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| Fall Garden Image |
relying on information
from the past.
My relationships with
persons, places and things
are conditioned
by my memories of past
experiences.
In this way I habitually
ignore current reality
which is always new.
Werner H. Erhard of EST fame talked about being present when
he said that after reading the menu we eat what is served not knowing
what we are eating because we are eating what we read on the menu, not the meal. In
relationships we assume we love someone because we have realized at
some point that we do. But in the present we don’t feel love, we just
know it’s there. Like looking into someone’s face and not
seeing it in the now,
we only see and know the past.
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| Flower and Fork |
A striking example took place after writing most of
this blog. One of my neighbors shaved his Van Dyke style facial hair so he was clean shaven. He has
lived among and become a member of this community for the past 8 years and
every one of his neighbors knows him wearing a goatee and mustache.
Without these he looks very different, younger and more
energetic. I've watched as those he is talking with, looking him right in the face,
do not notice the change in his appearance. This is what I mean by responding to others from memories, not from the reality of now.
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| Potted Plant on Patio |
As I look at my relationships and what is actually happening
in them i.e. Reality, I see some of my friendships and family relationships are
not growing, or even interesting, but… rather stagnate. There is no personal
sharing, no shared experience when we don’t have the time for that to happen.
Maybe this is part of the Face Book era. One need only click
with the computer mouse and one has friends. I've read where people defend
their online friendships as real and meaningful. Maybe so or maybe this kind of
friendship is all they know.
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| Morning Red Rose |
So after a reality check, I know that in my old age I want
more than to interact from a past perspective or memories. I want more than virtual friends.
