Tag Archives: Memories

Life

Welcome to Haircut Day

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My most recent haircut day, 9/07/23

It all grew out of the pandemic. That is how the tradition started. Like many things in life, good and beautiful things can grow from our challenges. Often, I think that is why these obstacles come into our lives. That is true for haircut day and the monthly joy it brings.

You may or may not remember, but during the pandemic of 2020 it wasn’t easy to get a haircut anywhere. Every shop was closed, and we were just left to our own devices, and it was not something I liked. I have developed an affinity for a particular type of cut. High and tight, skin on the sides and two on the top. It doesn’t matter if you understand what that means, but it is essential that you know that I think it is the most comfortable, manageable, and best feeling cut there is. Imagine feeling the wind on your head or the hot water when you shower. It is amazing. Also, there is the zero maintenance factor. Other than during the pandemic, I hadn’t combed my hair in years. It is amazing!

I have the ability to grow hair, which many might envy. However, time has replaced the color of youth with the dreaded color of age, which can be depressing to look at. The shorter the hair, the less visible the gray is. It is a win for me, and I am less disappointed when I look in the mirror in the morning. All this took me to Farmington, Maine, at some point during the national crisis of 2020.

I looked around Augusta to get a cut, but all the places were closed or limited; it was like visiting Fort Knox to keep your head well-groomed. That is when I thought of the best haircuts I had ever gotten, and it made me think of Farmington, Maine.    I lived in Farmington in the late 1980’s and early 90’s. It is about 30 minutes from me, and that time commitment would be worth it for a good trim. So to Farmington, I went.

I searched for downtown barber shops and came up with Broadway Barber Shop; stopped by; they were open, and although they followed all of the protocols of the time, they were friendly and made you feel a human connection. It was great. After months of foolish rules and fabricated social distancing standards, once again, I felt human. And they did a great job.

I started to make a monthly pilgrimage to Farmington for the same service, and they never disappointed me. Over time, the trip developed into more than just getting my hair cut. It turns into a morning ritual, which I enjoy quite a bit.

First, I schedule a haircut every four weeks, from 9-10 AM, whatever my favorite hair person has available on a Saturday. This part is always enjoyable as we talk about our lives and ensure life is moving in the right direction. After the beautiful cut, I pay, say thank you, set the next month’s appointment, and then take a quick walk through downtown Farmington.

Farmington has changed, yet it is still the same in many ways. I know nobody in or around the town and rarely see anyone who knows me. But walking through that town, I am visited by the memory of many people I knew once upon a time and feel that so many definitely impacted me. My first stop is the Dunkin’ downtown, where I get a coffee and sit down and drink it.

As you see the people move in and out of that place, there is a combination of college students and townsfolk, which reminds me of what it was like 35 years ago when I was a student at UMF. My mind will wander back to days of fall at school and the many people I shared that time with. It is funny how we never realize that we live in a magical time until it is long over. It is only visible through the lens of retrospection.

In a way, I feel very fortunate that I do recognize how lucky I was to have that experience, and of course, like all positive, good things, you wish you could be there again. Yet we know the past is gone, and we can’t get it back. No matter what we do. However, all of the marks, the good things we love, and the complex challenges we face are still inside us. Sometimes they provide hope for our ability to overcome difficult things; sometimes, they provide regret for things we lost.

After coffee, I make sure I take a quick walk through the campus. When school is in session, I see kids moving quickly with a purpose and remember walking in their shoes. I wonder if they realize the value of the experience they are having right now. When school is on a break, there are empty streets where only ghosts of the past stroll by—inevitably reminding you of good memories and people from earlier days. I often ponder how many others feel the same way I feel about this town in the middle of Franklin County. I don’t know the answer; all I have learned is that the roots I put down many years ago still provide some connection to the people and times I lived.

Perhaps it is just getting old or a trick of the mind, but I remember Farmington as a special place, and it was the people that made it such. All those people went their separate ways, but when I go to haircut day, I see them all, just in my mind.

In conclusion, there are places, people, and things we carry inside of us for the entirety of our lives.  If we are very lucky, they are good places.  These locations are places we can touch our pasts, if only for a second.  I don’t know if it is a good thing or a bad, but I am looking forward to the next one. October is a fine month to visit Farmington, Maine.  I may see you there.

 

22

The Rooms You Live In

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Are we looking for answers or looking for ourselves when we visit?

Perception is a unique thing people experience. Each person can see or experience something and choose to have specific thoughts and emotions about it. Two people can have the same moments together and take away a different perception of that thing.

