Putting It Together: Part II

“Memory is the diary we all carry about with us”

                                        ~ Oscar Wilde

I have enjoyed three days at home this weekend. It has been three days to continue tearing things apart so that I can put them together. At this moment, I am tired, but tired with a sense of fulfillment having made another weeks progress towards some larger goals. I can see in my mind the work space for larger projects in the garage and how a closet in my office will be converted for smaller drawing projects. The excitement drives me forward.

Still, there are those things that slow me down.

Having had a full life thus far and having traveled and lived abroad for some years has given my wife and I, a great many things to sort through. As I look through our home there are some items that have no question attached to it; I know exactly where it came from and the memory associated with it. Yet, there are things that I pick up and wonder why. Why did I keep something for all these years?

Of course I know the answer. I kept something tucked in a box because it meant something at the time I placed it there. When I open up an envelope, unfold a newspaper or look at a magazine, I am looking at the journey of my life. And I find, for the most part, that it has been a marvelous journey. These treasures tell me so.

Though, in our efforts to organize, to downsize, to simplify, we must make decisions. Some times we must let the physical evidence of a memory pass from our hands. Some times it passes to someone else, as we donate parts of our lives to others. But there are times when the age of something dictates its passage to the recycle bin. This happened yesterday with one particular item. 

I unrolled a large piece of paper to rediscover a poster that hung in my room as a teenager. It was a prose poem written in 1927 by Max Ehrmann. The title is Desiderata. The word “desiderata” is Latin meaning “desired things.” If I recall correctly, it came to my attention while listening to the radio. I remember the lines “You are child of the Universe... you have right to be here.” Those words made an impression with me. I am not sure how the poster came to me. It may have been a gift from my mom and dad, or I may have picked it up in some shop. Either way, it hung on a wall in my room and became part of my rites of passage.

I am so much older now, and though the words of the poem slipped from my memory years ago, I look at them now and their meaning rushed back to me. In some ways I am not much different now than I was then. I read the words again, thinking, I have done well trying to live by the thoughts written there. 

My faith has also helped me along that path. The words of Micah 6:8 have served as a guide for me on how to live.

     "He has showed you, O man, what is good.

     And what does the Lord require of you?

     To act justly and to love mercy

     and to walk humbly with your God."

When I think on the world and what it has become in these intervening years, I look at these words afresh. I hold to the thoughts expressed in this scripture and I think on those “desired things." I know that for whatever time I have, I will spend it trying to live my life by these words.

For you few that read these thoughts I write, please, strive to be happy!

~ Greg

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Desiderata

"Go placidly amidst the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

  “Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

“Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

“Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

“Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

“Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

“Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.

“And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labours and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its shams, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful.

“Strive to be happy.”

  ~ Max Ehrmann (1872-1945)

            Public Domain