A Trilogy of Commonality for us all...Birth, Life, Death.

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Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber

moving thru

Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 26, 2014 - 12:14am PT

Triology, meaning a series of three dramas.

Every one of us live the commonality of this three part drama. We are born, we live and then we die. None of these three things are easy for we, the human kind.

Birth: We could be born into royalty. I'll pass. We could be born and orphaned, born as a drug baby, land on this planet as part of a normal (is there any?) family, or arrive here in any myriad of circumstance.

Life: Then comes living. We've seen on ST and in our own lives how challenging that can be (of course mixed with joys and achievements).

Death: We've had much of this lately in our community.

Three parts to life. Arriving, Living and Leaving. Time now for the living to fulfill their dreams, to share love and forgiveness and to give as much from the soul as possible to leave behind as a legacy. No excuses. If you're breathing your life counts. And you can't buy insurance to guarantee tomorrow.

I'm living, struggling and working hard to realize my goals. It's quite the challenge and gets more so as the years well, add up, to be frank. But the struggles in no way overcome the Joie de Vive.

When it's over and I die I want my leaving to be fantastico. You are all invited to the fiesta, including Mariachi Band and Margaritas. After the Margies are gone it's BYOB. :)

We're here. Are we living with a capital L and are we ready to leave with another capital L ?

Maybe I'm thinking too much tonight. But there's much to think about.
Rest Well all our departed friends and Heal Well our broken ones.

Peace, lynnie

JEleazarian

Trad climber

Fresno CA

Oct 26, 2014 - 01:08am PT

Thanks, Lynne, for an excellent post. When you're gone, I'll know you've gone to be with our Best Friend, and that will let me smile if you get there before me.

Thanks again.

John

Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber

Out Of Bed

Oct 26, 2014 - 01:39am PT

I am zapped
the last six months
you can not escape it I know and to some it is a saulve

release

NOW THIS

washed out hot coals, charred chunks , once glowing are passing.

Mortality is fleeting the,,,,,,,,,, A hour Ago a gale that had blown up suddenly just left.....
Live if as if it is the..."..........,,',,..this storm blew hard before it dumped buckets hRd ......
the best day of your life,,',,,,,,.,,,.,,.,,,,Just as quick as it blew in it was gone, stopped .....
Life it may be your last...,..,,,,There was a fire burning for some who are gone .........

washed out the hot coals charred chunks of once glowing

bluering

Trad climber

Santa Clara, CA

Oct 26, 2014 - 01:40am PT

Mrs Lynne, you are an angel in this world and I foresee good things for you in the next one.

I don't like to dwell on my afterlife, but I try to abide by the laws of the Lord, as best I can.

I wonder why you bring this topic up? Is there a problem? Today, actually last night (10/25) was my birthday. I'm 46 now and while I get super-depressed, I feel pretty good.

I talked to the local beer-store guy about this. He's a Korean immigrant and family man with 2 (really hot) college girls. He agreed that having a family with kids is really stressful and fatiguing, BUT WORTH EVERYTHING.

I agree. Lynne, I love ya, man.

Bushman

Social climber

The island of Tristan da Cunha

Oct 26, 2014 - 09:08am PT

'This Time of Night'

The stars reach out to grab me,
Breaking through the clouds at night,
They warn me of the shadows that fall in the darkness,
Going down to the barking in the light,

The voices that don't care as I walk by,
And the lonely roly racket rail sound of the car tires on the highway,
There are those quiet soft night smells again,
Thats the good wind that comes my way,

It's so right that it's so wrong that it's so right again,
I'm low now where the earth flows,
Those animals on that hill know I'm here,
Breaking now the chatter goes,
They can't block out the cricket near,

But it goes soon enough,
Bird bird bird bird bird,
Screech the cry it tells me,
Like that's its only word,

Turn now turn softly,
I only come to visit the grass,
And the white light to permanent darkness,
When I come back it will last,

Why do I love that song?
The song of the night bird,
It sounds like its happily urgently slowly resting itself,
Step stay bark step stir,

Up it's up ahead,
Those stars are grabbing me my friend,
They take the moments of the night time,
And give them back again.

