By sheer chance, I just opened a journal from 2021 and felt encouraged by this entry:
“The hardest goodbye (at the end of the term) was with C who tried bravely not to cry. It’s easy to assume I don’t mean much to people, that I’m part of the furniture of life. But even that makes too many assumptions. A favorite chair matters a great deal to a small boy or girl, I remember. And C’s capacity for feeling is vast – a fact made clear in his music. I’m honored to matter to him. He certainly does to me.
Last night I felt tired and gave way before bed to the sense of being insignificant, a firefly flash in an infinite dark. All of us seem to toggle between overestimating and underestimating our own importance. This month’s pair of funerals underlines the fact that the world goes on without us. At the same time, it’s true and it matters that we do change the world, even in our brief and limited lives. Mary and Regina changed it, changed me, certainly.
As I write this, a tiny, winged insect smaller than the tip of the nib dances over the page. My heart warms to it. I hear you, little one at the center of your own world.
We decide what counts. We decide what to do with the resources – time, energy, talent – at our disposal. As far as I can see, JOY always contributes. Kindness, too. Courage and creating.
This is what I have, both to share and to enjoy. Those are the sails of my ship.”
Now, my friends, let me ask: What are the sails of YOUR ship?
I’d be honored to hear. Please feel most welcome to share and inspire us!
Photo by Michael Blum on Unsplash
A wonderful idea to think on Kath, thank you!
So great to “see” you here – like running into you on the street somewhere and then smiling all week. Thank you, a Shibeal a chara!
Thank you for posing this question, Kate. Wonderful. The sails of my ship are love, play, gratitude, luck, friendships (peo!ple and animals), abilities, curiosity, ideas, stamina, music, art…so many sails!
Those are very beautiful sails, Cynth! BRAVO!