Memories

Memory is defined as the faculty of acquiring, storing, retaining and retrieving information and can be sensory, short or long term. 

Pleasure is the flower that passes; remembrance, the lasting perfume. Stanislas de Boufflers Sensory memory is transitory lasting seconds however it can trigger the memory of a moment.

Happiness is health and a short memory! Audrey Hepburn Freud referred to short term memory as the conscious mind paying attention to the here and now.

The life given us, by nature is short; but the memory of a well-spent life is eternal. Cicero. Long term memories lie outside of our awareness in the realm of the pre and unconscious, recalled when needed.

As we age selective memory loss may lead to dementia.  There is no coincidence that an accurate test for dementia is simply drawing a clock face. We all have our time machines. Some take us back, they’re called memories. Some take us forward, they’re called dreams. Jeremy Irons

The longer a song has existed in our lives, the more memories we have of it. Stevie wonder

Let’s use music as our Tardis to remember  The Way We Were by Barbara Streisand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifWOSnoCS0M

Please remember me

Nearly 100 years ago today Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne was published. Milne wrote that a writer wants something more than money for his work: he wants permanence. Through his characters we are reminded of simple truths.
 
On Life
Life is a journey to be experienced, not a problem to be solved. Pooh
When all else fails take a (gong) nap. Pooh

On love
You do not spell love, you feel it. Pooh 

On oneself
You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think. Christopher Robin
 

Promise you won’t forget me ever?  Christopher Robin

How could we?

What will you leave behind?

Legacy - something transmitted by or received from an ancestor  

This week is the anniversary of my father’s passing. An apt opportunity to reflect on one’s personal legacy.  We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever, but to leave behind something that will.  Chuck Palahniuk

Personally, I don't want to end up simply having visited this world. Mary Oliver

For, The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.  William James
What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others. Pericles The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honourable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. Ralph Waldo Emerson

A week after my father died a greenhouse called regarding the delivery of an order of trees. We were unaware of this order. He lived on Elm St where a few years earlier Dutch Elm disease had decimated the street of majestic centurions.  My father was donating trees to each of his neighbours.  His legacy was planting a seed of a tree under whose shade you will never sit. Hyacinthe Loyson. What will yours be?

Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you. Shannon Alder

Compassion is a verb. Plato

Compassion is a verb. Thich Nhat Hanh

This week a number of clients shared slivers of their COVID journey tinged with suffering, anxiety, stress and pain. They are the walking wounded who still hold ‘it’ together with determined strength and emotional fragility.

If you light a lamp for someone else it will also brighten your path. Buddha 

They find their way to the studio. A place of calm in the city.  This week I am reminded to Be (especially) kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle. Plato and that No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. Aesop.

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. Leo Buscaglia

Kindness changes the moment. Empathy changes people. Compassion changes the world. Anon

A time to turn inwards, to reflect

Every leaf speaks bliss to me fluttering from the autumn tree. E. Bronte

Today we celebrate the fall equinox, when the length of the day equals night. It signals the changing of seasons and turn inwards. We begin a time of darkness, of contemplation and of rest.

I invite you to reflect with gratitude and Find contentment by paying attention to what we already have. Anon Take a lesson from nature. Trees show us how lovely it is to get rid of old things. Anon And remember life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the air. FS Fitzgerald

Autumn is more the season of the soul than of nature. F. Nietzche.  Take this time to realign to your purpose and allow your inner light to shine as the sun recedes.

Listen to words penned 3000 years ago and brought to life by the Byrds, To every season turn turn turn…

Stop reflect

Never say never.
Scott Lindgren’s jaw dropping legacy of pushing boundaries embodies passion, overcoming obstacles and befriending Self. His dream to be the first to run the four rivers draining from Mount Kailash in Tibet came to a crashing halt when he was diagnosed with a brain tumour with one river remaining. Months of recovery provided the opportunity for self-reflection and revelation.