This change happens all the time in relationships, and recently I have been reminded what I have perceived about other people, the places we have gone, and the emotions we shared were not the same. Throughout the past year, I have had many adventures that greatly valued me. I look at these experiences as rooms in my memory. I can visit any time I choose and remember the joy of the shared experience. The sad truth is that I am only half of those memories, and perhaps my thoughts and emotions about these times were less than I imagined. In this story, you will have to judge the value of my room of memory.

Entering a memory in your mind is like entering a standard room from your childhood home. You walk around and see things that bring up thoughts and emotions. However, some of the things you think you remembered well, you did not remember clearly. Or at least it must be so, or how else could that experience carry no weight with another? It was only you that loved that moment. A special memory of something loses its magic and loses its power. Somehow knowing what you thought was one thing was another makes it seem like a waste. I have entered many rooms lately and seen many valuable things destroyed.

The Entryway

The beginning, a friendship that turned into something more, the exciting beginning where I remember every detail and know that I was out of breath simply because I was near you. I felt fun, alive, spontaneous, and invigorated. But most of all, I felt accepted. I look around the room and see the world’s giant telephone, a cold day in Rockland, pancakes at a diner, all things that happened, or at least I think they did.

But if they did happen and the events of this room are actual, how could it be like a museum now? Where did they go? If joy like that was meant to be so fleeting, then why bother anyway? I do not know the answer to these questions, and I only see as I look at the dust-covered thoughts of that time that there is no way to touch them now.

The Living  Room

This place is one of my favorite rooms to visit because it is all I loved about being with you and all the things you hated about being with me. The emojis I would send you every day to tell you something about how I cared about you. A cello because it is your favorite instrument, a boat because my ship came in the day I met you. A red balloon because of a movie we saw together. All of these things are in this room.

But we know now that they don’t have any real meaning. These things are only remembered here by me, and that is making me wonder if they ever happened or if they ever existed at all. Was it all in my imagination? No, it couldn’t have been because I am in this room. But I am here alone remembering…………

The Entertainment Room

Well, then, there is this room of yours where I have difficulty opening the door. As I step in and look around, I am hit by the feeling of being kind and friendly. I once thought I had never met anyone as kind and gentle as you, and you were all of that: supportive, accepting, understanding, and everything a person could want. I often wondered what I had done to deserve such a beautiful soul in my life. Like a sunset or a sunrise, as the sky turns a fantastic color, it will only be for a short time, and so were you.

As I move around the room, the mood changes from kind and sweet to selfish and aloof. The kind words, pleasant thoughts, exciting ideas, and support receded and were replaced with uncaring, unfamiliar coldness. I think the person I knew and loved died that day, which took away one of the best friends I had ever known. She was gone, and only a shell of her was left behind. A sad replica of something beautiful is all that is left. This feeling only stands to remind me of the promise of opportunity lost. That room is the most difficult to visit, but it teaches the best lessons.

The Recovery Room

There could be no trip like this without a recovery room because we all need time to heal and start to come back from these moments of pain and suffering. Please make no mistake about it; you caused a lot of suffering: your choices, your words, your actions, and nobody else’s. Fortunately, even in a horrible situation like this, where you feel deceived for months, there are valuable lessons you can gather. There has been little about you that has been kind or nice in a very long time.

First, your situation is not the thing but how you think about it. I have learned to be less of an enslaved person to my thoughts and emotions, and I had to survive you. Second I have learned that though it was all a lie. I enjoyed being a part of a duo and that there is a power in that combination. Even though your joyful moments were seemingly all fake, mine was not, and I am grateful for the experience of being happy and sharing those moments. I cherish them even if you don’t. Because I can’t make you remember these things with fondness, but neither can you rob me of the joy I had in those moments.

As I close the door, I wonder why I bother to visit these places of memories of camping, sightseeing, birthday celebrations, and daring fun. They happened in my life, but what did they mean? I have to admit I have no concept of what is meaningful to anybody anymore. Or at least I don’t know what should be significant for me. These are my rooms, and I am doomed to wander them looking for answers I never found.

 

21

The Past

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udestiny historyrl So much of our lives revolve around the stories we tell. Not only the ones we tell others about our past but, more importantly, the stories we tell ourselves about the past. These stories about our perception of our history tend to color and temper our expectations for ourselves today.  What is the value of this? It is time to let go of history and move forward.

