Oh Jamie! ... Counting our coins... Caressing our marbled kitchen counters... Making love to our cars...
I prefer the "relentless ache, that calls our name"
Despite regular efforts to declutter, it is still surprisingly easy to accumulate things, to hang on to clutter we no longer need ~ just in case. Josh and I sometimes joke that we should have a storage room for 'just-in-cases'
As we age (such an evocative opening line) we are called to quietly wash away the layers that have been weighing us down. You have captured the essence of eldering. To become clearer and lighter. 💕🙏
Thanks Veronika! It’s definitely a task for me to start the purge. Let it go. To grow. Bless you! Thank you for all of the support and for leading the way. That just in case room - I’ll get down to one from three lol!
RE the body - losing teeth is a funny experience because it is actually making me healthier because I was under a lot of physical stress from the infection that had gone on so long...and yet it is an odd reminder that we all fall apart...all our parts are just sewn together with sinew and electrons and love until we don't need them.
Now I have these fake temp things to take in and out for the bottom where most of the extractions were, like an old lady and honestly they are so uncomfortable, I'd rather be toothless and drink smoothes! But ultimately, I'm glad to let go of what I bit off that was so much to chew...
There are many in our world who know the emptiness of accumulating unnecessary possessions, and many who don't and wonder why they are so unhappy. There are also many who know the fear of not having enough. There are some people lucky ( aware?) enough to find the balance between the two.
We have had to move house so many times in the last few years that I have constantly had to discard what is not necessary. Keeping only what sings to my heart and what is necessary to live. We are possibly about to move into a tiny house so this process will continue. This next step is a solution to the current housing crisis in the town I live. If it happens it will be a big adaptation but as long as I can still see what really matters - the birds, and mountains, my children, the trees... I know we will be ok.
Bless you a wonderful move and all the things that matter Jo. Thank you as always for showing up here with a balance of bravery, grit, beauty and wisdom. 🙏❤️
This is so lovely and rings absolutely true. Good timing as a spring cleaning is feeling right around the corner. I will think of your words as I clean out space to breather. Thank you, Jaime.
"When is enough, enough?" that's a great question. I find William Morris's quote: “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful” a good starting point. Trouble is you have to "know thyself" really really well before one can make accurate judgements on such matters. Got any ideas for old computers? 😊
Great poem by the way; it articulates the theme very succinctly.
Thanks Josh! I’m chipping away at the possessions and the armour. Definitely journeying towards the oracle of soul. Something tells me I’ve been there before. Cheers 🙏❤️
If you're in America, according to Joshua Becker (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNF6KQR_NGg) you can recycle old electronics at either Good Will, Best Buy or Office Depot. They don't exist where I live. I store music on one of my old computers, and can still burn CDs with it, but then again I'm old school, I don't downstream music or use Spotify.
It’s always a journey with old computers. I sent a few in that way only to get a call from the police a few months later when they were actually found in the home of a thief. They were not perfectly wiped, clean. So I’m not sure where they go from those recycling places. The last couple I’ve just got out a drill and finished them off myself. I think the data lives forever otherwise in the hands of somebody who can bring it back to life.
Yes indeed. Your poems reaches right in and back out at the very heart of our collective condition. We decluttered in a big way when we ‘down sized’ it was a telling moment. Lighter people. Since then, of course, we’ve reacquired stuff and the weight of it is heavy. I cannot seem to resist beauty, in the form of books, pictures, wood, clay. Shelves groan and cupboards bulge. Need to do better, I keep giving stuff away, only to get more. It’s a sickness. What’s the medicine. I love your poem, your writing, your heart in words.♥️
Thank you so much! I’m trying to figure out what to do with this library all around me lol. I’m definitely a book collector. Bless you and thank you so much for reading and for reaching out. 🙏❤️
OK, I'm listening, and there are others looking in the same mirror. It is Wasteland of course. That is a solid piece of verse of yours, very properly in context. This place is hard on younger family men - I read Paul Edwards for example. And Nate Hagens has a true tale of the bathos of the billionaires heading for interstellar space. Iain McGilchrist says the world needs the work of the artists.
