Pompeii. Food for thought.
I had the chance to wander around Ancient city of Pompeii by myself for a few hours and wow. I walked around silently at first, reading posters and learning a little more history. And then I listened to Preliator by Globus the rest of the time... (A very strong ancient epic song) and thought about these people that lived here during the destruction in 79 AD... We are learning from these people more 2000 years later. I’m sure so many of them asked why this was happening to them? Why would their gods let this happen? But…maybe it’s for us. Maybe they died so we could understand them, to understand ourselves better. The human race is so beautiful. The human race is intelligent and brave... but oh so similar in our emotions, and we always have been. How long we can fight, how long we can brave the intensity of destruction. Their world was devastated and destroyed by a volcano. In this instance, for the people of Pompeii, it was volcanic lava the destroyed them. But some food for though.. what is your lava? What is your volcanic ash destroying and burying you? In a metaphorical term, of course. I had these thoughts while walking around this ancient city… it was a rather riveting experience to be completely in my head and to myself.
Journal Prompt I did while walking around… “What am I learning from these people? What should I learn?”
We are all born into our status in life…right. Whatever our parents have, we have. But we aren’t deemed there forever. We can change. If you were born into a family that is poor, doesn’t mean you have to stay poor. But back then it was different, if you were a servant... always a servant. If you were born as royalty, you were always royalty. You can be whoever you want to be and whoever you choose in todays time. How rare and a precious thing we take for granted. I am learning that I need to show gratitude in my life, all areas. First, to be born to such a wonderful family and to wonderful parents who have shaped me into an amazing person. And to be grateful for all the scary, all the anxiety and all the emotions I experience. We have a very black and white mindset of good and bad and I’m learning to just put everything in the middle and overwhelm it with a light and love that is warm and accepting.
I learned that we all give up. We all give up at some point. Pompeii was preserved under calcified layers of ash. About 3/4 of Pompeii's 165 acres have been excavated, and some 1,150 bodies have been discovered out of an estimated 2,000 thought to have died in the disaster. But these bodies were found crying in agony or praying. (See photos below) So which person do I want to be? A surrender or die fighting? And in what way is that shameful or empowering? Is it empowering to fight to the very end? Or is it better to pray to the one you believe in for help, maybe a last sign of devotion? I do not know the answer… but I know that these questions made me think. Each pose that I saw… the last movement of a human being... it brought different emotions. Maybe sympathy or maybe their pain? I wondered what thoughts they were thinking… their last thoughts.
I want to challenge you to dive into your soul a little deeper today… ask yourself some of these questions and really take a minute or two to ponder about this part in our world’s history and what you can learn from it. Oh, and don’t forget to keep scrolling and enjoy some of the pictures from Pompeii + Mt. Vesuvius.