Faulty at Best

One of the things that I am sure of is that the history we remember and the stories we tell are not very accurate and controlled by the beliefs we choose to entertain. Memory is not a very trustworthy tool to use when looking at the past.  When five people witness an accident or another event, the stories will only have a base of consistency when interviewed separately. That is because we all have biases and beliefs that influence how we interpret the events in our lives. Accept that is true, and you can move forward without being attached to the results of stories from the past. Your memory is faulty, and you can’t trust that you remember things accurately at all. So living your life based on these lessons is faulty as well. Let go of history and move forward.

It Limits Today

Another reason to move past the stories that you let define you is that they will limit you. Focusing on the stories of the past that make up your character and experience establishes your identity. Who knows what new information and experience will do to change who you are and what you believe. Clinging to the past as an identifier for who you are will limit who you might become. It is like wearing a costume that you can’t get out of. Look at it, learn from it and discard it. There are no reasons to accept limits in your life.

You Can’t Change It

change the pastOne fact that is irrefutable is that no matter what has happened in the past, there is no way to change it. No matter what has happened, good or bad, it is what it is, and changing it is not an option. Many people spend their lives reliving old positive memories and glory days to remind themselves that they felt good about themselves at one point.  Or they spend a lot of time reliving mistakes and reminding themselves of the problems they caused themselves, like a badge of explanation for the problems faced today. Neither of these options is healthy or allows you to move forward. Your past can’t be changed, altered, or adjusted in any way. To think otherwise is a delusion. Learn from it and put it away, understanding that the only moment that matters is the one that you are in right now.

Our personal history can be an interesting thing to visit. There are people we met who we learned from, either good or bad. Some events affected the way we view life.  Some have allowed me to see the potential in all situations. Others make me wonder about the honesty of people. Regardless of the value, all of the past needs to be put away, so there is room for new growth experiences coming to you at this moment and in all the moments of the years to come.  One’s vision can only be clear without the shaded lens of the past.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa_JM287Lhk

Nostalgicmusicmonth

The Boys are back in Water

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Nostalgic Music Month Day 17

Water by Jon Hilton

A view of our favorite swimming spot through the trees on Dyer’s Pond

In all of my formative years, I was fortunate to be blessed, living within view of a lake or a pond in all places I lived.  My earliest memories are of these places. They are Moosehead Lake in Greenville, Maine and Dyers Long Pond in Jefferson, Maine. Each comes back to me in memories and it is clearly a part of my soul is in each. This is the story of how these two lakes contributed to my life and formed much of what I understand about the world today.  It is a fortunate thing to be raised in the woods of Maine, even though I often thought otherwise. There are lessons you learn about life and respect for nature many people seem to lack today.

  1. Water– Brad Paisley- To live in rural areas one of the first elements you need to master is water. Learning to swim in this scary, monstrous and mysterious lake is one of the first challenges we meet. I remember well
    This was camp, and that boat was my main source of travel, freedom, and entertainment.

    the day I learned to swim. I was standing on the dock at my grandfathers. Tentatively thinking about swimming but fear was in my way. What if I couldn’t do it? Suddenly I was picked up and was hurtling through the air and into that dark scary abyss.  After the initial fear and shock wore off, I realized that I was swimming, and there wasn’t anything to be afraid of at all. Life lesson learned. It is one I have to recall even today when something new comes along. Jump in, give it a go, you will never know if you don’t give it a try.  Yeah, when that summer sun starts to beatin’ down. And you don’t know what to do. Grab your swimming trunks. Ice up that old igloo. Drive until the map turns blue.

