‽istis remembers and forgets (weekending
August 12th 2023)
A visit to erstwhile colleagues and a young man recently supported; a
school reunion – many people not seen for over 40 years; a stay with an old
friend then both meeting up with two more. But we just cannot remember when we
(‘an awesome foursome’ – though without quite the same conviction or the even-then-delusional credibility
of youth) were last in the same room at the same time…
·
Memories, photo-prompted at times; anecdotes and
tales – different perspectives, different spin; jokes recycled, banter revived;
faces recognised, others not; names recalled, others not (the unknown once-knowns) …
·
Who were we then? – to each other and ourselves at
such formative times of coincidence – roles and scripts and groups of the
like-minded, the similarly-interested, the diverse and different together‽
·
Who are we now? – to each other and ourselves‽
·
What has been the impact of the accidents of time
and place of birth (that ended last week’s blog); of the dynamic influences external and internal; of the decisions that we
thought we were making freely, in compromise, through necessity, by design,
through coercion, in reaction, through the calculation of the lesser of two evils, through the pursuit of the
best for ourselves, weselves, others; the impact of the roads more or less travelled‽
·
What has changed, and what has changed the things
that have changed? – aside from the sheer passing of time and ageing all at the
same rate but not necessarily with the same level of attrition or enrichment‽
·
What has stayed the same (perhaps an essential character
or spirit? possibly traces and patterns of thought-processing, feelings,
responses or behaviours?) and how have those golden (or now-grey) threads somehow
held, given all that has happened: joys, elations, achievements,
disappointments, missed opportunities, days seized and days frittered, frustrations,
trauma, sadness, loss, grief, relationships, partnerships, children for some, work,
health – for better or worse, homes and travels, jobs and roles come and gone,
family matters (and so indeed it certainly seems to – as the pictures of
grandchildren might suggest)…‽
And we remembered those who are no longer with us… in body or mind or even in spirit…. including a parent who cannot remember being a parent, and a parent whose sense of self was latterly only defined as a parent...
So ‽istis gave thanks for the time shared with each other then and now again - and for the legacy and influence whose impact may be impossible to trace…
Yet the thought lingers: that the
‘now’ and the ‘us’ and the ‘me’ and the paths trod, being trod, and the paths yet
to be trod into the uncertainty of ‘what next?’ (which soberingly includes
‘will we meet again?’) could surely - through the merest tweak of happenstance - have been (and are, and will be) at least just
slightly different or, at most, most unimaginably different, for better or worse…
So,
‽istis ponders on… more questions than answers, and that may not have
changed‽
©‽istis
NB: further reflections and
comments linked to this week’s theme and past blog entries to be found on
Twitter: replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily indicate approval,
sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders. Twitter ‘follows’
and respectful comment and dialogue welcome...
