for reminding me that even if I’m more of a window person, doors can be equally fascinating, literally and metaphorically (Lens Artists Weekly Photo Challenge – Doors and Doorways).