When All Else Fails

"The most radical, pervasive, and earth-shaking transformation would occur simply if everybody truly evolved to a mature, rational, and responsible ego, capable of freely participating in the open exchange of mutual self-esteem. Then, there would be a REAL New Age." -Ken Wilber

“Stay gold, Pony Boy, stay gold. Always stay gold...”
Simple words from a dying character in a movie I watched decades ago, but words which have transcended the movie and still, all these years later, reverberate with startling clarity in my conscious.
Words easily spoken, not easily accomplished. With the trials and tribulations you’re force fed daily most other metals, as well as simple igneous forms and lesser strata, are more easily attainable than this holy grail: gold.
I’ve taken out the polishing rag one more time, having grown tarnished down a long, winding stretch. I wasn’t entirely surprised to find the sheen that lay underneath the years of dirt and grime, but it’s going to take a fair amount of scrubbin’ to end up with the shine I desire. I’m up for the task, to rise above the ever encroaching shitstorm and achieve this vaunted state for myself, and for anyone I might run into at any given time afterward, standing tall as I can, an oak in a land of pines.
Stay gold. Says it all.
If we all swept our front doorstep we’d have a pretty groovy place.