There are times when it becomes necessary to look back and think about things that have been done or left undone. In fact it's hard not to do a little reflecting when faced with the death of a relative. Once somebody's gone the only really important things left are memories.
Robert Burns, the Scottish poet, once wrote a poem that touched on the subject of hopes and memories, part of which reads:
But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain
For promis'd joy.
Still thou art blest, compar'd wi' me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But, och! I backward cast my e'e
On prospects drear!
An' forward, tho' I canna see,
I guess an' fear!
Loosely translated and summarized (as though I really understood Scottish) "Foresight and hope lead us to despair. It's better to live in the present and not know of the past or think of the future."
I thought about this for quite some time and eventually decided that I don't really agree with that philosophy. If I only lived in the present I'd really have nothing to live for. Looking back on my life makes it seem nicer because bad memories are just memories and good memories seem even more pleasurable. Moreover, the future has yet to be written, and nobody really knows what is possible.
If you take anything away from this little rambling let it be this: Appreciate what you've had, enjoy what you have, and look forward to what is yet to come.
3 comments:
Hey Zeke... I see you have added Erin’s weblog to the links on your page – quite nice to get a chance to see what she’s been up to. I left her comments; we’ll see if she still remembers me after a year or so.
I also tried to get to Jessica’s xanga site ( again from the links in your page ) but it looks like it has been taken down – do you know what’s going on there and how Jessica and her family are doing?
Looks like you had a really rough trip back home this time – hope you’re holding up okay. I assume that you are back in your apartment now and back to the work-filled schedule that we have adopted as our new lives… give me a call if you ever want to chat. I’m sure you have my number, e-mail me if you do not have it (not going to put it on a publicly available website…)
By the way, I am going to be in the Chicago area next weekend to see family. Any chance you will be somewhere in that area at that time? -Bo
(written using voice recognition tech - forgive the wierd looking errors...)
I'm sorry to hear about the death in your family. Even though a person is gone, at least we have the memories of them... I guess its a reminder of how important it is to appretciate people while they are there.
Hey Zeke-
I'm sorry to hear the bad news... Things were going so well for you... something just had to come and mar it, huh? I hope you and your family are doing okay.
Love the photo, by the way.
-Erin
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