Thanks Phillip. Its definitely hard to see or bypass in youth. Survival wins. Maslow. Its me looking back. Looking around. Asking questions. Not trying to be righteous. Just looking in the mirror too. Bless you! You have a gift of words and wisdom. When you speak I listen. 🙏❤️
My reference was to Eliot's 'Wasteland', 1922. Europe and modernity had crashed over an edge and suburban reality was no answer, and the war would return. There is a lightness thank goodness can go with the seriousness - ridiculous Sunday ablutions with a motor - we are a daft species out of our ancestral habitats. I was pleased a few years back to be loaned a book from the 70s, Roszak's 'Beyond the Wasteland'; you are likely familiar with it. He goes for extended essays on the Romantic poets, Goethe, Blake, Wordsworth. I am forced to take the 'Faustian Bargain' seriously, and Blake has pushed me hard for a while. We stand in a long line and and its good to find you there.
Thanks Muriel! Your own steps into eldership are making it easier for us who follow to find the path. Thank you for never tip toeing and leaving footprints. Bless you. 🙏❤️
In Portland we lived in subsidized housing in The Pearl District (former artist zone turned gentry chic) - where we lived our apartment was nice but full of diversity. Of course we lost our deposit cause the kids spilled blueberries on the rug the very first day. I did a workshop in someone's condo that was full price and she was distraught because she was about to undergo a divorce and she was going to miss her marble countertops. She was like, "We can pretend it doesn't matter, but it does." I was just holding space, really kind of surprised/shocked but in coach mode of just observing. A participant gently shared that she had been happiest - her whole family in fact - when they lived in their smallest house, that with each upgrade they grew apart until they were in a big house with a lovely patio and all very unhappy. She said it with compassion, without judgment. I was in awe.
“Renovate and separate” is a popular country song. We all need to grow and our homes do to I totally understand. I just know it doesn’t create fulfilment on a soul level in my experience. 🙏❤️
Lol...there's no right way to do anything except to be in alignment with one's soul. We've had one car for a long time, made it through three kids. We've been in our current three bedroom that whole time too...I don't think people always need the upgrades they think they do, but sometimes it really does support expansion, so no judgment! Maybe once our kids are all flown we will get a huge place and it will be a blessing! Who knows! <3 :)!!
This was New Jersey for me/us. When we had our second two kids, no one in our condo complex said anything - not even congratulations. But when we got a new prius they literally wanted to pet it and congratulated us. It was so weird!
I didn't get any righteousness. Just authentic reflection! <3 I have an inordinate collection of supplements. At one time I bought them in a fear based way while I was sorting through how to heal myself of things that no one else could that I was led to work with...and then it was aligned, and now I realize I have only a few I that resonate and most are just old junk, once treasured as insurance against...blah blah blah etc. Also I don't think being prophetic is righteous. Sometimes you have a passion to share and it's just the truth ringing out. Look at the OT prophets! They are not afraid to call bullshit when things are out of alignment!
Thank you for this! I hear you. When I moved and sold my stuff I realised how much I had accumulated. I always have been a collectore of thinga. It became easier to let go once I found my authentic self. It was like I didn't needed that outside reassurance anymore. ❤️🙏
Oh Jamie! ... Counting our coins... Caressing our marbled kitchen counters... Making love to our cars...
I prefer the "relentless ache, that calls our name"
Despite regular efforts to declutter, it is still surprisingly easy to accumulate things, to hang on to clutter we no longer need ~ just in case. Josh and I sometimes joke that we should have a storage room for 'just-in-cases'
As we age (such an evocative opening line) we are called to quietly wash away the layers that have been weighing us down. You have captured the essence of eldering. To become clearer and lighter. 💕🙏
Thanks Veronika! It’s definitely a task for me to start the purge. Let it go. To grow. Bless you! Thank you for all of the support and for leading the way. That just in case room - I’ll get down to one from three lol!
We already have a few cases with stuff for just-in-cases - hope the moths don't get them first.
RE the body - losing teeth is a funny experience because it is actually making me healthier because I was under a lot of physical stress from the infection that had gone on so long...and yet it is an odd reminder that we all fall apart...all our parts are just sewn together with sinew and electrons and love until we don't need them.
Energy flows! Glad you’re feeling better as that inflammation isn’t heating things up. Bless you.