  2. Down to the Waterline– Dire Straits There was a path that ran from our camp on Dyers Pond through the woods, past four other camps with the final destination of my grandparents. I ran that path thousands of times in my youth, usually with no shoes on. I knew all of the camps and their inhabitants as well as family. The path was right next to the water. I was very fortunate to be set free almost all summer. I had to be polite when I was around people and was taught to be honest, kind and caring. But when it came to summer days, I was set free with my brothers to go and do whatever I could dream up that day. The woods and the waters were my playgrounds and my teachers.  Respect was the biggest lesson I learned running along the waterline. She can see him on the jetty where they used to go. She can feel him in the places where the sailors go. When she’s walking by the river and the railway line. She can still hear him whisper, “Let’s go down to the waterline.”
  3. All Summer Long– Kid Rock- Growing up and going to camp every summer of my life was a tough life. The lake was not only for fun but also for bathing. There was no shower at the camp. Why? Because you went swimming every day. Usually two or three times. We actually could go as many times as we wanted as long as we could find someone to watch us. Any adult would do.  Of course, we also had to wait 30 minutes after we ate before we could swim. It was based on the unfounded belief that if you swam before your food started to digest you would get cramps and drown. We followed this “science” without question.  Living at camp also meant, using an outhouse, and filling up jugs of drinking water and carrying them home. We definitely take a lot of simple things for granted today.  Splashing through the sandbar. Talking by the campfire. It’s the simple things in life, like when and where. We didn’t have no internet
    But man I never will forget.
    The way the moonlight shined upon her hair
  4. On the Border– Al Stewart- Wind was a constant companion on all lakes. In Greenville, the wind was a powerful and constant factor in life. It made a moderate day colder and a cold day frigid. It did develop a toughness, that if you can handle that cold wind, everything else is minor leagues. In Jefferson, the wind dictated what types of activities the day would bring. Wind out of the south meant warm happy days of sunshine. Wind out of the North meant colder days and maybe some indoor time.  In the village where I grew up. Nothing seems the same. Still you never see the change from day to day.No one notices the customs slip away.
  5. Sitting on the Dock of the Bay– Otis Redding- There are many subtle things about living on a lake you take for granted at the time, but remember as priceless memories. Seeing the movement of the water through the day, or the shadows as they move. Shouting to nobody so that you can hear the echo of emptiness roll off into the distance. Sometimes sitting, watching and thinking are the best adventures available. You just have to take the time to notice them. A lake is a living, breathing entity that provides a life for millions of creatures small and large. As a day drifted softly toward its conclusion, the shadows on the shore grew long and I knew it was time to find the warmth that was waiting at home.  So I’m just gonna sit on the dock of the bay. Watching the tide roll away. Ooo, I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay. Wastin’ time. 

Thin Lizzy by Mike Martin

If I want to feel invincible, all I need to do is listen to The Boys Are Back in Town from the Irish hard rock band Thin Lizzy. The song was originally released in 1976, on their album sixth studio album, Jailbreak- a song that wasn’t even selected to be on the record until a couple of  Louisville, Kentucky DJs helped bring the song to prominence.

Guess who just got back today
Them wild-eyed boys that had been away
Haven’t changed that much to say
But man, I still think them cats are crazy

“It was 1976 and we were touring America,” recalled Scott Gorham (a California guitarist who contributed to the Thin Lzzy’s twin lead guitar signature style). “Jailbreak wasn’t shifting and we weren’t selling any tickets – but there we were, gigging around… The manager came in and told us, ‘Well guys, it looks like you have a hit record’… Our response was, ‘Wow! Which song are you talking about?’ When he replied, ‘The Boys Are Back in Town’, it was a case of “Really?” We’d demoed maybe 15 songs and ‘The Boys Are Back in Town’ wasn’t among the ten that we chose for the album, which in some ways made it a double surprise. We owe it all to two DJs in Louisville, Kentucky. They fell in love with the (x) song and played it incessantly until other stations in the surrounding area picked up on it… Had that song not kickstarted the sales of the

Boy trying to get back in town

album, then the band was over.”
Thin Lizzy formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1969. Phil Lynott’s was the band’s de facto leader. He was the composer or co-composer of almost all of the band’s songs, and the first black Irishman to achieve commercial success. He died from a condition induces from Heroin dependency in 1986.

Stay safe folks and please have a terrific Tuesday!

Please, have a great day, and if you have any questions, drop us a line and please partake in #OctoberNostalgicMusicMonth and while you are at it take a trip to Greenville, Maine-I understand the foliage is majestic this time of year! #visitGreenville

#OctoberNostalgicMusicMonth #visitGreenville

Philosophy

The Leaf Is So Simple

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The Leaf Is So Simple

A leaf in Autumn 2
The leaf is so simple but full of memories

The leaf is so simple. I remember never being able to understand how a green leaf could change into so many different colors? Or why a tree would shed it’s most valuable skin? I always think back to my childhood when I recall memories. Probably because the best ones derived from innocence.

Jumping in Leaves

Everyone remembers jumping in the leaves. It’s priceless. You tend to forget year after year that those leaves do in fact have pointy stems. That is, until you get one in the eye. Or that they’re rather fragile the older they get and crumble making their way into your clothes causing you to become itchy.

Garbage Bag Ghosts

leaves in garbage bags
Making Garbage bag ghosts. Scary!!

Stuffing garbage bags in the shapes of ghosts and using them as lawn decoration was always a favorite. Watching Mom fight with the bags while they try to blow away because she refuses to put a rock in them.

