Thursday, August 7, 2003

the house of tomorrow




my daughter, far away, is dealing with dilemmas; but she has reached the age of majority and there is little i can do except reassure her that she can make the decisions, and that a lot of decisions are of little import in the long run anyway. priorities shift and slide. new vistas beckon. it's how i ended up where i am, and how i am, so i encourage from modest experience.
because i am a product of the 70's, kahlil gibran's bow&arrow poem inspired my approach to parenthood; because i am a mother, my overwhelming instinct was, and is, to simply enclose her in my arms and carry her wherever she wants to go. THAT is the dilemma that i deal with.
if only life were cut-and-dried. if only what you saw was what you got. if only.
but no: i risk the soapbox-syndrome, and assure her that challenges enrich, and that disappointments bestow insight. i tell her - because i totally believe it - that life is what you make it.
mothers become philosophers, and cheerleaders, out of necessity.
will i share the moment of enlightenment, or the winning goal?
i can only hope.


7 comments:

  1. ((((((((hugs)))))))) I know you dont like too personal comments, but i just wanted to say that i could not have asked for a better mum. Though in the future i might need you not to reassure but to be my tiebreaker, cause some decisions between heart and mind are just too hard to make. Love you tons

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  2. that's a gorgeous photo! and i love the kahlil gibran, that is a favourite of mine.
    my children are still very young, but i believe the best gift you can give to your children is the ability to stand on their own.

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  3. Interesting isn't it that some dilemmas that we wrestle with mightily fall between the cracks of whatever structure we unwittingly but inexorably build out of all our dilemmas. The ones between heart and mind are often quite perplexing when looking ahead but when looking back the viewing can be reassuring. I like to read about diverging roads in yellow woods to help me understand this perspective thing.

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  4. Beautiful, Wonderful, and Emotional.
    That sums it all up.

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  5. I think that's really sweet what you just said :)

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  6. my dad bought me the profit when i was about 12. i didn't read it until i was about 28, but it meant a lot to me.
    and hey, are those lavendar bunches? i can grow about 1/10th of those bunches in my garden every year. :-)

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  7. Such wise words, Lynn. And it's good to be reminded of them. It's so reassuring to check the two muses for inspiration when we need it!!

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