Sunday, October 23, 2011

What are you doing TODAY. . .


As I went through Erie Street Cemetery yesterday in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. . .I couldn't help but note on the fact that one.  .   . It's a shame that the city--or whomever is responsible for the upkeep of this hallowed ground has let this place just go to crap. . .two. . .that all of these people resting quietly here once had people that cared about them--cared about them enough to erect some type of stone memorial--big or small because they mattered to somebody. . .and three. . .as in the case of Daisy Conley, who graced this planet for inside of one year, 126 years ago, you don't even end up a footnote. . .most of us don't.

We may end up as somebody's memory for a while.  .  .


But, eventually. . .the flame flickers out. . .

Folks, it will only be for a short time. . .which doesn't mean you can't be somebody's inspiration. . .


It's good to have dreams. . .while you carry out your dreams . . .your goals . . .your aspirations.  .  .you may be somebody's inspiration.  .  .that's all we're given. . .really.  .  .sure, we have to cut the grass, get the house ready for winter, look forward to or dread that tomorrow is a Monday and it, as if life somehow starts on Mondays, all starts over again. . .

So as you go about your business today. . .what are you doing?


Are you even conscious?  Are you looking back at the past with regret?  The what-might-have-been?  Are you doing, being, living NOW?  If you are around younger people, you are being watched. . .I'm not saying you have to be a mentor--but, we are all mentors in some way. . .and when you get to be a certain age (and, I must admit, I probably AM no longer on the wall here. . .you tip over that wall eventually, but it doesn't mean you wallow in Jello and listen to Rush. . .and I don't mean the music group). . .people may just pay attention to what you are saying.  .   .

Our twelve-year-old grandson lives with us. . .we are being observed. . .this is how you carve out a life. . .this is how you treat people. . .this is what it means to be responsible. . .this is what it means to be active. . .LIFE IS NOT A VIDEO GAME. . .


We have two sets of great neighbors on either side of us. . .one couple is around forty-five. . .the other couple is in their late thirties.  .  .we are the old folks. . .but, we serve a purpose. . .our house is in the middle. . .it is the gathering place. . .and while we share wine and food.  .  .we talk. . .we are observed. . .and in some small way, maybe we make a difference. . .we all speak from our hearts. . .and then everybody goes home. . .


But, one day, it all comes down to this:




But, you have today. . .you have this hour. . .you have this minute. . .you can make a difference in somebody's life. . .if you're extremely talented and lucky. . .you may end up a footnote. . .most likely, not.  .  .99.9% of us are not Mozart.  .  .we are not Melville.  .  .we are just Mary, Joe, Alice, John, Jane. . .in the end, we all end up less than footnotes. . .but, you can never know the difference you can make in one person's life. . .


In the year 2137, somebody will look down on you. . .




. . .and maybe somebody will take a photo (or mind-meld the image immediately into their digital storage unit in their brain). . .and probably KNOW everything about you. . .so, just maybe. . .we are thinking too small.  . . . .maybe there are no footnotes. . .maybe what we do today will be known in some metaphysical sense 126 years from now. . .please.  .   .do something that makes a difference. . today. . .don't have that person look down on you and shake their head and say.  .  .on Sunday, October 23, 2011. . .this person actually spent an hour of their time watching Desperate Housewives. . .


And so it goes. . .


For better or worse. . .




Somebody is watching you. . .somebody is paying attention

4 comments:

Bookie said...

Hi Floyd...thanks for your comments on my blog today! I think your own essay this evening is wonderful. I have sent a link to several friends to read it. Pointed and true were your words!

Your interest in cemetaries reminds me I find them interesting sometimes too. DH and I had a lovely picnic in a wonderful cemetary off Highway 7 in Vermont years ago...friends thought us gory when we told them. But the place was peaceful, very old, well cared for, and well, just as wonderful as a private park!

Floyd Garrett said...

Claudia. . .thank you so much for your kind words. . .I love Highway 7 by the way. . .haven't been up there in a few years. . .but, it is a thing of beauty. . .no graveyards today for me. . .but, some hiking. . .lots of photos. . .and deep-woods meditation. . . .thanks again for stopping by. . . . .we're all in this together. . .

Ben Blake said...

Nothing like a stroll through the bone yard to put things in perspective. I feel the need to quote Paul Simon's "Sparrow" or John Stewart's "Strange Rivers." Don't blame me: you took the shots of birds and chipmunks! Today you'll have to settle for Robert Frost: "Two roads diverged in the yellow wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." And for your information, I gave up on "Desperate Housewives" two years ago. Are there are choices for the couch potato, or does he merely veg? PBS or "Jersey Shore," he teeters on the edge...

Floyd Garrett said...

I'll go with the Groucho Marx quote:

"I find television to be very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go in the other room and read a book."

And if you teeter on the ledge and land on the Jersey Shore, I'll personally come up there and bat your robin. . .