Bubbles

Who, as a child has not enjoyed the delights of blowing bubbles and watching them float away showing all their changing colours as they go?  Children are fascinated by this very simple and cheap pastime, chasing them and trying to catch them.  A bubble is simply some gas enclosed in a thin film of water and it is the reaction of the water film with the light that creates the shimmering colours that causes so much fascination and delight.  The word 'bubble' conjures up a number of ideas.  As a Northerner, I remember parents saying to children, 'Giv' ower bubbling'.  For the uninitiated this means 'stop crying'.  To bubble is to be stirred with emotion, hence the word bubble referring to crying - the strong emotional response to a situation.  Most people will have experienced the sensation of something bubbling up inside as a reaction to a moving situation.  This can be said equally of anger, sadness, apprehension or joy.  Others of course think of a bubbly personality as being someone who is cheerful and positive in their outlook. 


I heard the other day of someone who referred to a person as 'living in a bubble'.  A person who actually needs, for medical reasons, to live in a literal bubble is in a very sad situation.  They are not free to live in the real world as there is so much that can harm them and possibly end their life and so they need to be protected from the outside world by living in a bubble-shaped prison.  They exist within a very limiting way of life and cannot freely share in activities that others enjoy.  When we refer to someone as living in a bubble, we infer that they don't really live in the real world.  They seem to live in a childlike, naive state that only sees what immediately affects them .  They somehow cannot see beyond their own little, limited world and seem incapable of sharing or sensing what others are feeling or their circumstances in life.  There is no other alternative to the way they think or feel.  Everything beyond their bubble is alien to them.  



Sadly many people seem to fall into this category, whether that be about politics, their own sense of being right, thoughtlessness towards others or with religion.  They live surrounded by a protective bubble.  It's as though anything outside of their bubble is alien to them and harmful so they stay inside the bubble where they feel secure and comfortable.  Their bubble might look nice and colourful but it is really a sort of prison limiting their scope and ability to really express themselves freely without restrictions.  It floats away because it's not the real world and yet for so many it is their world as though nothing exists outside of it.  But there is life outside the bubble.  We need to be aware of what goes on around us, how others think and live.  It's good to have the emotions of life bubbling up inside of us but not to live within the confines of a bubble. There is so much more to life than the restrictions that a bubble existence imposes.  There are those who see life from a different perspective but are just as right as we are and are striving to be true to themselves, the people they believe they were created to be, even if that is different from our view point.  Chase the bubble if you want but don't become captive to it and think that that is all there is.  We may not feel so safe and protected but outside the bubble is where the real life is lived, varied, creative, adventurous and interesting.  That's where the true freedom is.