The randomness of stuff I suppose you could say ……………………
“And in the quiet there is sound
I can hear my head spinning
There is no rhythm, no rhyme
A merry-go-round of randomness.
The path is in shadow
Yet there is no choice but to take a step forward
One at a time because the universe is in a constant state of flux
There is no pause button
Moving is the only option
At least you get to choose.
Some days are just meh and blah and the recipient for a host of thumbs down (tangible reasons totally overrated). And in the paradoxical writhing of those days it’s ok to feel a bit sad and a bit flat. It’s also ok to feel a bit under appreciated and a bit under-loved. The real woo-hoo part is that you get a “get out of jail” free card to not play nice, to not be co-operative and to be able to say (with complete carte blanche ) …….
“Before you go any further, today is not the day and I am not the one”
Such a succinct comment should be immediately followed by vigorous pointy use of your extremities for maximum impact.
Permission granted to be foul and growly, sweet scented roses need manure to bloom.
Relationships – good, bad, long, short, professional, intimate, random – pretty much every minute of the day is linked to a relationship of some description. I suppose given the nature of us bipeds, relationships come with the territory but they can be a tricky old thing.
Himself and I have been together for almost three decades. Someone told me the other day that it’s quite an achievement, almost three decades, so yay us I guess. We have a “good marriage” I think – lots in common (but not everything), similar views on politics, religion, finances etc Compromise though still plays a leading role, you learn to pick your battles for lack of a better way to put it. Do you face the possibility of losing yourself in making compromise though? I don’t think so, I think you have to know yourself super well, be cognizant of your worth and be comfortable in your own skin. This sense of self will give you the ability to be a functioning one of two and understand the complexities that come with having a life partner. Do I have “don’t even go there” triggers – absolutely and so does he but they’ve been on the table from day one.
So after all that and despite perhaps sounding like a leaking pipe of psycho babble, what I want to say is that relationships take work. It’s not easy, disagreements are going to happen but they need to be the rarity not the norm. Respect your differences and revel in the similarities.
So it’s technically still today and I’m still thinking about stuff. The world is a very judgey place. Your race, your gender, your religion, your sexual orientation, your physical appearance, your mental aptitude, your political views, your ……… (There’ll be more but my brain has recoiled in horror and called a time out). Forward, clear and unbiased thinking seems to be just a pipe dream.
What is wrong with humanity you have to ask? Have I been guilty, absolutely and it’s still a conscious effort not to make snap decisions about people based on the above “put them in a box” way of thinking. Most everyone has got some sort of story to tell that shows a different side and a different reasoning behind their lousy behavior. It doesn’t make it right but it does make the bigger picture a little clearer. There are without doubt those individuals though who remain sewerage worthy residents because they don’t have a story and are just dire human beings and their true colors will show eventually. These additions to the story will also hopefully get their just desserts as speedily as possible.
So bottom line,( in my opinion, you know the thing we’re all allowed to have even if you don’t agree) – turn off the judgement tap with a big brute spanner. Having an opinion gets a thumbs up, not agreeing with the process/principle/dogma is also fine and dandy. Fight the good fight but leave the people out of if, that’s not your job. Use your voice for change, not retribution (easy to say I know but we have to keep trying). Here’s a stellar example *insert eye roll here (judgey I know but damn) ” If you don’t like your country’s policies change the blasted government don’t wreak havoc on its citizens.
So grief, grief is a real thing let me tell you. I’m not sure I really understood the whole process of grief and grieving until we had roughly 18 months of onslaught. I’d been sad before, obviously, you hear about death, you lose a beloved pet (and I howled like a banshee for days after that), contemporaries of your parentals pass away etc etc but it’s only (in my opinion) when it comes knocking at your front door that you really get it.