Now I have these fake temp things to take in and out for the bottom where most of the extractions were, like an old lady and honestly they are so uncomfortable, I'd rather be toothless and drink smoothes! But ultimately, I'm glad to let go of what I bit off that was so much to chew...
Sending you some love and light 🙏❤️
Oh it still hurts, AND I'm getting healthier. Lol. Isn't that how it is, too often? ;)
Yup 🙏❤️
"We just keep buffing
Rubbing at the dust
Trying to hold onto
what can never stay the same"
Love your words Jamie.
There are many in our world who know the emptiness of accumulating unnecessary possessions, and many who don't and wonder why they are so unhappy. There are also many who know the fear of not having enough. There are some people lucky ( aware?) enough to find the balance between the two.
We have had to move house so many times in the last few years that I have constantly had to discard what is not necessary. Keeping only what sings to my heart and what is necessary to live. We are possibly about to move into a tiny house so this process will continue. This next step is a solution to the current housing crisis in the town I live. If it happens it will be a big adaptation but as long as I can still see what really matters - the birds, and mountains, my children, the trees... I know we will be ok.
Bless you a wonderful move and all the things that matter Jo. Thank you as always for showing up here with a balance of bravery, grit, beauty and wisdom. 🙏❤️
Wow Jamie! What beautiful accolades. I might just pop them in a little bottle for future requirements. 😌
I am here because here feels like a Good place to be. 💜🙏
This is so lovely and rings absolutely true. Good timing as a spring cleaning is feeling right around the corner. I will think of your words as I clean out space to breather. Thank you, Jaime.
Thank you Jenn! Purging is a practice indeed. Thanks so much for the support! 🙏❤️
"When is enough, enough?" that's a great question. I find William Morris's quote: “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful” a good starting point. Trouble is you have to "know thyself" really really well before one can make accurate judgements on such matters. Got any ideas for old computers? 😊
Great poem by the way; it articulates the theme very succinctly.
Thanks Josh! I’m chipping away at the possessions and the armour. Definitely journeying towards the oracle of soul. Something tells me I’ve been there before. Cheers 🙏❤️
You have
Oh, I hear you so much! Yes when we know who we are it is easier to let go of clutter. I haven't found a solution for old computers though either. 😅
If you're in America, according to Joshua Becker (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNF6KQR_NGg) you can recycle old electronics at either Good Will, Best Buy or Office Depot. They don't exist where I live. I store music on one of my old computers, and can still burn CDs with it, but then again I'm old school, I don't downstream music or use Spotify.
It’s always a journey with old computers. I sent a few in that way only to get a call from the police a few months later when they were actually found in the home of a thief. They were not perfectly wiped, clean. So I’m not sure where they go from those recycling places. The last couple I’ve just got out a drill and finished them off myself. I think the data lives forever otherwise in the hands of somebody who can bring it back to life.
I think that's why I'm reluctant to move them on -- as you say, the data 'lives forever'.
Thanks, Jamie! I feel that's the fight of my life. To 'wash away' the allure of the chase. Loved these lines:
The sparkle never lasts/as we try to catch a glimpse/of our own reflection/in their dazzling glimmer
Thanks Mo! Its definitely a practice of Being. That chase has been chasing us all along. Thanks for reaching out.
Another soul-centric mic drop. Thank you, Jamie. 🙏
Thanks Kevin! I appreciate you reading and reaching out. Thank you for the re-stack. 🙏❤️
Yes indeed. Your poems reaches right in and back out at the very heart of our collective condition. We decluttered in a big way when we ‘down sized’ it was a telling moment. Lighter people. Since then, of course, we’ve reacquired stuff and the weight of it is heavy. I cannot seem to resist beauty, in the form of books, pictures, wood, clay. Shelves groan and cupboards bulge. Need to do better, I keep giving stuff away, only to get more. It’s a sickness. What’s the medicine. I love your poem, your writing, your heart in words.♥️
Thank you so much! I’m trying to figure out what to do with this library all around me lol. I’m definitely a book collector. Bless you and thank you so much for reading and for reaching out. 🙏❤️
OK, I'm listening, and there are others looking in the same mirror. It is Wasteland of course. That is a solid piece of verse of yours, very properly in context. This place is hard on younger family men - I read Paul Edwards for example. And Nate Hagens has a true tale of the bathos of the billionaires heading for interstellar space. Iain McGilchrist says the world needs the work of the artists.
