We homo sapiens are shapers. We have opposable thumbs and by golly, we make use of them. We build, sculpt, knead, squeeze, shave, saw, sew, cook and duct tape the world until we see a landscape that makes sense to us. Because we feel it's important to get a grip. When we say someone is "losing his grip," that's not a good sign.
Once we've created a shape we like, we hang on - tight! C'mon, you know you do it too! I'm talking not only about the physical environment, but also the landscape of what we believe. I bet the Dalai Lama has to work at it as hard as the rest of us. Almost as hard? Letting go is something humans must practice. We aren't wired for it.
Yeah, you can NOT grasp the river, right? But we try anyway. It is one of our most adorable traits, if you ask me. This morning I was thinking about one of my core issues having to do with my relationship to my mother. I decided I would build an altar to her, to make space to explore further. I found a few pictures after sifting through mountains of pics of people I didn't remember and situations that meant nothing to me.
In the end I tossed all the pics of places and times I don't remember, carefully put away the pictures of my mother. I built my altars to this issue decades ago. I don't need to travel this terrain any longer. What was I saying yesterday, about how getting older is about letting go? Oh yeah! Onwards and upwards.
2 comments:
Sounds like a good move. It's funny how pictures cease to mean anything after a couple of generations, when the people who took them are gone. I'm glad you threw them out. I always think it's kind of sad and troubling to see other people's snapshots in bins at antique stores.
I wonder why anyone buys someone else's snaps. I don't even want my own!!
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