...Pandora's Box

It’s often the way that creative ideas and thoughts come to me either as I’m drifting in and out of sleep or as a result of some time spent in contemplation. I then often feel called to action via confirmation from a third party conversation or perhaps something I read or hear.

I’m never sure if these prompts exist all the time and we are only aware of those that are relevant for us at that moment – I guess a whole other blog could be written around that idea.

Anyhow, it was as I had been contemplating a thought around Pandora’s Box that the same jumped out of a page at me, enough to make me take the thought further around the compartmentalisation of our lives.

For me Pandora’s Box had always symbolised the hiding and separation of ‘things’ that were perhaps better kept secret or just simply something that others didn’t know about or hadn’t experienced.

So when thinking about my life in that way, it made me consider that many of us compartmentalise who we are. The child, the adult, the parent, the carer, the partner, the employee, the friend, the lover, the list goes on…

It makes me wonder how many of the compartments of who we are and of who I am cross-over.  Like a Venn diagram. And who I let see which bits and why?

I wonder which boxes I open most frequently and why that is. Why do I neglect some compartments all together? And what is hidden in the dark recessed corners of every box that I have either never discovered myself or I may even be afraid of letting out?

It might be a challenge and those around us may be surprised if we fling all our boxes open but as complex as we each are, it’s important to recognise and face the parts of who we are that we don’t explore and develop. That we keep hidden as they may not easily conform to others expectations or even to our own.

Interesting then that when I looked for the definition of Pandora’s Box it was much darker than I anticipated. Coming out of Greek mythology and being a jar which contained all the evils of the world.

Pandora unwittingly released all evil contents with all that remained being Hope.

I believe all we are is important – that there is a season for all compartments and a time for all that is within them to be set free.

God created each of us uniquely, He knows all our compartments and within Him is our hope to be all we can be. So, let’s remember to open and uncover the compartments of our lives that we have hidden, ignored or forgotten, because they are part of who we are too.