When age fifty-eight I found myself, once again, at a crossroad in life. A constellation of major events had coincided to release me, temporarily, into the world, living alone and without a job.
Newly based in San Jose, California, I wandered, in a 1988 Honda for around a month throughout the US southwest. In Arizona, I met, separately, two people who were friends of a friend in the place I had just left. The first had the promise of a possible romance, the second was a place, near Kingman, to rest and recover.The romance didn’t ignite, so I traveled to Kingman.
Looking over the mountain forest from a spacious living room, I began to ponder my life’s path. I perceived recurring patterns. Try as I might, to go in direction A or B, I seemed always to revert to C.
After some thought-less viewing of the forest, I found myself at peace and wrote this:
—
Words to describe my path
To let go; to not-cling
To accept; things are as they are
To be open; to learn about the universe/my-“self”; to reveal the spirit residing within
To live simply
To nourish loving relationships
To create and maintain a private space
To contribute to useful processes
To avoid negative people and processes
—
I have revisited these words many times in the ensuing twenty-three years, just as I have this morning in Stockholm and find no reason to add to, or subtract from, what I wrote in Kingman more than two decades ago.
Now, enough of words, and back to the weekly laundry…
Ron, there is a lot of wisdom in this written “Philosophy of Pavella” made so many years ago. Eight (let us call them “rules”) for living a good life – for walking a balanced Path. And to honestly and openly endeavour whatever lays beyond the next second, minute, hour, day, week, month, year…
Wisdom is somehow eternal. It moves through time. From the ancient Melissus to todays Malala. Like an unseen entity, but not unheard.
My thoughts about your written Philosophy Ron.
It comes in the form of human arts:
1 To let go; to not-cling – The art of Moving on
2 To accept; things are as they are – The art of Acceptance
3 To be open; to learn about the universe/my-“self”; to reveal the spirit residing within – The art of Growing
4 To live simply – The art of Content
5 To nourish loving relationship – The art of Caring
6 To create and maintain a private space – The art of Balance
7 To contribute to useful processens – The art of Giving
8 To avoid negative people and processens – The art of Choosing
If you could go back in time Ron. Back to to meet yourself – just for an hour – in Kingman, the fifty-eight year old Ronald, what would you say to him about his future Path? For example does it really matters, in life, if we are walking in direktion A, B or C? Are they maybe one and the same? Could we ever really walk another path then our own? Are we asking ourselves the right questions?
Big questions! Most likely with a billion answers. But to me questions like this are inspiring. And wisdom has a tendency to awake those questions in us!
I end this with one of my favourite quotes from a poem by Charles Bukowski:
“What matters most is how well you walk through the fire.”
May the force be with you,
Tony
… but I find that as I age, I must resist becoming he who might be importuned thus: “May the farce be wíth you…”