Sunday Musings – September 17, 2017
Here in Wheeling, West Virginia it is a quiet September morning. Outside the birds are still very active. There are, as of yet, few signs that they are packing or otherwise getting ready for their winter homes. The grass is still green and the fall chrysanthemums seem quite happy hanging out with the summer roses. Here in this quiet oasis one could be lulled into thinking that all is right with the world. Indeed, at this very moment, all is right in this little corner of the world. There are other little corners where all is right or good for the moment. Yet, most of us will find it difficult to ignore the fact that all is not right in most of the world. Here in the United States and nearby islands many are still without power and many more have no home left to use power. Active war and other violence are the dominant force in many other places. Starvation, lack of medical care for sick children and adults, and isolation continue to be the norm for many.
I, along with many others, attended a funeral this week for young people who were victims of addiction (addiction to drugs and to either the money or the drug which money would buy; addiction to power, work, social media or just anything which helps one avoid oneself). I talked with others who had a life free from active addiction for many years and then got busy with life and stuff. Eventually the addiction snuck back in. One lovely, good man was in recovery for 25 years, but for the past eight has been experimenting with controlled use which, not surprising, was now way out of control. Another person I know with young children started drinking again. Thankfully today both of these people seem ready to reclaim their lives. One will go into a residential treatment center tomorrow while someone else takes care of his children. Another young man is excited about having 35 days clean today. The brother of a young man who was killed in a drug related incident is now in a treatment program
It is so easy for all of us or at least for this human to get seduced with or by all the tasks which we have decided need to be accomplished. I have been up since 5:00 a.m. and it is nearly 10:00 a.m. I have been to the gym, done nearly 2 hours of emails and other virtual communication, ate breakfast, listened to the news and a podcast, showered, shaved, dressed, ironed dress shirts, cleaned up the kitchen, dusted the living room, bedroom and office, edited and posted a blog and ….
I smile. If someone called and wanted to visit in person or via phone I would set those tasks aside. People/friendship are always more important than most tasks. Some quiet spiritual time, reaching out for support or help in sorting out an issue or revisiting my core values all need to stay at the top of me to do list. Sometimes I make a little chart. I write down my core values in order of priority in one column and then in the other column I estimate the hours I spent on each one in a day or a week. To help keep myself honest I may share this with a close friend who may, at times, point out the discrepancies between how I allocated my time and how I told myself I allocated my time. After all these years, I still need these reality checks.
Obviously, I know what is important and I know what I need to do to keep my brain clear enough to make decisions more consistent with my core values. I need my close friends to help me stay more honest with myself. Even in my 7th decade I tend to lie to myself. I started to say that I fail to catch the inaccuracies, but the truth is that I lie to myself. I want to be spiritual and healthy without having to make tough choices or to face the possibility that “someone” will be unhappy with my choices.
I reminded myself by reminding someone else yesterday that life is, at best 3 minutes long. This journey seems to go faster that the speed of light or sound. Not much is important except how well we love and take care of ourselves and each other. I know this and, yet, there is that vacuuming to do and then and then and then and then….
Will my epitaph say that I did not get the vacuuming done? Will it take notice of the fact that I did not clean out the tank of the toilet tank with vinegar? Will it notice that the car has not been washed in some weeks. Will it even notice that most days I do not have anything erudite or brilliant to share in these blogs. Even though I use the blogs in parts to help remind myself what is important I can, if not careful, get attached to writing and getting them posted rather than remembering the purpose of doing them. I may forget that in and of themselves they are not important.
Soon I will set aside the list, pack up the custard pie I baked, and head to the home of friends for a picnic. I will remind myself that we are not gathering because we need to eat. None of us will starve if we do not go to the picnic. It is a gathering at which we will share our gifts of food and share ourselves. We will laugh and perhaps even shed a tear – or not – and be silly and just fill each other with love.
In the words of the infamous Pork Pig, “That’s all folks.”
