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| Ruins of Lawer |
One of the interesting things about looking back at
memories is that we see things differently in hindsight than from what we
appreciated in the moment.
For example, during my stay in Balloch I arranged to meet a facebook friend. I had made part of my travel mission; to take advantage of opportunities to meet and have coffee with people I had met on social media. But this was different; it was the first time I was meeting up with a man. Woman meeting woman is less complex, for obvious reasons, but a woman meeting a man in a platonic / friendship kind of way is a different thing. The usual fears run through the mind, fears that are perpetuated by the events enumerated in the news. Even though I knew D.G. for several years and we enjoyed chatting about our mutual interests in nature and hiking, meeting in person to go for a drive and a hike was a new adventure for me. At age 59 I put on my brave face, reminding myself that the vast majority of people are good people and that only a few “bad apples” spoil it for the rest of us, I looked forward to this meet up.
It was all that one could expect from meeting a friend! We enjoyed conversation and a drive into the Highlands, we saw waterfalls and drove beside a loch. I got to see mountains (Ben Lawer) and walk in the Scottish countryside. The walk we took together was to a now abandoned village of Lawer by the shores of the loch. Once again, a place I would never have found on my own, but was able to enjoy because of the kindness of a friend. As we walked through this now overgrown, devolving back into nature place where people used to live; we mused on the way of life that is being lost to the world as everyone races to live in cities and built up areas. The ending of an era has been slowly encroaching upon humankind in the past 100 years as fewer and fewer people have any desire to live the “old ways” existing by the strength of their brawn and ingenuity in the bosom of nature.
So as I look back on this day in my memories I am reminded that endings are a way of life. Whole villages have ceased to exist because of changing times just as relationships change because of changing circumstances.
Endings and beginnings are simply part of the ever changing fabric of life. We don’t really have it in our power to alter endings, they happen usually because of things outside our ability to control. We do however have a say in new beginnings, they only require us to look closely at our fears, ascertain their veracity and then choose to act in such a way as to explore the possibilities.
For example, during my stay in Balloch I arranged to meet a facebook friend. I had made part of my travel mission; to take advantage of opportunities to meet and have coffee with people I had met on social media. But this was different; it was the first time I was meeting up with a man. Woman meeting woman is less complex, for obvious reasons, but a woman meeting a man in a platonic / friendship kind of way is a different thing. The usual fears run through the mind, fears that are perpetuated by the events enumerated in the news. Even though I knew D.G. for several years and we enjoyed chatting about our mutual interests in nature and hiking, meeting in person to go for a drive and a hike was a new adventure for me. At age 59 I put on my brave face, reminding myself that the vast majority of people are good people and that only a few “bad apples” spoil it for the rest of us, I looked forward to this meet up.
It was all that one could expect from meeting a friend! We enjoyed conversation and a drive into the Highlands, we saw waterfalls and drove beside a loch. I got to see mountains (Ben Lawer) and walk in the Scottish countryside. The walk we took together was to a now abandoned village of Lawer by the shores of the loch. Once again, a place I would never have found on my own, but was able to enjoy because of the kindness of a friend. As we walked through this now overgrown, devolving back into nature place where people used to live; we mused on the way of life that is being lost to the world as everyone races to live in cities and built up areas. The ending of an era has been slowly encroaching upon humankind in the past 100 years as fewer and fewer people have any desire to live the “old ways” existing by the strength of their brawn and ingenuity in the bosom of nature.
So as I look back on this day in my memories I am reminded that endings are a way of life. Whole villages have ceased to exist because of changing times just as relationships change because of changing circumstances.
Endings and beginnings are simply part of the ever changing fabric of life. We don’t really have it in our power to alter endings, they happen usually because of things outside our ability to control. We do however have a say in new beginnings, they only require us to look closely at our fears, ascertain their veracity and then choose to act in such a way as to explore the possibilities.
Healing is like that, overcoming the fear of
what we might become when we choose to become other than what we are. When we
choose the unfamiliar as the direction we are willing to explore, we become
open to the possibility of new beginnings, even when those new beginnings arise
out of the ashes of inescapable endings.
My happiness memory, aside for all the beauty of that day of adventure, is my willingness to embrace the new while at the same time embracing a longing for and a mourning of that which has passed. Happiness is the ability to embrace change; the sadness of that which is over as well as the joyful anticipation of that which is yet to be.
My happiness memory, aside for all the beauty of that day of adventure, is my willingness to embrace the new while at the same time embracing a longing for and a mourning of that which has passed. Happiness is the ability to embrace change; the sadness of that which is over as well as the joyful anticipation of that which is yet to be.
Renate Dundys Marrello
2019 – 03 – 18
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photoart by Renate Dundys Marrello
Link to my Facebook Reflections Page
My journal blog entries are copyright.
I love when you share my page to spread the word.
If you want to quote me I kindly ask that you please provide a link back to my page.
photoart by Renate Dundys Marrello
