life lessons

What Is Left…

mimijk

Hi friend,

Hope all is well on your end, and the heat isn’t causing you to go limp as soon as you venture outside (unless you’re in Australia, obviously).

Dave, I’ve been thinking about your post paying homage to Cormac McCarthy and listening to Joni Mitchell’s Circle Game. “Incongruent!”, you may say? Well yes, yes it is.

You quoted McCarthy in your post (davidkanigan.com) – “yesterday is all that counts”… he continued to opine that any other period of time is unknown until it happens. Um, ok…but no.

I’m not nearly as literate as McCarthy, but this has been rolling around in the pinball game that is my mind. I understand his perspective, although in my mind it gives all the heft to history. Personal history is at best a distillation of what we remember. Facts are self-edited for many reasons; one can’t revisit yesterday without the context of today.

Our family recently took a trip to Italy – a bucket list experience for sure. Whether determining which city makes the best gelato (per my granddaughters it’s Rome), making masks in Venice, or marveling at the Ufizzi, any and all iterations of being together was the greatest delight of all. I hold many precious moments in my mind, recognizing that they will become burnished with time. My memory will shape these moments as a potter smooths clay. Polished in the present. Shaped and defined in the now. “And the seasons, they go round and round…we’re captive on the carousel of time”…

The older I get, the more emphasis I place on right now. I hesitate to look ahead and I can’t get stuck in the past. Both are subject to the vagaries of personal perception. I need to focus on this moment, this precious moment, before it’s gone.

Next music prompt? The Talking Heads “Once In A Lifetime”…For now though, this moment, I’m sending much love your way – as always, m

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Published by mimijk

Woman of a certain age…mom, wife, grandmom, sister, friend, mentor, advisor, perpetual ponderer. “I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning difficult” (E.B. White)

35 thoughts on “What Is Left…”

  1. “I hold many precious moments in my mind, recognizing that they will become burnished with time. My memory will shape these moments as a potter smooths clay …”

    Wow, Mimi! Just absolutely wow! Oh, how my days shine brighter when you publish a post. Thank you. And from last weekend’s most listened to group playlist? – Joni Mitchell: ‘Both Sides Now’ xx

    Reply

      1. Ah, yes. Empathising, Mimi – for it’s not so different for your equally fractious older sibling across the ocean! Yet still I have roses in my garden, and nodding poppies, and borage, and sunshine, and friends, and dreams, and family, and you – (and today I am able to daydream about gelato nella soleggiata Roma) … and about each of us contributing our part to changing ourselves, and our world, one tiny step forward at a time. And I can feel your contribution all the way over here! 🤗🌱xx

      2. As your photos and posts contribute to my joy and hope – and though it flags at times -if moments like that are met with a post from you, am the better for it…xx

    1. Thank you Dale!! It wasn’t my first trip to Italy, but it was the first for my kids and their kids…We were together for a week, then they went to Rome and we went to Sorrento for three days. Every place was magical – we’d never been to the coast – wow!

      Reply

      1. I’ve only been to a small section of Tuscany. I needs must return to visit different areas each time! (I’m so ready to retire and take my time….)

      3. I’m aiming for retirement by age 63… mind you, if I enjoy my job, I might be willing to go to 65! 4-6 years. MAX. 😉

      5. After many, MANY years of crap jobs, I finally have one that suits me so, at least these last years of working will be more pleasant 😉

  5. Ahhh, sweet friend, there is so much to love here that I know not where to begin. Memories are such mercurial things, for better or for worse. You and the family certainly stockpiled a lot on this most recent trip, and as always, you limned the experience beautifully for the rest of us. Love rattling down the road with you in the Karma Truck as you flip through the reels. ❤️❤️

    Reply

    1. …and since you indulged me by sending you more photos than you arguably wanted, I appreciate your traveling the road with me…❤️

      Reply

  7. Beautiful. All of it.

    Esp the family photos, the Talking Heads tune and

    “Personal history is at best a distillation of what we remember. Facts are self-edited for many reasons; one can’t revisit yesterday without the context of today….
    The older I get, the more emphasis I place on right now. I hesitate to look ahead and I can’t get stuck in the past. Both are subject to the vagaries of personal perception. I need to focus on this moment, this precious moment, before it’s gone.”

    Yes!

    Reply

  8. Sharing sweet moments and memories bring us together in the present. Ain’t life grand that we can do this 💐🙏🏻💝 Thank you so much Mimi.
    P.s. We are off to Italy in September. We are retired and do it every year now. It’s our Jersey Shore.
    The future looks good. The past has been a blast. I keep learning in the present. x

    Reply

    1. How awesome that Italy has become your Jersey Shore (that’s a great line, by the way)! We are lucky – on so many levels, and it behooves us to be well aware of this gifted reality. I too am still learning – every day…hugs, Val..

      Reply

  9. I live in the here and now, I don’t see the point in stressing over stuff I have control over or can change, I just go with the flow and try to enjoy life the best I can.

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  10. Thank you for dear Mimi

    “Personal history is at best a distillation of what we remember. Facts are self-edited for many reasons; one can’t revisit yesterday without the context of today.”
    Thank you for putting it this way.

    “My memory will shape these moments as a potter smooths clay. Polished in the present. Shaped and defined in the now.” What a beautiful visual ❤️

    Reply

    1. It’s our perception of our histories that I find so interesting – that we can passionately comment about the veracity of our recollections, and often don’t realize that we create these stories with our own imprimatur (often having less to do with the the story and everything to do with our self-perception…I’m sorry if this isn’t all that clear – it happens often…🥴

      Reply

      1. Indeed, that’s is the old theory of the Historical Relativism that began with Leopold von Ranke
        and has shaped modern historical science ever since.
        All clear? 😉

        and the modern science of history.

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