Excerpt from the first novel of the Internal Vanity series.
"Internal Vanity: Perception, Deception, and The Blackest Truth"
Beauty is to goodness is to worthiness is to acceptance is to attraction is to love. From our mates and friends to the communities in which we’d like to live, all that we attempt to acquire is a reflection of our definitions and perceptions of beauty. However, in a world of perception, things aren’t always what they seem; perceptions are full of deception. What if all along you’ve been dancing with the devil playing in a wardrobe you presumed to be that of angels? What if that devil was playing dress up in an attire merely fixed to your perceptions: white wings, “good face”, and a smile? What if he or she is simply a jokester, a prankster, a chameleon, or cross dresser between a vague wardrobe of good and evil preying on your ignorance, conformity, or bigotry? What if good and evil has no distinctive face or attire? What if the devil is you? Would you believe it? Could you conceive it? Would you know the devil if you saw it, him, or her?
What if an angel’s wings aren’t white at all? What if
they were sleek, slick, and black like onyx? What if she was
sleek, slick, and black like onyx ... a black winged angel standing
before you in all her black-skinned beauty. Would you believe
her to be an angel of goodness or would you assume her
to be the angel of death, the grim reaper, the evil one, or the
brunt of bad news in a face and reference unfamiliar, less than
your notion of stellar, less than what you define as beautiful,
good, pure, trustworthy, innocent, honest, and full of love?
What if she were you; what if she were the reflection of you?
Would you believe it? Could you conceive it? Would you
know an angel if you saw it, her, or him?
What if angels have no wings at all? What if your
perceived or achieved fantasies were truly nothing more than
a collection of ugly realities that you believed to be full of
beauty? What if your perceptions were the result of your inability
to see because your mind and eyes were owned by the
devil? What if you found that you are actually attracted to The
Ugly: ugly things, ugly people, ugly beliefs, and an ugly way
of life, but all anointed as beautiful, truth, good, and worthy
by The Beautifully Ugly? And what if you found that every
thing in your life was just a mirror of your own reflection …
your own hideous reflection. Would you believe it? Could you
conceive it? Would you know ugly if you saw it, him, or her?
What if heaven is a brilliant red light amidst a vast dark sky speckled with colorful stars unknown, populated by faces and structures you’ve never seen, sounds you’ve never heard, and a face of God unperceived, misconceived … perhaps the face of a woman … perhaps the face of yourself? What if heaven and the face of God were painted in the blackest of black? Would you believe it? Could you conceive it? Would you know heaven or God if you saw It, Her, or Him?
What if hell is white? What if hell is flame free but cold enough to burn in more ways than one? What if it is an exclusive, infinite, and drafty confined space of white padded walls, white furs, white marble floors, luminous crystals, diamonds, precious stones, glass ceilings, and all the monetary wealth you desire? Would you believe it? Could you conceive it? Would you know hell if you saw it … or even heard or felt it?
What if there is no devil, no hell, or heaven but the
one’s you created … a world that is only as beautiful, angelic,
evil or ugly as your own reflection … a world that is merely
the reflection of your perceptions? Would you believe it?
Could you conceive it? Would you know your own reflection
if you saw it?
What if the notions of dark and light, good and evil,
heaven and hell, angels and demons, beautiful and ugly, masculine
and feminine are merely trained perceptions that have
nothing to do with The Truth? What if you found that your
mind and eyes were owned by deception and everything in
your life was just an ugly truth blurred in a purgatory between
reality and a pipe dream of the good, the bad, and the indifferent
without distinction? What if your hell is my heaven?
What if your heaven is my hell? Perceptions deceive.