I wanted to post this in honor of Katelyn's two and a half birthday, but missed by a day.
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it."
- Verse 51 from Edward FitzGerald's translation of Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
I'll get to the quote in a minute. This very odd picture is of my granddaughter, Katelyn's, hand print on my very filthy mirror. Sadly, I'm exposing the truth of how little I clean house thoroughly. Katelyn visited 3 months ago! But the miraculous thing is that I never saw this hand print until now because it is of course very low on the mirror, and until this time of year, the sun doesn't hit the mirror in the morning in such a way as to reveal it. Cool, right? What a heart warming surprise!
Well, now I have a dilemma: wash it off, wash all around it, or just leave the whole mirror dirty. Well, since I won't see her again until Thanksgiving, I won't wash it off. Now that I know it's there, I notice it every time I look in that mirror. It makes me smile every day.
It was a sort of free association when I saw the hand print that made the quote on the moving finger emerge from the depths of my brain. I've always liked this quote. When I ponder it, this is what emerges: What happens in life, happens. Bad things and good things happen to good people and not-so-good people alike. Trying to be the holiest person, the most perfect person, the most intelligent or likeable person will not save me from the occurrences of life. And though tears are a thoroughly appropriate response to painful or sad happenings in my life, and often totally necessary for my emotional health, they do not change the actuality of the incident itself. Still, as I release the emotions, I may be graced with the ability to transform my relationship to the incident and come to accept it with all the aspects it brings to my life: pain, joy, sadness, growth, anger, loneliness, belonging, humility, compassion. What is, is, and I get to choose what I do with it.
It was a sort of free association when I saw the hand print that made the quote on the moving finger emerge from the depths of my brain. I've always liked this quote. When I ponder it, this is what emerges: What happens in life, happens. Bad things and good things happen to good people and not-so-good people alike. Trying to be the holiest person, the most perfect person, the most intelligent or likeable person will not save me from the occurrences of life. And though tears are a thoroughly appropriate response to painful or sad happenings in my life, and often totally necessary for my emotional health, they do not change the actuality of the incident itself. Still, as I release the emotions, I may be graced with the ability to transform my relationship to the incident and come to accept it with all the aspects it brings to my life: pain, joy, sadness, growth, anger, loneliness, belonging, humility, compassion. What is, is, and I get to choose what I do with it.
Of course, I could have titled this "The Invisible Hand", but then you would get to read my ponderings on Adam Smith's economic principles... Maybe another time. ;-)
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