Truth Seeker and Story Teller
I recently wrote about how we need to have the determination to pursue our intentions, otherwise, we may get easily sidetracked by any number of things, good and harmful.
Here are some things that I’m doing. Perhaps they’ll help you on your journey as well.
Have you ever climbed a mountain or ev
en the local ski hill just to get away and think? About what you’re doing with yourself, whether it be your job, your family, school, or even about the meaning of life (whatever that means to you)?
Now, I come by mountain climbing naturally having been raised in the mountains and accustomed to having a mountain to climb outside my back door. This was the perfect opportunity for a teenage boy to take the dogs for a hike, hang your feet over a cliff, and view the distant highway, wondering where everyone was going and how important was it that they got there.
An endless season starts.
We all feel it’s demands.
No one an island
as the season grips us all.
Not all who begin
will see it close.
For reasons unknown
it swoops erratically.
Within the brackets of this time
humanity is afraid.
Exposed, vulnerable, and screaming
at this season of fear that invades.
Our new bravery
demands we say, “We’re fine,
illness cannot happen here.”
…and then it does.
This season will cost much
but raise hope
until, together again,
we enter the season of thanksgiving.
At no other time has being responsible for the place we live been more important. In this time of a worldwide pandemic, we must take care of our little corners of the world – our communities.
We’re told to self-isolate and meet only in very small groups. Great advice, even when it includes your family. We will get through this but we must get through it together.
Once we accept and become being responsible for ourselves, as noted in Part 1 of this series, we must continue to be this for ourselves because the next step is to realize that we are responsible for others.
I don’t necessarily mean for their day to day sustenance and upkeep (although that might prove to be the case at some point) but, rather, for their growth and support. I believe this also includes accepting them and ensuring that they know they belong and that they matter.
I am that little boy
hiding behind the woodpile
with his dog, crying.
I am that little girl
in front of the mirror
with her doll, broken.
We are the children
who only wanted
to be loved, but weren’t.
We played superheroes
so no one would harm us
except you, and you did.
We wanted to be cared for
maybe loved
but never ignored, which you did.
We learned to “be seen and not heard”
and are that still
because we don’t know how to love.
A smile, a hug
maybe “I love you”
would have helped the child
you didn’t see.
I went to an old friend for the definition of responsible; a hardcopy dictionary from my young adult years that I haven’t used since Google searches came into our lives.
Responsible:
“Able to answer for one’s conduct or obligations.”
“Trustworthy: able to choose for oneself between right and wrong.”
Synonyms: trustworthy, accountable
Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (published 1986)
I recently wrote that “you are not responsible for other’s happiness, but you could be the reason for it.” But that didn’t seem quite right. It didn’t ring true and as I thought about it I realized that we are indeed responsible for it; just as we are for treating people with love and respect.