Back to Basics
“Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.” ~ Pablo Picasso
One of the things I did for many years - back when Facebook was actually worthwhile - was to post a short, sometimes daily, writing .... usually a quote that spoke to the heart, followed by a few words of my own musings, along with one of the photos I’d taken.
And though I’ve left Facebook, I still enjoy sharing the thoughts and words that speak deeply to the soul, and offer us ways to re-frame our lives and the paths we walk. That lend support, or bid us to do a bit of deeper thinking.
As I approach my 71st birthday in a few weeks, I am reminded that there is far less time ahead than behind me, and as the friend who came to visit in the wee hours of the night the other day (see previous post, if you missed it) advised - it’s time to share the joy and beauty I have found in my own walk on this amazing planet.
I recently read a Substack post where the poster had created a visual graph of how many weeks they’d already lived, how much is left (presupposing 90 years), and how much of that would they consider to be active - they were a very athletic person, engaging in rock and mountain climbing, etc. I found it fascinating, realizing what my chart would look like - how many of those red squares were already stacked above, and how few blue squares were left.
No, life isn’t perfect, but our hearts lie where our eyes and focus land. If we choose beauty and goodness, we will find that. If we choose to dwell only on what is wrong, what is hard, what is alarming, we will absolutely find that, too.
Rumination without solution = depression.
And at this age, I refused to be depressed. I refuse to return to star-stuff having spent the last days, or weeks, or months and years of my existence here turning a blind eye to the amazing artistry of Life, this Planet, or the gifts that surround - and are in - us.
So, with all of that said, I am going back to basics, and returning to the roots. I’ll be posting here on Substack short “notes” - the (almost) daily writs + photo as I did before - saving the longer stories of my life, my journey around the country, and the deeper excavations of my heart for the “posts/articles” that are emailed to subscribers.
As always, my posts are, and will remain, free.