Halloween Thoughts

Halloween was always a good time. Trying to pick an outfit that will keep you warm in the biting cold but still look cool enough to wear in front of your friends. Mom was always good at coming up with last minute ideas and making them amazing.  Something about crunchy leaves kicking around while you’re trick or treating brings life to the holiday. Sparking spook and scary feelings.

Pumpkin Hunting

looking for the perfect pumpkin
Finding the Perfect Pumpkin

Finding the perfect pumpkin was the most important Fall pastime. Perfectly round, no blemishes, and just the right size. And the baby pumpkins that sat on the table. I used to love coming home from school and walking down our long driveway. It clutters in leaves entirely and makes the most earthly sound when you walk through them. I’d walk out to meet my sister when she got off the bus half an hour later just to take the walk again.

There’s always a smell that reminds me of the previous year. Something different that I’ve never smelled before, but always follows a memory. I haven’t found it yet this year, but I’m confident I will.

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Questions

The End of The World

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If you knew the world was ending tomorrow, who would you make sure you visited today?

end of the world
The Mayans thought it was going to happen in 2012, yet here we are!

by Jonathan Hilton  Day 54

Knowing the world would end tomorrow would make me want to see a lot of people today, for a number of reasons, but I think that this question is good motivation to look at how we value people and how we let relationships drift away into indifference for a multitude of reasons.

So I am going to split the people into categories and explain the reasons for each.  One thing is for sure it would be one busy day.

Family First

First of course there would be family that I would want to see, so that I could make sure that they were ready for the impending destruction.  I would want to say thank you for all that you did in my life and that I am very grateful for the kindness and that I love them all very much, ask if there was anything I could do for them on that last day.

Each relationship in that familial web is important and I would hope that I could get to them all.  I know how much I miss the ones that are gone already, they are with me every day and I am not sure about what would happen if the world ended, but as long as I was able I would be carrying them with me.

Forgiveness
I have a clear conscience in this area

Friendship Is Important

Second I would want to visit all of the friends that I have met over the years to say good bye and reminisce about good times shared, and all of the funny memories we had, so that I could tell them how much I appreciated spending some time on this journey with them.

There are many friends from all of the different phases of my life and I guess I would have to use Skype to talk with some of them, but if I could I would talk to them.

The people I grew up with are as dear to me today as anyone, because there is a shared experience of childhood that could not be faked or manipulated.  We knew each other, both the good and the bad, and there was a support and caring there that still exists today.  My high school friends shared a different time with me, but still significant.  The ties you make as a youth are strong even if you don’t see each other on a regular basis.  They don’t break easy.

I went to two different colleges and there are two distinct groups of friends there but they are the people that I really grew up finally with and started to learn about the world.   I have nothing but smiles and great times to share just one more time before the world ends.

Then of course as an adult, there were a lot of people I met through the jobs I have had, but not a lot of them were friends, they were coworkers for the most part.  These “friendships” were clearly only for a short time and they did teach me something, but it is the past where I have found my true friends.

This One Goes Out To You

Next I would find the three people who I was ever in love with in my life.  It might be awkward because I haven’t seen any of them in years.  but I would want to tell each of them that regardless of my actions, I take responsibility for them.  They had an impact

peaceful lake
A nice peaceful place for the end of the world

on me and I have carried it with me for my entire life.  Not the bad things but the good times the memories that made me a better person. They still are making me better today.  I am grateful that we shared whatever we shared.

Forgive Everyone

Time is getting short so I would want to at least call some people I feel like there are unresolved issues with.  To tell them that I forgive them and am sorry for my part in any pain they experienced.

Life is full situations that provide you with a choice, I made some that were universally good and some that might be construed as bad for everyone.  Whenever the end does come these petty things are not going to be on my mind. I send best wishes to those who are angry and hope they find happiness before their ending.  I forgive them for anything they did to me.

Finally

That being done, if I had any time left I would go to a spot that was special to me, there are several and await the end of the world with anticipation, and not be afraid in the least bit. What good would that do? The world is ending and there isn’t anything you can do about it, might as well enjoy the spectacle.

Is there any other song appropriate for this post?

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Interests

What is in the Box?

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by Jonathan Hilton

The old box in the attic
The old box in the attic

It had been years since I had ventured into that attic   As I climbed the rickety pull down ladder my face was greeted with a musty, dusty smell and the cold air that stabbed my cheeks reminding me of the winter weather outside.  As my body became fully engulfed by the cold I tried to make it a quick visit. I was looking for my copy of To Kill a Mockingbird,  when something caught my eye.

