Second Place Takes the Lead
Consciousness

Second Place Takes the Lead

Second Place Takes the Lead

The mind wants to be number one, to win at everything, and always hold first place. To be the first to explore uncharted lands, to be the first one to witness great wonders. Go on adventurous expeditions to places where no foot has stepped before. We take pride in being the first at truly anything. Being the first in line, taking the front row on a roller coaster, the first to jump, the first to come back, and the first to go out. The first to have the newest gadget and the first to drive the latest car. The best and most. The best singer, the most famous. The best dancer and the most spectacular. The best yogi and the most humble. The best expressed and the most silent. The best at listening and the most loving.

The interesting thing about the number one is that it is actually quite meaningless without the number – two. You can't really excel at anything, be first or most, or best if there's no one there to see, cheer, or even be jealous of your prestigious stature. It is a peculiar phenomenon where we celebrate the one, where in truth, the greatness, the wonder, and prestige are all held and carried by the two. Celebrating your – one-ness-ness, is meaningless without a strong back, a willing heart, and a supporting hand from number two.

Who would Romeo be without a Juliet? How can the sky be above if not for the ocean below? Without the depth, how can the shallow be seen? The taste of chocolate without the flavor-ness of vanilla. The light without dark or the high without low. What an incredible dance, the feet, the floor, the less without more?

But what if you try to be first at being second? Hmm... it's like magic; suddenly you realize that you can never fail. At being number one, you might succeed here and there, but more often than not, someone has already beaten you to it. But in striving to be number two? that is always a vacant spot. You can always be first at being second. You can always be there to empower, to love, to support, to shine for another, for some-one who needs you while holding that coveted peak. Any-one can be number one, but it takes some-one special to be number two.

Becoming two is the new black. There's a deep rest at being a two. A struggle the ones keep on struggling, the twos get to forget. To keep being one, you have to keep running. To pursue. To keep yourself together, whole and complete. To be a two? Not so much. You get to reap the benefits, to enjoy the fruit of separation. You get to marvel, enjoy, and sit in the shade. Ones are great philosophers, scientists, and innovators. Movers and shakers. Twos are poets, musicians, and lovers. Their song speaks of the other. They know the harmony of witnessing the silence and responding with sound.

What a dance... the ones and the twos, what a harmonious balance. The white and the black, the gray and the color, the in and the out the with and without. We need one another; we thrive all two-gether, we grow, and we shrink, we expand as we link.

Category: Consciousness
Kai Karrel is a spiritual teacher, a practicing medium, and the Founder of the Celestial Heart Church. He advocates for the sacramental usage of entheogenic plant medicine in support of spiritual development and the evolution of consciousness. He is also the author of Prayerful Heart, a channeled book of invocations and prayers planned to be published later this year. Kai lives with his beloved wife, Jade, in Tulare, California.