Thanks Phillip. Its definitely hard to see or bypass in youth. Survival wins. Maslow. Its me looking back. Looking around. Asking questions. Not trying to be righteous. Just looking in the mirror too. Bless you! You have a gift of words and wisdom. When you speak I listen. 🙏❤️
My reference was to Eliot's 'Wasteland', 1922. Europe and modernity had crashed over an edge and suburban reality was no answer, and the war would return. There is a lightness thank goodness can go with the seriousness - ridiculous Sunday ablutions with a motor - we are a daft species out of our ancestral habitats. I was pleased a few years back to be loaned a book from the 70s, Roszak's 'Beyond the Wasteland'; you are likely familiar with it. He goes for extended essays on the Romantic poets, Goethe, Blake, Wordsworth. I am forced to take the 'Faustian Bargain' seriously, and Blake has pushed me hard for a while. We stand in a long line and and its good to find you there.
Standing right beside you! Thanks Phillip. I don’t have that one, but I will check it out.
"Encrusted in the glitter of false gold that slowly becomes our armour..." Amen!
Thanks Muriel! Your own steps into eldership are making it easier for us who follow to find the path. Thank you for never tip toeing and leaving footprints. Bless you. 🙏❤️
That is such a lovely comment. Here's to making an impression, in the full sense of the word.
A man with many parts and the power of the word, bearing fruit. Thank you for you work Sir, stand tall and as always aim high. Geraldine
Thanks Geraldine. Tall and high - right back at you.🙏❤️Bless you!
In Portland we lived in subsidized housing in The Pearl District (former artist zone turned gentry chic) - where we lived our apartment was nice but full of diversity. Of course we lost our deposit cause the kids spilled blueberries on the rug the very first day. I did a workshop in someone's condo that was full price and she was distraught because she was about to undergo a divorce and she was going to miss her marble countertops. She was like, "We can pretend it doesn't matter, but it does." I was just holding space, really kind of surprised/shocked but in coach mode of just observing. A participant gently shared that she had been happiest - her whole family in fact - when they lived in their smallest house, that with each upgrade they grew apart until they were in a big house with a lovely patio and all very unhappy. She said it with compassion, without judgment. I was in awe.
“Renovate and separate” is a popular country song. We all need to grow and our homes do to I totally understand. I just know it doesn’t create fulfilment on a soul level in my experience. 🙏❤️
Lol...there's no right way to do anything except to be in alignment with one's soul. We've had one car for a long time, made it through three kids. We've been in our current three bedroom that whole time too...I don't think people always need the upgrades they think they do, but sometimes it really does support expansion, so no judgment! Maybe once our kids are all flown we will get a huge place and it will be a blessing! Who knows! <3 :)!!
This was New Jersey for me/us. When we had our second two kids, no one in our condo complex said anything - not even congratulations. But when we got a new prius they literally wanted to pet it and congratulated us. It was so weird!
I think that’s everywhere that I’ve seen. Thanks for reaching out. Not trying to be righteous in the poem just asking the questions. Bless you.
I didn't get any righteousness. Just authentic reflection! <3 I have an inordinate collection of supplements. At one time I bought them in a fear based way while I was sorting through how to heal myself of things that no one else could that I was led to work with...and then it was aligned, and now I realize I have only a few I that resonate and most are just old junk, once treasured as insurance against...blah blah blah etc. Also I don't think being prophetic is righteous. Sometimes you have a passion to share and it's just the truth ringing out. Look at the OT prophets! They are not afraid to call bullshit when things are out of alignment!
Thanks! More to come lol
Awesome! Can't wait!
Thank you for this! I hear you. When I moved and sold my stuff I realised how much I had accumulated. I always have been a collectore of thinga. It became easier to let go once I found my authentic self. It was like I didn't needed that outside reassurance anymore. ❤️🙏
Thank you Sadhbh! Your authenticity and courage set an example for anybody who knows you! 🙏❤️