In just 3 birthdays, Olivia has made more progress in knowing how this world works than the meagre awakening that I have achieved over my last 4 decades of birthdays.

I had fallen prey to bursting into this world like a fireworks explosion and then rapidly imploding into the void of darkness.

In the animal kingdom, babies learn to stand up and move within minutes. Much of their sole purpose in life is to survive the hunger of a sniffing predator.

We humans are different. It is the mind that governs our survival.

When I was born, I was totally helpless physically. It would have taken almost two birthdays before I could even know how to use the two legs that were built for walking (and cycling)..

Yet……

The mind/ego/consciousness was starting to shift through the gears. A cry meant the familiar warmth of a breast and some mouth exercise to bring relief to an empty feeling. This was the beginning to knowing how this world works.

Life in 3 acts

The three-act structure is a model used in narrative fiction that divides a story into three parts (acts), often called the Setup, the Confrontation and the Resolution. (Wikipedia).

Over a span of decades, the 3-act structure has been the guiding light in my life:

1. I was born. The story structure builds:
2. Shit happens. This is happening over a long timeline and I am still fighting my way out of this part of the story.
3. I die. I am not there yet… but his used to fill me with a frightening sense of dread and irony

However, an essential element of any good story is the pivot point just before the 3rd and final act.
…And it is REVELATIONS.

And it works like this:
What colour is an apple?
Red?
Green?
Golden?

It seems like any of these can be the correct answer (and I could bring up a whole lot of data to prove my answer of red – simply because there are more red apples in this world than the other colours combined).

The true colour of an apple is white. And this is only revelled when the apple is cut open to expose the body of the fruit.

Life in 4 acts plus a bonus.

The book of revelations is the final book of the new testament. And its existence is the key to opening the possibilities beyond the 3rd act (when Jesus Christ died).

I am now 62 years old.
….And I reckon I am one of the lucky ones who can live through my ‘book of revelations’ way before I check out of this world.
It has dawned upon me that my life has evolved in discrete steps of 20 years.
I have done 3 steps and there is more. (In the old days, humans lived to 60 – and the 3 act structure made sense).

So, I have been forced to use another metaphor for my life. It is in 4 parts – just as there are four seasons in a year.

1. SPRING. One day it is all barren and suddenly the cherry blossoms pop out. (guess what part of life this is…)
2. SUMMER. We are all on the beach chasing boys and girls. (most of us catch something).
3. AUTUMN. It is harvest time. But it is hard work. And as the saying goes… you reap what you sow.
4. WINTER. The nights grow longer and we wrap ourselves up to hibernate. Will we live through another winter?
   
   

But winter is the key… And there is work involved.

In cycling, those who ride through winter come out with a bonus the following spring.

In computer gaming, when you get enough points.. there is a bonus life after THE END.

For a lot of people, life goes into winter when they enter their 60s. It is a time for reflection and asking WHY? (why did this have to happen to me?).

There is a fine line between reflection and revelation. In my case, I fell into revelation as I learnt to say NO.
I have finally realised that the question I should always ask myself is WHY NOT?

There is a bonus life hidden in the depths of winter.
… And I am on a journey to hunt for it.