Written September 17, 2017
Here in Wheeling, West Virginia it is a quiet September morning. Outside the birds are still very active. There are, as of yet, few signs that they are packing or otherwise getting ready for their winter homes. The grass is still green and the fall chrysanthemums seem quite happy hanging out with the summer roses. Here in this quiet oasis one could be lulled into thinking that all is right with the world. Indeed, at this very moment, all is right in this little corner of the world. There are other little corners where all is right or good for the moment. Yet, most of us will find it difficult to ignore the fact that all is not right in most of the world. Here in the United States and nearby islands many are still without power and many more have no home left to use power. Active war and other violence are the dominant force in many other places. Starvation, lack of medical care for sick children and adults, and isolation continue to be the norm for many.
I, along with many others, attended a funeral this week for young people who were victims of addiction (addiction to drugs and to either the money or the drug which money would buy; addiction to power, work, social media or just anything which helps one avoid oneself). I talked with others who had a life free from active addiction for many years and then got busy with life and stuff. Eventually the addiction snuck back in. One lovely, good man was in recovery for 25 years, but for the past eight has been experimenting with controlled use which, not surprising, was now way out of control. Another person I know with young children started drinking again. Thankfully today both of these people seem ready to reclaim their lives. One will go into a residential treatment center tomorrow while someone else takes care of his children. Another young man is excited about having 35 days clean today. The brother of a young man who was killed in a drug related incident is now in a treatment program
It is so easy for all of us or at least for this human to get seduced with or by all the tasks which we have decided need to be accomplished. I have been up since 5:00 a.m. and it is nearly 10:00 a.m. I have been to the gym, done nearly 2 hours of emails and other virtual communication, ate breakfast, listened to the news and a podcast, showered, shaved, dressed, ironed dress shirts, cleaned up the kitchen, dusted the living room, bedroom and office, edited and posted a blog and ….
I smile. If someone called and wanted to visit in person or via phone I would set those tasks aside. People/friendship are always more important than most tasks. Some quiet spiritual time, reaching out for support or help in sorting out an issue or revisiting my core values all need to stay at the top of me to do list. Sometimes I make a little chart. I write down my core values in order of priority in one column and then in the other column I estimate the hours I spent on each one in a day or a week. To help keep myself honest I may share this with a close friend who may, at times, point out the discrepancies between how I allocated my time and how I told myself I allocated my time. After all these years, I still need these reality checks.
Obviously, I know what is important and I know what I need to do to keep my brain clear enough to make decisions more consistent with my core values. I need my close friends to help me stay more honest with myself. Even in my 7th decade I tend to lie to myself. I started to say that I fail to catch the inaccuracies, but the truth is that I lie to myself. I want to be spiritual and healthy without having to make tough choices or to face the possibility that “someone” will be unhappy with my choices.
I reminded myself by reminding someone else yesterday that life is, at best 3 minutes long. This journey seems to go faster that the speed of light or sound. Not much is important except how well we love and take care of ourselves and each other. I know this and, yet, there is that vacuuming to do and then and then and then and then….
Will my epitaph say that I did not get the vacuuming done? Will it take notice of the fact that I did not clean out the tank of the toilet tank with vinegar? Will it notice that the car has not been washed in some weeks. Will it even notice that most days I do not have anything erudite or brilliant to share in these blogs. Even though I use the blogs in parts to help remind myself what is important I can, if not careful, get attached to writing and getting them posted rather than remembering the purpose of doing them. I may forget that in and of themselves they are not important.
Soon I will set aside the list, pack up the custard pie I baked, and head to the home of friends for a picnic. I will remind myself that we are not gathering because we need to eat. None of us will starve if we do not go to the picnic. It is a gathering at which we will share our gifts of food and share ourselves. We will laugh and perhaps even shed a tear – or not – and be silly and just fill each other with love.
In the words of the infamous Pork Pig, “That’s all folks.”
Written September 17, 2017
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