Thursday, September 27, 2012

What are you doing the rest of your life?


A year?
A decade?
A few decades?
A newly transplanted plant enjoys the new soil- 
its roots go deeper and deeper
every time it's transplanted, every time it's traumatized by a change in the weather. 
Every time. 
Or,it shrivels up and dies.
It's the order of things. 
Live fully or die.

You can get up and make yourself a quick meal right now, thanks to your ancestors who invented the refrigerator, a way to shelter you from storms, and a way to grow food right outside that shelter so you'd never go hungry. (And innumerable variations on storing, transporting, modifying food sources and food consumption.)
You have had millions of others think ahead for your comfort and joy today.
Are you thinking ahead for those others who'll come after you, for their comfort and joy?


What are you doing today?


7 comments:

  1. Today I went to the dentist, bought my first Christmas present, did the weekly grocery shop, said prayers for a friend's brother having a cancer operation, fixed dinner and voted for the president of the United States!

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  2. Some days living fully is simply being, and not "accomplishing" anything. I had that day this week, badly needing rest from "faces." Days like that release me to be "me" again, and to live more fully. It's all part of a bigger picture, I guess.

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  3. I am just sitting here reading and writing and watching my Honey nap. It made me think of all the reasons I love him and feel tenderly toward him. I want to write a poem about him, or us, and am thinking of some lines to use. We started a new variation in our exercise and eating pattern today to stay healthy and I'm glad.
    I've also been thinking a lot in the last couple of days about my ancestors and my legacy since there's a poetry prompt about magic which made me think of witches (wise women) and then Erin wrote about snakes and I spun into a whole sad longing for forgiveness for all the wise women, skilled in their healing ways, that have been killed. That enormous loss and the ascendency of male dominated religions has thrown us so far back as a species. So I'm mourning that and wondering how to bring that to my grands and to the circle of influence I have. You've asked such an important question, Rosaria.

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  4. I love this post. It gives me much to think about. I am thankful for those who have gone before and shown the way. I hope to leave a message of connection to the past that looks forward to the future with hope. I hope (there is that word again) my children and grandchildren always realize they have a responsibility to make life better for those who follow.

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  5. i've often heard the statement "you stand on the shoulders of giants"

    i think this is what you touch on here, rosaria. do we ever consider such things as refrigeration, transportation, electricity, plumbing? probably not much, unless something breaks - only then do we become aware of its import in our lives.

    but the statement about the transplanted plant - how some shrivel up and die and some adapt....... is both practical and existential and applies to all of nature... what forces are at play where one thrives and one does not?

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  6. I think about "contributing" to the future all the time now, and it drove me crazy right after I retired. This was such a moment.

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  7. this is important mindfulness, rosaria and i'm not nearly mindful enough.

    i will try. i will try. oh, how we all need to try.

    xo
    erin

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