Ethan's epiphany

One evening, Ethan had a thought. It was, in fact, what the Japanese call a satori, though he didn't know it at the time. 

That thought became the cornerstone of the direction his life would go. To him, however, it was just an idle thought. One of many. Ethan thought about everything. E Pluribus Unum. The ideas that ran through his mind were, "Why is this? "  "What is this? " " Is this important to me? "  " Should it be necessary to me? " Those were the words that were always in his mind. 

Ethan liked to think about everything, though sometimes he wished he could shut it off. Ordinarily, he couldn't, but there is a saying that you should be careful of what you want to for as it just might come true, and it did. Though not in the way one might expect.

His thought was based on the idea that we have three faces. One that we show in society, one that we share with our friends and family, and one that we sometimes hide even from ourselves. It has been said that there is an acceptance for every rule, which was confirmed in Ethan's case. Ethan was a unique individual. He was, if you will, who he was. But unfortunately, even with a lot of introspection,  the mistakes made could have been handled better but hadn't wandered through his mind constantly. It never occurred to him to consider the good he had done. The only thought was that he could have done more. 

Ethan was a lazy man. He liked drinking, smoking, and just watching the world go by. He had no interest in anything else. But it was my assignment, and I was fascinated.

I suppose you are wondering who I am. I watch this person. It is my job. I care about this person because it is my nature to care about others. I enjoy watching others rise to a new level. I watch Ethan because I have to. He was assigned to me.

Ethan is special. Yes, we are all unique, but some deserve closer examination. I separate the wheat from the chaff. I represent the universes. I know that sounds pretentious, but believe me, it is not. Lower middle management, that's me.

I'm the FaerieGrandmother. Harvey the Pooka, Clarence the angel. Sheesh. According to some Buddhist friends, I agreed, in some forgotten lifetime, to help those in need in my next incarnation. I thought I had completed our agreement, but apparently, they don't let us go once they get a hold of a sucker. So here I am, watching over a lazy goofball named Ethan who was about to change the world with a single word. Go figure. I could have turned them down, but it hadn't occurred to me that it would be as tricky as it turned out to be. I am not a sucker, just naive. Fool me once...

The funny thing is, now that I am entering what I hope is the last chapter of this challenging life,  I realize it was really okay. Interesting, to say the least, and I think I did some good. When I get home, and somebody asks me if I want to go back, I will probably say, " why not?". Dammit.

By the way, I am also Ethan. The universe is big and confusing and also paradoxical. One day I hope to understand it better.