The Past

It is fun being reflective and visiting moments from your past.  I tend to do this by looking at pictures, telling or hearing stories, or revisiting music or books.  What I love about books or different mediums of the written word, including music, is that I associate literature and music with time periods of my life, specific people, emotions, or events.  I stumbled upon the final chapter of A. A. Milne's book, The House at Pooh Corner, and it made reflect on growing up, my current life position, and on my past.

I don't want to write more than I have to, but I recommend that anyone with a sentimental heart and an appreciation for good writing reads the chapter linked above.  It is truly moving, remarkable writing, and as I read it now it carries so much more weight than my five-year-old self understood when it was read to me when I was younger.

The transitional periods of our lives, whether they are after or between school(ing); before, after, or between jobs; after retirement, and so on, are truly monumental moments and beautiful times in our lives.

Life is a journey.  I have always loved the analogy of comparing stages of life to "chapters."  People come and go, things change, but it all happens for a reason and it is all beautiful.  It is important to sometimes do nothing and to digest and reflect on life and on everything that surrounds us.

I find the following sentiments beautifully put by Christopher Robin in A. A. Milne's The House at Pooh Corner :

"...but what I like doing best is Nothing."

"How do you do  Nothing?"  asked  Pooh,  after  he  had

wondered for a long time.

"Well,  it's when people call out at you just as you're

going off to do it 'What  are  you  going  to  do,  Christopher

Robin?' and you say 'Oh, nothing,' and then you go and do it."

At this point in the story, Pooh and Christopher Robin proceed to explore the forest they are entering, symbolic of the unknown, and have conversations that symbolize Christopher Robin growing up, growing interested in the external world or the "real" world that surrounds him, transitioning out of young adolescence, no longer needing the comfort of his stuff animals, and entering a world where creativity is sometimes stifled. Christopher acknowledges his coming-of-age and states to Pooh:

Things change, but there is beauty in it all.  Life wouldn't be worth it if things always stayed the same.

Embracing new, unique experiences, but hold fondly the memories of your past.