Core Ideas

For my birthday this year, my kids bought me a subscription to StoryWorth. The recipient, in this case me, receives a question to write about each Monday morning for 52 weeks. The topics reflect on my life as requested. I do not know what the question will be, but I do have the opportunity to replace the question with another one at my choosing.

At the end of the year, a book will be gathered and printed for the family to pore over and ponder. Whether this is folly or not, the slow building of thoughts is actually a focus on ideas that form the core of who I am. That alone is a complex of clashing elements. Just ponder your own thoughts spread over 52 life quality topics!

I am not certain I will like the book. That is a reality yet to be lived. All I can do is follow instructions and let my fingers dance over the keyboard. We shall see what this becomes.

Core ideas are sobering. What is happiness? What was your greatest achievement? Which vacation memories stand out? What did you feel when your first child was born? The second? And of course, what is your happiest memory? There are hundreds of questions to choose from but the choosing is mostly done by the kids. I can substitute my own questions as well.

All of this is challenging. Yet, as a blog writer (daily for nearly 10 years), writing is a joy to me. It is an intellectual challenge. It is a creative process that contains its own rewards.

Accountability for actions and beliefs, relationships and supportive behavior, all mush together. Intentionality is not a given. It often changes in midstream. Values are blurred as ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ enter the picture. What is comfort? What is reward?

The one core thought that comes to mind over and over is this: not one of us is alone. Not one of us acts alone or in a vacuum. We are interdependent souls in need of each other. Our greatest problems occur when we act solo, as though consequences are invisible. They are not, of course; they dog us relentlessly.

This is true in all places and phases of life. Married or single, having children or not, being creative in the arts or not, successful in business or not, building a rewarding career, or not. All of these define who we are, not a single item, but all of them at once, all interacting at the same time because that is what makes life so unique for each of us. Life is similar but different for each of us.

That differentness is difficult to account for but remains the core of who we each are.

Life is complex but rich because of differentness, diversity. Celebrate that in others, but mostly celebrate it in yourself.

August 25, 2021