So first of all my mother in law died, we weren’t close but she died ugly (rampant alzheimers and all the accompanying stuff that goes with that) and I needed to be support for my husband while he dealt with her passing and his father and siblings and all their stuff. I need a new word for stuff but you know – emotion and baggage and arguments and discussions and stuff! Then 6 months later my feisty, never ill, full of life 86 year old mothers appendix burst and she dies two weeks later in hospital. My father literally fell apart and I put up my hand and said it’s ok, I’ll sort it out. You see, I told my comatose mother on the day she died that it was ok to say goodbye and I would look after my father and well that’s a promise you can’t exactly break. She, in her infinite wisdom, had always done everything from cooking, cleaning, finances, shopping for groceries etc etc My father was just, I can’t, I don’t know how, I don’t know what to do. So in the next 6 months we sold his house (at his request), moved him into a retirement village (best decision ever) and tried to find solid ground to stand on. The phone calls were endless and I can remember one night going into a room in our home, switching off the lights and curling up on the floor with my arms wrapped around my head and thinking I can’t do this anymore, I can’t do everything for everybody, when do I get a chance to grieve? Did I tell my husband the depths of my despair? No I didn’t (rightly or wrongly) I’m also the “strong” one, always the one who picks up the pieces so I did, I picked myself up and got back to getting on with life. I think the first time I really cried, well other than at the funeral because who doesn’t cry at funerals (I hate funerals with a passion let me reiterate but we did it because my father thought it was the right thing to do) was driving home from work on my birthday roughly 10 months after she died. It was in the winter and cold and dark and I wept for my mother for 8 kilometres and then I packed it away.
I’m jumping around here but about 4 months into project Save Father, one of our dearest friends also died from colon cancer. He was in his 40’s and once of the loveliest people you could wish to know – his parents have now buried both their sons (the first one in a car accident) so you can imagine walking that road of pain. On the day of his memorial, we got a call to say that my father had been involved in a car accident and was being rushed to hospital. You seriously cannot make this shit up – the photographs from the memorial are something, I look like a ghost. My father was lucky with relatively minor injuries but the psychological impact was massive combined with everything else.
Grief and grieving is an individual process – I don’t believe there is a guaranteed or recommended formula for everyone to follow. I do believe time is critical and that there has to be a line drawn in the sand and when you get to that line its time to start living your life again. You don’t forget, ever, but you remember how to live and why you need to live.
Its now three years later – I’ve had some health issues, nothing major but enough to give me a wakeup call. I’m quite convinced the utter overwhelmingness of the stress and grief was a contributing factor. What has grief taught me? I’ll tell you one thing its taught me – to take care of myself and make myself the first priority in my life. I consciously avoid people and situations that are stressful and I have redrawn my boundaries – I put up with a lot less than I used to. You’ll probably find that there are people that think I’m selfish but that’s ok because I know my truth and the people that matter know me.
I’ve come to discover that, on occasion, it’s the smallest of things that are woven with the greatest intricacy and if you look closely enough the fragility of life is never more apparent
And the sun was bold and brassy and the geese slumbered in the reeds, orange beaks in white puffy feathers
Then the breeze came up, ruffling the water and chasing the sunlight through the pine trees
The moon was early too, appearing shyly in the pale turquoise sky
And you could hear the silence, a vast expanse of solitude – utter bliss.
Because the light is soft, the sunshine is warm, the sky is gentle and there’s nothing better to do than absolutely nothing ……
“There is new life in the soil for every man. There is healing in the trees for tired minds and for our overburdened spirits, there is strength in the hills, if only we will lift up our eyes. Remember that nature is your great restorer.” – Calvin Coolidge
We have had a power outage at work, my “to-do” pile is not diminishing and I’d rather be sitting on a deck (looking at this view) with my book and a glass of wine like we were last month. Thank goodness day dreaming doesn’t have an on/off switch!
The fleeting nature of time, the emphemeral substance of life, the adage of “this too shall pass” was never more forcefully brought home then when turning the pages of my diary. Yes, despite all the technological stuff (to which I’m happily addicted) I still like to use an “old fashioned” diary for work. There is something strangely comforting and affirming in writing down the day – achievements, failures and you’ve got to be joking moments. I use different coloured pens as well (what does that say about my character – probably something dodgy but whatever) to define what’s what. It was while flipping through crisp, clean whiteness to diarise a purple moment for one month hence that the old inner voice woke up and yelled in my ear “do you see that your worries and stress and issues are doable – swish, boom, bang and you moved forward 30 days.” Mouthy wench is the old inner voice but she has a point.
Bandsmoke's Blog 