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Inspiration

Letting Go

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burningFire is an element that represents many things to many different people. To me, it has a symbol of purification. This is because when I looked into the fire, I saw the future ahead of me and the past was left behind.

The Significance of the Fire

There needs to be a bit more explanation than that I suppose.  In life, there are people who come into your life and cause only a ripple in the large tangle of life’s experience. Then there are those that are destined to leave a deep emotional crater, that you are destined to carry in your life.  How much and how long you carry it is up to you.

I started the fire for purification purposes. It needed to be done, a weeding out of cluttered possessions that served no purpose other than to remind me of things that were gone. As long as I held these things, there was the hope in the back of my mind that they would somehow summon those ghosts from the deathly slumber of their existence. It was time for a funeral, it was time for purification.

A Picture is Worth…………….

fire footage
Pictures burned as memories drift into the sky, never to be seen again.

The pyre I started was solely for me to observe and as the preparatory flames burned I said a silent goodbye and started to cleanse my existence of those memories. It was the pictures that went first.  Each happy moment of fake smiles and skin deep beauty were at first singed and then ever so slowly erased from existence.  As they went all of the lies, jealousy and foolishness went with them. Watching them go one by one was fascinating. Playing back entire years of events.  Then wiping them and their cursed impact away.  As the last fake image of yesterday disappeared into the either, candy swirled emotions of relief and fear engulfed me.

Possessions Mean Little to Me

campfireThen it was time for the things. Things that at one time held a vat of feelings and memories of special moments that will never be lived again. Knowing that there was a beauty in the world was great, but knowing that beauty can cut you deep and leave you with nothing but scars and disappointment. Onto the fire went the every single thing that had ever been given or held any attachment whatsoever.  Some of them burned well and caused the fire to burn ever higher.  Some did not, there was a bottle from a special occasion, that only the label disappeared in the wall of flame.

Your Words Showed Their Value

Eyes on FireLast and not least were the words. Words are empty when the emotions that once supported them. Now they are like the crack of a whip every time you read them and realize that they are no more. Let them go, place them in the fire.  Read one final time and destroyed forever.  That is the way of relationships that are born in the fire. They are often ended by the fire. How else could it possibly be?

The cleansing was over, the end had come. The fire went out, the past was gone with its last searing growing ember. Never to be mentioned again in conversation, but the scars remain, not only from the past but from the first moment I looked into the fire.

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Philosophy

Remember How to Play

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Remember How To Play In Life

Playing Catch
Remembering the fun of play

Many years ago, I can remember being a kid and just wondering who was going to be available to play after school.  There were not many things that were more important to my elementary school self than what I would play, where I would play and who would be available to play with.  Growing up in the town of Greenville, Maine, Tuesdays were always a difficult day because the bulk of my colleagues were Catholic and they had to go to Catechism, which significantly cut into my options.  I often urged some of my friends to skip their religious instruction for a rousing game of kickball or football or anything outside that involved a game of some kind.

I was fortunate to have a built-in playmate in my brother who was only a bit more than a year younger than me, and we always had Joel Wortman.  I can remember us getting home from school watching a little TV, eating a snack and then playing until the call to dinner would end our fun.  If there was a game, we played it.  For whiffle ball, we arranged the back yard like a Fenway, with the house being the “green monster”, the rock in the ground was first base, the worn patch was second and we would throw something down for third.  There was never a complaint or a problem with the facilities.   It was the game that counted.

playing catch
Remember those days when there wasn’t an organized game to go to, people just played for the sake of having fun

Play was such an important part of our lives that I wonder how it ever faded away, but it definitely did. As you grow older it becomes less and less a part of your life as you move into the “fun” of adulthood, the games of youth are left behind.  As young adults the opportunities for play are plentiful, but most of us confuse competition with play.  See any adult softball league to see this factor in action, too worried about winning a game that should be enjoyed just for being played.  Like many things as adults we forget what is important and that is just playing.

I enjoy playing golf because it gives you the opportunity to get outside, move around, socialize with your friends and just play.  Golf is only hard when you worry about how well you are playing, and much like life, golf is a game that can’t be won, only played.

Many people have play in their heart, and when they have children of their own, the spirit comes back out and they now have the approval of society to play again, like they did when they were young.  Some of the best parents I have known didn’t forget how to play.

Without researching too very hard here are some of the benefits that you can gain right now from playing.

climbing a tree
I couldn’t stop laughing as I climbed a tree for the first time in many years. It was harder than I remember.

Play Provides Connections to Others

As you play any game with someone else there is a connection that is made. A shared memory or experience created through play will be carried with you through the laughter and joy that you share with someone else.  Play has also been shown to help develop compassion, trust, and the ability to connect with others.

Play Helps You Learn About People

There are many social skills that are keenly honed through play.  Creativity, acceptance, tolerance, risk-taking, social etiquette are just some of the lessons that playing has taught me, and I assume can teach anyone.

 

Play Makes You Happy

When you play you will find that it is difficult to be mad, sad or otherwise pissed off at anyone.  I am told that this is because endorphins are released into your bloodstream resulting from play.  I know that it is impossible not to smile when you are truly enjoying playing.

I wasn’t sure if I remembered correctly or not, and the only way that I could know for sure was to actually try to play.  It was harder than you might think to find a venue to play where you are allowed to be yourself and not interfere with anyone else.  Then I really focused on playing and having fun and surprise, surprise it was better than I remembered.  I played catch, ran around and climbed trees, which was not as easy as I remember, but really a lot more fun.  I mean it has been over 30 years since I tried to climb a tree.

My advice to you is that you take a moment or two and play with all your heart.  You will remember what it is like to have fun.

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