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Awakening

Not every morning is a sunrise. Sometimes, the day is born from within.

Awakening is not merely breaking away from sleep, but the unfolding of consciousness, quietly, like a drop of dew sliding down the windowpane. In that first fracture between darkness and light, a person does not open their eyes to the world, but to themselves. And then, something happens, what philosophers call awareness, and poets name as the soul remembering that it exists.

There is a moment, immeasurable by hours, in which a person does not rise from bed, but from their own shadow. And that is true awakening, when we no longer live by inertia, but with doubt, yearning, and courage. Doubt in habits. Yearning for wholeness. Courage to look at ourselves, without a mirror.

Awakening is not a rule, but an invitation. It is not the imperative of the outside world but the whisper within, heard only when all other voices fall silent. Though the philosophy of awakening shifts through epochs and schools of thought, its essence remains unchanged: a meeting with oneself, stripped of illusions, real at last.

In existentialist thought, awakening is a conscious rising from the shadows of ignorance, a world that once seemed certain, familiar, and "structured" reveals itself as fragile scaffolding. Self-awareness then ceases to be a luxury of intellect and becomes the necessity of the soul. One realizes they are not merely an observer of life but a creator, endowed with free will, not as a privilege, but as the weight of responsibility.

Freedom, at that moment, does not sound triumphant, it is burdensome. Because with it comes the understanding that there are no more excuses in the external world. No choice hides behind "must"; instead, it is "I can, and I will", and within that, the gravity of existence unfolds.

Authenticity does not promise a clear and simple path. On the contrary, it is the most challenging road, as it passes through the inevitable, the reality one cannot escape. To live authentically means to say "no" to the habits that render us invisible and "yes" to the truths that often wound us. But then, the gaze becomes clear, the step perfectly one's own.

Naturally, awakening carries with it an unease, a stripping away of illusions. But unease is not weakness; it is proof that one is waking up. It is the unsettling feeling of touching light when the eyes open to oneself for the first time.

In that newborn vision, the world does not change, only the way we breathe it in does. From that moment on, absurdity ceases to be a wall and becomes a mirror. There is no preordained meaning but therein lies the opportunity to create one. For it to emerge from love, from art, from the moment you hold someone's hand and know, this matters.

Potential, in this context, is not power in an external sense. It is the inner force of being, the ability to act, to create, to love. The one who awakens does not become a superhero; they become vulnerable. And in that vulnerability, truly strong.

Postmodernism relativizes the necessity of awakening, reminding us that truth depends on perspective, approach, and narrative. Even when all is fragmented, the core of awakening remains unwavering, it does not seek external answers but internal courage.

Awakening happens through listening, touch, breath, and gaze, as a direct experience of the world, rooting us anew. It does not arrive like thunder but like the sigh of a soul that had long been quiet.

It is not a single morning's act but the journey by which one moves from the darkness of habit into the light of awareness. Philosophy teaches categories, but the heart knows, true awakening does not unfold in theory but in a glance, a breath, a decision to no longer sleep through life.

In a world that constantly offers ready, made answers, authentic awakening demands that we pause and ask ourselves, "Am I truly here? Do I truly breathe?" And when the answer comes, not in words, but in silence, then we know. Someone long forgotten has awoken, ourselves.

Thus, awakening is more than a process of thought. It is a return. A return to oneself, to others, to the world, not as it is, but as it can become, when seen through awakened eyes.

In an era of fragmented truths, awakening may be the only wholeness we have left.

Forward, into the dawn of truth!

Author of the essay: Ilija Šaula, Editor,in,Chief of the literary and theory journal

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