revamping "the retreat" bookcases

When Mom was reunited with her O Best Beloved, it took me many boxes, many trips to move most of her books forward, holding back the ones that are dear to my heart, most epitomize their reader, had writing/notations on their pages.

No one would have that same task, since most of my books are non-fiction & most are filled with turned down pages, underlined and/or highlighted sections, copious notes in the margins & sometimes every available spaces. 

Since they won't be moved forward when I'm no longer rereading them, will share them now, shelf by shelf, then book by book.

On the top shelf directly next to the computer table is baker's dozen of well-thumbed titles:

All Things Are Possible - pass the word ~ Barbara Milo Ohrbach (a small book Mom kept by her bed)

The Path - creating your mission statement for work & life (Laurie Bath Jones)

Coming Home to Who You Are - discovering your natural capacity for love, integrity, and compassion  (David Richo)

How To Be An Adult - a handbook for psychological and spiritual integration (David Richo)

Walking With Grandfather - the wisdom of Lakota elders (Joseph M. Marshall III)

Jumpstart Your Metabolism  (Pam Grout)

Facing the Lion, Being the Lion - finding inner courage where it lives (Mark Nepo)

Making A Change For Good - a guide to compassionate self-discipline (Cheri Huber)

Buddha's Brain - the practical neuroscience of happiness, love & wisdom (Rich Hanson)

How to Develop a TED Talk (Jeremy Donovan)

The Places That Scare You - a guide to fearlessness in difficult times (Pema Chodron)

The Meeting of Minds (Steve Allen)

Bodacious Book of Succulence (SARK)

DOES "time teach all things to him who lives forever"?

DOES "time teach all things to him who lives forever"?  Og Mandino wrote that in The Greatest Salesman in the World, Scroll 1.  Although I have found MUCH wisdom in that slim volume (that's taking me almost a year to read properly), this comment does not ring true.

It would sure be nice if it did, would be reassuring to think, "If only I lived forever, I would learn all things."

The more accurate statement, it seems to me, is "If I lived forever, I COULD learn all things."

In my experience, the people who are open to learning new things will learn in however long or short a time, while those who are closed to new perspective knowledge skill would stay more or less as ignorant a thousand years down the road as they are now. 

It didn't occur to me until recently that willingness to learn new things, new ways of doing things, new ways of seeing, could be related to our willingness to let go, to experience loss, to risk the different.  Especially willingness to let go of our perception of our self, of those closest to us. 

A recent posting over on DreamReweaver talks about  a recent aha discovery that I am of two - or more - minds.  I can respond to that new awareness in several ways - accept it as an interesting new insight & let it go at that;  welcome it as a fresh perspective into how my mind apparently malfunctions & find out more about ways to make it focus more effectively; or I can accept it, use it as a spur to find out the possible whys & wherefores behind such a scatty way of processing, then taking actions to CHANGE my reading patterns so I am attentitve to what I am reading, not operating on different levels at the same time. 

Am I open to learning during the time I have in this epoch of my life?  Do I limit how much I can learn by how much I am willing to act on my discoveries?  Am I content to appreciate the new awareness without moving forward to transform it into new appreciation & habit?

It would be nice if having all the time in the world really did make us wiser, more effective-at-living beings - like the evolution of Bill Murray's character in Groundhog Day - but t'ain't necessarily so.  We can be up there in years & gaining wisdom, or we can be as limited as we were in our most vibrant years.

Not sure this is an insight that I could have tumbled to earlier in my life. Age gives the ability to see dots connecting into pictures, to see old pictures in new ways.  I don't want forever to learn everything, but am sure grateful for my here & now to learn new things, particularly (in this particular moment in time) how to focus my attention so my attention isn't divided when I read. 

Will keep you informed of my progress!

mad dash - happy times

Praise be for my love of driving!  Two days ago, I made a mad dash up to Syracuse, NY - normally a 5+ hour drive from the Philly suburbs, closer to 7 taking my leisurely route - to see a very special older friend who was visiting his daughter for ten days.

What a glorious 22 hours!  Yes, it was ab fab to see our dear friend, whom I hadn't clapped eyes on for months. 

The #1 memory I took away wasn't the face of a beloved oldster or being pampered by his daughter & her family,  it wasn't the fun of watching his special pooch hit it off with their small menagerie or meeting the delightful woman who has the pleasure of being his temp aide during his visit.

My most forever-cherished moments will be gentle ones between him & his family - daughter, son-in-law, grandchildren.  The deep joy of just seeing them all basking in each other's company, to hear the granddaughter being quietly, unobtrusively protective, his daughter balancing time at work & time with Dad, the grandson having a great time with someone he clearly loves & admires, the light tone & light touch of his son-in-law.

I went to Syracuse for the briefest of brief visits with a treasured friend I get to see once in a blue moon, ended up falling head over heels with his family & treasured moments to get me through to our next connect!

LARRY GRAY - member of my tribe

Like me, like Ashton Applewhite, like Jo Ann Jenkins,  LARRY  GRAY  did not set out to be heart & soul committed to helping people live full lives to the end of their days.  He basically stumbled into his commitment to nurturing elderhood & a respect of elders, to conscious eldering, through conscious living, through his love of nature.

Over his long years as a forester & a wildlife biologist way far north in the Artic, Larry has seen profound changes in both the land & seascapes.  His interests turned to observing nature to studying the connection between our natural ecology & our natural self  He became an ecopsychologist, a field that integrates nature with our human nature. 

Larry's work has taken him far beyond observation, to having an awakening, a deep vision of what it is to grow older, a vision that intertwines our aging with nature, recognizing that as we age upward, we are provided with new opportunities for inner growth & deep personal fulfillment. 

Small wonder that I consider Larry a member of my tribe - we both believe that "golden" years are meant to be just that, are meant to provide opportunities to grow into true elderhood.  Larry & I are one in believing that it takes work & collaboration across the ages for an oldster to become a true elder, a force for good & a powerful agent of positive change & growth in our families, communities, nations & the world.  That before our families, communities & nations can reconnect with the much-missed, much-needed elder wisdom that has been natural to every age until this current age-fearing epoch, our elderly have to respect, honor & reconnect with their inner elder. 

We need to develop, through all ages, our own wisdom so we can, in time, become the wise elders we were created by All That Is to be, and to help the oldsters in our lives reconnect reaffirm celebrate their wise elder. 

We need them, we need them now.

credits:

tedxwhitehorse.com

yukoncollege.yk.ca