I found the above quote this morning and thought to myself, how fascinating and thought provoking. It makes me wonder . . . can this be true? Are we willing to take lessons from all of our experiences, both the good and the bad? Do we just sit here waiting for the experience to pass, hoping that it will be soon? Are we willing to dive right into what happens with us and take what we can from it? Are we willing to use it, rather than let it use us? Is this the secret behind behing able to move forward? Is it only when we learn to embrace what is happening to us that we are able to learn from it and move ahead?
I know . . . . many, many questions. And all from one tiny picture.
I have always been a deep thinker. You can call me the "ponderer." I am always roaming around in my mind. Sometimes there is not a lot there, and other times it is so overflowing with thought that it just spills out. That can be really annoying at 12 a.m. when all you want to do is go to sleep.
Last night I watched a fascinating biopic on Netflix, Above Us Only Sky. It was about the making of his Imagine Album. With lots of never before seen footage, etc. Imagine, that song was the best selling single of John Lennon's music career, and considered by the Guinness World Book of Records to be the second best single of all time. It was only shortly before his death that John Lennon actually shared writing credit of it with his wife, stating that the lyric and concept of the song came from his wife Yoko.
It was a controversial song in it's time, and probably still is, but I think the perception of it largely depends on the person listening to it.
John Lennon's words: "The concept of positive prayer ... If you can imagine a world at peace, with no denominations of religion – not without religion but without this my God-is-bigger-than-your-God thing – then it can be true."
Whatever its meaning, it got me to thinking, about where I was, who I was, what I was when I first learned of John Lennon's assassination, which was like most things of its kind a life defining moment. And by that I mean a moment in time which most people remember with clarity as to those things.
On December 8th, 1980 I was a young mom of three children, only 25 years of age and soon to be expecting my fourth child. I had a kitchen with orange and green wallpaper on the walls because that was very much in style. Short on cash, big on love, I may have thought I was pretty knowledgeable in the way and things of the world, but I really was not. I had a curly perm and aviator style glasses. I was heavily into ceramics. We had no house phone or cable TV because we couldn't afford either one.
Our cupboards were filled with unlabeled canned goods that my husband pulled out of the dump on the base where we lived. The British would take boxes of rations with them on their maneuvers and when they came back into camp would discard them, even the unopened ones. He would bring them home and I would scald and sterilise them. We never knew what was in them. Some contained cheese, or stewed beef, others apple pie, and, on a lucky day, a variety of sweets, including chocolate.
I lived in a three bedroom house and my two little girls slept in the bedroom downstairs off the kitchen because it was the only bedroom largest enough to hold a crib and a bed and dresser.
(Amanda 9 months old)
I lived in a world where you didn't lock your doors, never. That thought terrifies me now, especially when I think that I had two little girls sleeping in a bedroom off my kitchen next to our back door, with me being upstairs. Would I do that today. Never in a million years. But the thought never ocurred to 25 year old me that they would not be safe. It was a very different world.
And yes, I believed in the idea of a utopian world, where everyone could get along without the judgement of others. Where sex, and colour, race and religion, and politics did not/would not matter. Where everyone was loved and safe, and fed, and happy and warm.
Forty years ago. John Lennon, had he lived, would be 80 years old now. And his dream of Utopia would never have been realised. The world, if anything, is a much more dangerous place now. Or is that just my perception of it??
I know I would never leave any of my children downstairs in a bedroom all night in a house with unlocked doors. Children, in many locations, have to pass through metal detectors when they go to school in order to make sure none of them are carrying weapons, and still they are not safe. School shootings still happen.
And yet, I still believe in the goodness of mankind. Every day I am reminded of this when I read a story about someone having done a kindness for others. I still believe that for every bad thing that happens there are far more good things that counter it.
2020 has been a very bad year for all of us, and yet at the same time we have seen great things happen. We have seen many wonderful acts of kindness and generosity. In most cases, the cream has risen to the top. Our future is not as bleak as it may seem. There is still much good to be found in the world.
Are these two not the cutest? We had a wonderful time with them yesterday. We shared lots of laughs. I had laid the table out with lots of picky bits. Sliced cold meats, cheeses, crackers, fruit, potato chips, vegetables and dips, etc. I had made sausage rolls and Pets de Soeur. (tiny puff pastry cinnamon rolls) There were cookies and mince pies. And I forgot to put out the smoked almonds and Bits and Bites. They went home with a bag of leftovers. Eileen just loved her Tom Kitten gifts Elaine! (So did I!)
I had found the most fabulous fig jam in the store that went beautifully with the cheese. We had strong and medium cheddar, havarti, swiss and I had a cheese ball and a piece of white beautiful stilton with ginger. I couldn't go too far off the grid because I knew it would go to waste. As it was we had too much. But better to have too much than too little! Having too much, is a blessing many never receive.
And with that I will leave you with a thought for the day.
° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
*Peace is not
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
*Peace is not
something you wish for.
Its something you make,
something you do,
something you are, and
something you give away.
~John Lennon•。★★ 。* 。
There is nothing new in the kitchen today, but I am sharing this recipe for Italian Lemon Cream Cake which was one of my favourite recipes this year!
Have a wonderful Sunday. The last one of 2020. Whatever you get up to, don't forget!