CONTINUITY
How important is continuity? Not to
get dangerously philosophical on the issue, but it has been on my mind lately
and perhaps yours as well. In the middle of so much social disruption and
discord, we are reminded how important are the threads of tradition and the
relay of knowledge with understanding. We of a certain advanced age do not sit
at the mountaintop freely dispensing guidance, wisdom and counsel to
supplicants. That is silly fiction. We have groped our way forward like
everyone else, maneuvering through the day-to-day. Our accumulated experience
does offer some comprehension of human behavior and the forces of nature inside
and outside us, but if we have learned anything, it is to expect the
unexpected. Though we presently have been living in a sort of golden age of the
American empire, clearly the path forward is unpredictable. Isn’t it all no
more than a pile of dust? There is definitely a meditation trying to sneak in
there.
Speaking of tangibles: what are you
going to do with all that stuff? Do you have high school yearbooks, party
favors from college, mementos of trips and photographs of happy events? Are
they sequestered and piling up under the blankets in the back of your closet?
How many times have you had to shift all of it when moving? Liberation is at
hand. It’s high time to winnow the heap of sentimentality and to save the most
precious things. Every organizer you might hire will say the same thing; three
piles are needed: save, pitch and donate. How amazing it is to see the
effective finish of a project like that!
On the other hand, in a
sub-category of the donation pile, you will want to consider not only the
detritus of your own existence but also those family heirlooms that you have
been gifted or have inherited. No doubt some may be too precious for the discard
heap but they can be preserved by donation to a family member. “Better to give
with warm hands”, they say. The potent remembrance of family members is not to
be ignored and the evocation of their memory can often be triggered by objects
that they had admired or used or that they passed along themselves.
All of the above has dwelled on
objects. So much more continuity is woven by traditions in language, custom,
song, poetry, art and stories. That is the warp of the fabric of our
civilization. I consider the weft to be the spirit of the age that embraces the
past and its manifold variations. We wrap ourselves in this cloth presented to
us, whether we like it or not. Making the best of is to foster appreciation of
all that has come before from which we gain our place as an ornament in this
ever-evolving tapestry.
Be happy to be loved, Celeste