It was a box. There was nothing about the box that separated it or made it seem that much different from the rest of the boxes in the attic, but the feeling I had was definitely not normal or routine.  I picked it up almost subconsciously and maneuvered my way back down to the warmth of the house below with the box still closed in my hands.

There was a Christmas excitement that I was feeling as I started to pull the top of the box open to see what treasure was held inside.  I am not sure if the contents glowed but there was a light that emanated from the container as I peeked inside.  It could have been real light for all I know or remember because inside were memories that hadn’t been disturbed in years and they were being resurrected today.

The Book

Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel. Beat modernization but became a furnace in the end!
Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel. Beat modernization but became a furnace in the end!

The first thing I pulled out of the box was a book. It was a children’s book and a pretty ordinary one at that, but it brought to life, experiences that occurred long ago.

It was called Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel.  The contents of the book didn’t matter as much as the words. As I flipped through each page, the voices of those who read those pages to me in my youth came back. Most of them from the grave.

I was awash in nostalgia and even the love a kid feels when someone takes the time to read a story to you. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and even some teachers voices rose from the page.

When I was child the best time of day was just before I went to sleep when my mother or father would read a story to us. It was a ritual that lit my imagination on fire.

I dreamed of castles, monsters and being a hero.  Those images crept back into my mind as I remembered my imaginary adventures from long ago.  I wondered how many kids today get to experience this now.

The Scrapbook

Phones looked like this. You dialed the numbers. It was slower yet better. Unless you dialed wrong.
Phones looked like this. You dialed the numbers. It was slower yet better. Unless you dialed wrong.

Anxiously I moved on, the next item was a scrapbook I had made in junior high of all of the pictures I could find with me in them. As most young people are, I suppose I was a bit self-centered at the time.

It hit me as I remembered teams I had played on or my seventh grade class picture, just how much life had changed.  Not one of the kids including me in those pictures had ever heard of a cell phone or a personal computer for that part.

Yet we managed to live our lives, make friends, go places, and have fun anyway.  I remembered how awkward it was to call someone’s house (from the phone attached to the wall) and have to talk to their mom to see if they were home.

Each of these pictures made me wonder how kids can manage to

This is Paddleball. Not much too it thank God.
This is Paddleball. Not much too it thank God.

pay attention at all today. They always have an electronic distraction within arm’s length.

I had a hard enough time concentrating when there was only a paddle ball to distract me.   If you are not sure what that is, see the image, but the point is I was easily distracted.

I looked at the kid I was and was happy for him that he had never dreamed of Facebook.  It was much more fun to talk to girls in person I think.

 My Former Friend

It doesn't matter how many people let you down, when a friend does it, it hurts.
The most painful feeling of looking for your friend and seeing only an enemy

The next item was not filled with pleasant memories. It was filled with pain and sadness. It was a homemade award that one of my best friends had given me.

It represented some joke between us. We used to work together and I thought we were very good friends.  It struck me that I had not seen nor heard from this person in over five years.

Something in my heart sunk as I thought about the temporary nature of all things in life and particularly the fleeting ideas of friendship. Why weren’t we friends anymore?  What had happened?

It all seems so silly now. There was this award, a joke shared long ago that now only echos in hollow silence.  They say that everything happens for a reason and some day perhaps I will understand the reason friendship ends, but it won’t be today.

The Game Changer

I was out of time and had to run, but I reached in the box one more time and this time I came out with a total shock. My collectors edition of thoughts by William George Jordan!  The book I think is only significant to me as my reading of it changed my life from one of a taker to one of a giver.

Reading opened doors in my mind I never knew were there.
Reading opened doors in my mind I never knew were there.

That book was the gateway for me into a world of wonder and wisdom. It planted the seed of an idea,  that every thought you form affected your experience in life was a concept that I had never conceived of, much less ever heard of before.

I recalled how as one book turned into another that philosophies started to make sense in my mind. I remember not only feeling more positive about life but more hopeful about the fate of the world.

There were greater powers available to mankind than simply watching tiny plays acted out on a television screen.  Learning is a lifelong thing and how much you want to learn is controlled only by your own personal desire and ability to put away your phone, turn off your television or computer and allow words to seep into your mind.  The reward is knowledge of anything you want.  Aladdin had a lamp, you have a book, each can make any wish you have come true.

The End

I closed the box and placed it in a very safe place and hurried off to my pressing appointment with work. Even though I left the room physically, my mind was still stretching back to what was inside that box.

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