I have surrendered to the universe of life. I no longer try to control the outcome of life. I have transitioned into embracing what life has to offer. I have turned off the voices in my head and lead with my heart. It is such a gift to be free of my darkest fears. I have so much compassion for people that struggle! I know I am not the only one. What makes me sad is I didn’t know how to ask for help. It was tearing me apart. I perceived being vulnerable as being weak.

He befriended Aniol Serrasolses, a next gen world class kayaker who re-ignited his passion to relearn his craft with a beginners mind and body and to fulfil his dream as a team member rather than leader.  The inspiring journey is beautifully documented in the award winning netflix movie The Riverman

Scott passed recently leaving a personal legacy reflecting trust, vulnerability and determination delivered humbly and with thanks.  May we all find that place of inner peace and strength.
It is the courage to continue that counts. Winston Churchill

Commitment is an act not a word. Jean Paul Sarte

 Motivation births an idea, Commitment transforms it into reality. Abraham Lincoln
 
Free Solo documents Alex Honnold’s climb of El Capitan in 2017. For years he planned and prepared with unwavering dedication to achieve the Holy Grail of climbing while many thought he needed to be committed for daring to attempt it. You watch in awe as his Commitment unlocks doors of imagination, allows vision, and gives him the right stuff to turn his dream into reality. James Womack
 
Tony Robbins says stay committed to your decisions, be flexible in your approach. For Alex, Success was a matter of hanging on when others would have let go. Anon And When challenged, the committed heart will search for a solution, the undecided seeks an escape. Andy Andrews
 
The movie is not for the faint of heart. It does exemplify that The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence regardless of their chosen field of endeavour. Vince Lombardi. No one said it would be easy, for The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary. Vince Lombardi  Remember, it is the courage to continue that counts. Winston Churchill

I have committed my life to my family and to Red Doors, what are you committed to?

Time keeps on slipping

The Steve Miller band penned Time keeps on slippin slippin into the future.
Yesterday I woke up and wondered how September had arrived in the blink of an eye.
Time is free, but it's priceless.
You can't own it, but you can use it.
You can't keep it, but you can spend it.
Once you've lost it, you can never get it back. Anon

Jim Croce tried to capture time in a bottle.
He articulated the dread we feel as we wait in anticipation for things we desire; yet once it comes, time passes all too quickly. We are told that the past is gone, the future is unknown so live in the present. This is ever more true given the challenges of COVID affecting every aspect of our lives.  

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa1 Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone. George Carlin

We can’t control time but we can control how we choose to spend it. Choose wisely.

Silence heals.

John Beaulieu, a leader in the field of sound, began his career in an anechoic chamber. After calming his mind he tuned into the sound of his breath, heart and eventually the hum of his nervous system. This revelation was the source of his life’s work.

In sound healing we believe that every moment of our life and every action is in harmony with the Universal Energy Field. Abraham Maslow, called it ‘cognition of being in the peak experiences’, others,  being ‘in the flow’.

 The starting point is silence. Yet, most people are perfectly afraid of it. EE Cummings

The anagram of silent is ‘listen’. And the first step in meditation is withdrawing the senses and coming to a still point.  Here your soul is at peace with your thoughts. Here wisdom awaits. BD Schiers Silence has much to say and is a source of great strength. Rumi and Lao Tsu

Try listening to the sounds around you one at a time until you listen to your own breath and heart to see for yourself that Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom. Francis Bacon

Simplify continued

Simplify - to make something less complicated.
Determination and an unbiased assistant made my closet cleanse painless. The empty space is liberating. I am on a roll.  Over the years I asked ‘is it beautiful, is it useful, can I live without it’ as a basis for decision making. The reality is at each stage in our lives there is a time and place. We outgrow fashions, we cling to the past, we validate memories through accumulated possessions.  How much do we need?

All I need is the air that I breathe.

There is no doubt that A simple life gives birth to more clarity, inner peace and meaningful relationships. Margo Vader. Then contentment has to come. Dalai Lama

I will continue my quest one day, one shelf at a time and invite you to do the same. So that we too may Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires.  Lao Tzu