I am a city gone to ruin, each district having buried the memory of the existence of any other. I yearn for wholeness, for bringing together my disparate parts, for seeing the light returning to the eyes of my ‘citizens’- the different identities in me- as they realize they are not apart, not alone.

Each district is governed by an independent warlord swearing allegiance to no one else, who cares only for his or her own. Any incursions from inhabitants of other districts are seen as trespassers and punished.

If I listen in, I can make out their broadcasts over the inner wireless- their observations, commandments, complaints, schemes, preaching, even singing. Some are sharing, some are selling, some are uncertain, each one calling for attention, each one with something to say.

Who’s to say if these separated and independent commanders need my generous support and advocacy or discipline and reformation? Or simply a good listener? Perhaps all they really need is a congress, a citywide forum to speak openly to each other, to simply become aware of each other’s existence. After all, the city is me. My traits and talents, my virtues and vices, each part being an individuated commander of energy, capable of marshalling the qualities of my life in its own favor, or relinquishing its power in support of a common good.

As such, these commanders within me are not aware of each other unless they ‘open their eyes’. ‘Opening their eyes’ happens each moment I relax into the awareness of my whole being. This relaxation eventually triggers a call to all parts of me to recognize and acknowledge their supreme commander is– myself!

Only when I have done the work of uniting the disparate regions within me, have I then prepared a united being to offer in service to the mega-supreme commander- the one residing peacefully at the center of my being, in silent harmony with all other mega-supreme commanders in the world.

As commander for the whole of me, identifying and engaging each persona individually, inviting allegiance, loyalty, a listening ear and an open heart, I help create harmony for a strong tomorrow from unity in my domain today.

With such a positive benefit available, what delays this consensus towards singular guidance? This supreme commander has been silent for such a long time that my warring captains, the independent chiefs inside of me, have simply forgotten my existence, no longer even paying attention to the sound of my voice.

When I consider there are 7.8 billion other supreme commanders on earth, and they all have the task of bringing peace to their own ‘kingdoms’, to themselves, before having a free and unified nation to offer to the service of their mega-supreme commander - then I really wonder - what’s to become of us?

What if each person we are in relationship with in our lives- beyond their relationship to us or specific set of personality qualities, simply shares in a common struggle to find happiness?

What if each religion and faith, beyond its specific set of beliefs regarding nature of Deity, cosmic origin, codes of behaviour, or methods of remembrance, were basically a distinct engagement with finding happiness?

And what if there were a shared happiness possible simply by recognizing that we are each engaged in parallel yet distinct struggles to find our own happiness?