Stuff...?

We have things in our living space. Many items are art pieces collected over the years. Some are creations of Rocky’s fertile mind and vision. Others are art works that spoke to us at one time or another and we bought them. Lugged them home. Found a place for them.

What do they do? What is their function? They help us think. They help form a healthy mindset in which to think and value items often ignored. Big things and little. Ideas that upset the emotions, other ideas that calm us. They are part of our environment. We sometimes think we ignore them, but we really don’t. Their presence is part of our surrounding which reminds us of who we are.

As couple of years ago my sister and her partner visited us at long last. They didn’t comment on any of our art, and like a fool, I begged the question one day after they had been here for 3 or 4 days. My sister’s comment was simple: “It’s just stuff.” And waved it off as inconsequential.

One wonders if she is so blasé but comments she makes or doesn’t make when visiting her friends’ homes.

Well, to her our stuff may just be meaningless stuff to her. But they represent far more for us. They are not things. They are ideas. They are feelings. They remind us in some symbolic way who and what we are. That is not inconsequential. No sir!

And we will have a challenge finding a new home to accommodate our walls of thought!

Another idea pops to mind: what do our bookshelves say about who and what we are? We have more books than shelf space. We box some and store them while loading every shelf down with double rows of books. Once a year or so we move the books in the back to the front of the shelf! Just so we don’t forget we have them.,

Not only have we read these books – all of them, but we also read them a second time. Some I’ve read three times and get more enjoyment out of each reading than the past one. And no, we do not suffer from Alzheimer’s!!

Books contain ideas, relationships, logic, history and environment. The very things we need to think about when ordering our own lives. Useful they are in our lives. Like wall art displayed around our walls, our library represents our environment, too.

It is not easy to know what goes on in the life of another, or his/her brain. Nor is it easy for them to know what goes on inside of us. This quote from a Facebook page named Followyourdreamstoachieve is appropriate here:

            “Just because I laugh a lot, doesn’t mean my life is easy.

             Just because I have a smile on my face everyday, doesn’t mean

                        That something is not bothering me.

             I just choose to move on, and not dwell on all the negatives in my life.

             Every new moment give me the chance to renew anew.

             I choose to be that.”

What is important to me is mine; what is important to you is yours. I think most people get this. Of course there will always others who don’t. They remain rooted in some inner place that remains uninformed by the lives and strivings of others.

Rejoice in sharing. Each other. Ideas. Feelings. All are good. They make a huge difference when we share them. For me and for the others out there!

October 25, 2012