-bushman
10/25/2014

Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber

Out Of Bed

Oct 26, 2014 - 09:42am PT

real strong
going to go
forward
live life
no stone
unturned

I have a life
life and time
left to me to
live it I climb

Jan

Mountain climber

Colorado, Nepal & Okinawa

Oct 26, 2014 - 10:03am PT

Certainly retirement provokes a lot of introspection, particularly in my case since I changed countries and cultures in the process. In some ways it's invigorating to start over again, in others its just a strenuous pain in the arthritis, especially since I bought an older house that needs a lot of rehab work.

It's also strange to come back to live in a place where I lived when I first left my parent's house. For sure that will cause one to reflect on the years in between. Perhaps the most sobering reflection is that of how many friends from those days are no longer with us. Who can ever spend time in Boulder again and not remember Layton Kor? This means that arriving at age 70, one of the most startling realizations is that of one's own survival.

Never one to be idle, I have many goals for research and publications, but a greater sense of the need for priorities. Fortunately I come from a family of long lived women. My 90 year old mother still drives and shops in malls, pushing her walker ahead of her. Statistically, I still have a ways to go.

Today I am meeting up with a friend I met my first week at the University of Colorado. I traveled the world; she stayed in Boulder. We last saw each other over 20 years ago when I brought a Sherpa woman to the States and she helped out. Today we are going to a play and the Sherpa restaurant in Boulder. It should be a lot of fun and thought provoking to say the least.

And thanks Lynnie for starting this thought provoking thread. I hope it replaces one of those that disappeared and is less antagonistic than that one has been.

MisterE

Gym climber

Bishop, CA

Oct 26, 2014 - 10:06am PT

A Prayer for Old Age

God guard me from those thoughts men think

In the mind alone;

He that sings a lasting song

Thinks in marrow-bone;

From all that makes a wise old man

That can be praised of all;

O what am I that I should not seem

For the song's sake a fool?

I pray - for fashion's word is out

And prayer comes round again -

That I may seem, though I die old,

A foolish, passionate man.

William Butler Yeats, Running to Paradise

rlf

Trad climber

Josh, CA

Oct 26, 2014 - 12:34pm PT

A Trilogy of Commonality for us all...Birth, Life, Death.

You're forgetting all about the hot sex that goes on in between...

Tvash

climber

Seattle

Oct 26, 2014 - 03:09pm PT

Birth cannot be remembered, and death marks only our absence.

There is only one act - this moment, but even that is already gone by the time we experience it.

The best moments unveil something new about our world, and that requires being wrong a moment before.

Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber

moving thru

Topic Author's Reply - Oct 26, 2014 - 05:31pm PT

Bluey, I'm doing well,thanks for asking. Just pondering ......

http://youtu.be/zSif77IVQdY

Several years ago Tobias sent me this song on ST's, "What Song Are You Listening To Now." The pictures are so evocative, thought provoking.

The kaleidoscope of our lives, the endless changing patterns each day brings is unique to each individual and somehow it sometimes merges with others, and then others and even more others. This is the campfire.

zBrown

Ice climber

Brujò de la Playa

Oct 26, 2014 - 06:02pm PT

There has been down through the years some discussion about quadraphenia, which according to Baba O'riley would add the "Afterlife" to the Trilogy...

http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=539369&tn=16380#msg2517281

two-shoes

Trad climber

Auberry, CA

Oct 26, 2014 - 06:55pm PT

Birth: We could be born into royalty. I'll pass. We could be born and orphaned, born as a drug baby, land on this planet as part of a normal (is there any?) family, or arrive here in any myriad of circumstance.

This makes me remember a time when I was about 4 years of age. My mother was perturbed at me about something that I can no longer remember and said to me, " Do you know how lucky you are to have been born a boy and to have not been born black?" This made me beam with pride completely full of myself! "You should think about that!", she said, even more upset with me. I was a bit confused. But I always remembered this question that she had made to me, even though many years later she couldn't remember ever having said it to me.

Indeed, what if I had been born a girl. Well, I wouldn't have had near as much rights that is for sure.

But if I had been born a girl and black. I have pondered this question more and more often as I've gone through life. And I think I am finally coming to realize what it means to have been lucky enough to have been born with this male-European-American privilege.

If I am so lucky then why shouldn't I work to make this world a better and more just place for those with less privilege to live in. For now I'm still chewing on this question.

Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber

moving thru

Topic Author's Reply - Oct 26, 2014 - 07:09pm PT

I be chewing along with you two-shoes. And we are chewing on the best of rib eye, so we'd better enjoy it and come up with something worthy of the meal. Yeah, you're right, food for thought along with action. lynnie

neebee

Social climber

calif/texas

Oct 26, 2014 - 07:12pm PT

hey there say, lynne... i used to remember my folks, reflecting, as, someone that they knew had died and passed on... mostly always older folks, so, us, as kids did not reflect too much on that, except that it felt sad... but we thought, or at least i did--that this was adult stuff, beyond thoughts of kids... and trusted, as to how they then, lived onward, after they'd mentioned such things, to each other...

well, when i had my kids... my life was about life for my kids...
do the best, coach and teach, and all the etc, that i needed to do, as a parent-folk, and wife, homemaker,etc...

the same-- reflected through the grandkid days, here...

well, now, since it is mainly just me, around here... and after being home, since my daddy died... and--my life having-had been to show honor and respect to him and my mom... well:

it seems to be EVEN MORE so... my goal...

my day, will come, too... when i die and pass on... i still endeavor to honor their name and be how-and-what, would have brought them honor, and gratefulness that i did my best, not just for me, but to LEAVE seeds:

when we are gone, our duties are done...
what did we do here and why... these are what we face eternity with... and to me, well, that is god/jesus, my anchor and beloved 'trail boss' in life...

thus--my days goals are to leave things to others that will help them along THEIR trail, in some way... each person is different...
some need a good word...
some need a small gift of stimulation to take new steps on a trail...
some need some get wells...
some need a hand to hold, by phone, on a hard night...
some need a prayer, or MANY...
some need a sounding board...

and on and on, the lists does go...

birth...
life = sewing seeds of honor...
death...

just like a tree, or a flower, in the vast gardens of earth,
only, being a 'being' in the vast garden of god...

:)

thank you for sharing, lynne...
as, my friends, of my age, now, talk about this very often...
usually triggered by an older loved one, having left us... :(
and us missing them...

we figure, even if no one misses us--it is the best high quality
honor to leave:

SOMETHING of LIFE behind, so that they (others that we sowed to)
may press on...

:)

seeds, like us, lynne, don't care for the glory... we care for the GROWTH...

:)

the sweet fruit, in the middle somewhere, is this:
JOB well done, our parents will be glad for...
and JOB well done, our eternity, will benefit gladness for those
left behind and--for us, as we step forward, into it...

edit:
and of course, savoring a good conscience from such good fruit,
gives one a lot of peace--
in a way, it is kind of like that aroma, that surrounds
fruit, when we partake of it...
there is something very unique and special about it, that
one comes to cherish, over time...

old age, is a good time to have this to reflect on, also...

thebravecowboy

climber

hold on tight boys

Oct 26, 2014 - 07:16pm PT

Funny thing about it is that the only one we get to really describe to one another is the central, living, part.

Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber

moving thru

Topic Author's Reply - Oct 26, 2014 - 07:41pm PT

zbrown, yeah, I can buy into Jimmy's fourth personality and we'll call it the Afterlife, seems to fit well here. But in keeping with the Trilogy of Birth, Life and Death, we'll make it an adjunct to Death if that's OK by Yo.

Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber

moving thru

Topic Author's Reply - Oct 26, 2014 - 07:54pm PT

Jan, so great to hear from you. Have fun settling in. You wrote, one of the most startling realizations is that of ones own survival.

Wonderful wise words that apply to all ages. Bet Alex H. or Lonnie K. think of this once in a while as well as anyone here on this forum that pushes life, no matter what that involves.

Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber

moving thru

Topic Author's Reply - Oct 26, 2014 - 08:04pm PT

And to rlf the Pat Conroy of ST.....hot sex, yep! Necessary for Life. :) I mean if you are actually living life. Cheers, lynnie

Flip Flop

Trad climber

Truckee, CA

Oct 26, 2014 - 08:12pm PT

On the World
The world's an Inn; and I her guest.
I eat; I drink; I take my rest.
My hostess, nature, does deny me
Nothing, wherewith she can supply me;
Where, having stayed a while, I pay
Her lavish bills, and go my way.
Francis Quarles

MH2

climber

Oct 26, 2014 - 08:19pm PT

28 September 1958

Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber

moving thru

Topic Author's Reply - Oct 26, 2014 - 08:26pm PT

MH2, CLASSIC....

zBrown

Ice climber

Brujò de la Playa

Oct 26, 2014 - 08:32pm PT

lLeichtfuss:

You lead, I'll just follow along and try to stay on track.

Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber

moving thru

Topic Author's Reply - Oct 26, 2014 - 10:51pm PT

Couple of thoughts before the close of one more wonderful day.

Tvash, so true we don't remember the Birth aspect of arriving here. But, we can find out if we're lucky. Many cultures, families, remember the stories and pass them down. We may not remember, but it has been important for others to remember for us. Hence, an opening, an opportunity to find out about our entrance on this planet and a bit more about ourselves.

Joie de Vivre! Such an amazing and beautiful phrase. Life must contain Joy.

Yesterday I flew down a hill strapped in a huge plastic sphere. "Go Grandma Lynne". Some of the sweetest words I'll ever hear.

Peace,

'Pass the Pitons' Pete

Big Wall climber

like Ontario, Canada, eh?

Oct 26, 2014 - 11:55pm PT

Life is short - we're here for a good time, not a long time.

What I verily believe is that we have to make the most out of every single day, and every single opportunity. Sometimes opportunities come along, and you have to seize them, even though they are risky, otherwise you must face the safer but ultimately lamer alternative of never having given it your best shot.

We are all climbers, and hence risk takers - we inherently believe that only with great risk can come great reward. It is not in our nature to "play it safe". We don't go sport climbing and clip bolts, instead we climb cracks or big walls or ice or mountains - sometimes even solo - simply because it is harder, and hence the reward may be greater.

Obstacles abound. Do we shy away from them, or do we embrace the challenge and test our mettle? When we look back on our lives, are we glad we played it safe? Or instead, do we feel proud and honoured that we took the chance, even if we might have failed, and dared to follow our hearts, even when our heads might have suggested we do otherwise?

Did we take the easy route to the summit, or the challenging one? Sometimes you need to simply shut up and climb, and see if you make it or not.

The partner I seek is one who believes in this.

Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber

Old and Broken Down in Appalachia

Oct 27, 2014 - 09:26am PT

Sometimes people in death are found in the fetal position.

JEleazarian

Trad climber

Fresno CA

Oct 27, 2014 - 12:07pm PT

We are all climbers, and hence risk takers - we inherently believe that only with great risk can come great reward. It is not in our nature to "play it safe". We don't go sport climbing and clip bolts, instead we climb cracks or big walls or ice or mountains - sometimes even solo - simply because it is harder, and hence the reward may be greater.

I don't know if this describes all of us, but it does me. The best way to motivate me to try something is to tell me how difficult it is. Still, I find something about this behavior paradoxical, because I have the greatest difficulty declining a challenge.

I think my life's object is -- and should be -- more than to squeeze the greatest personal happiness out of every moment. Sometimes I should forego a challenge (and its consequent rewards) and do what I can to help someone else. Or maybe I'm simply misstating it; the real challenge is to do that which I should, rather than doing that which I desire.

No doubt about it. That period between birth and death sure is interesting!

John

Wayno

Big Wall climber

Seattle, WA

Oct 28, 2014 - 12:21pm PT

*
where is your brightened play of eyes
the fire flashing
the heartening story
of your wistful wide-open light...
now there's a fallen look
cast all round you
you're somehow smaller
as if you were merely
drawing out your life

how on earth
did you come to wander
out from the way you followed
to somewhere that you would never
go to knowingly...
take these words now
use them for you
to follow to draw you back
to your light.

come back
to that calling smile so familiar,
spell out the story of
heartening reassurance
to me once again

Eyeless in Gaza "Bright Play of Eyes"

Tvash

climber

Seattle

Oct 28, 2014 - 12:49pm PT

"I live life to its fullest."

That's one of the most common phrases I see people claim about their lives.

I have no idea what it could possibly mean, save bravado, perhaps.

Sometimes life just sucks - as it must, given that we don't really control many aspects of our lives.

Eventually, the lack of suck is the best you can hope for, and that's OK. Even in the suckiest periods, though - there is beauty, creativity, love, and tempura prawns.

Sierra Ledge Rat

Mountain climber

Old and Broken Down in Appalachia

Oct 28, 2014 - 12:55pm PT

Funny, that defined most of my life. If it was challenging, I pursued it, climbing or otherwise. I became a rape counsellor many years ago because I couldn't imagine doing anything mroe difficult than that. I flew combat jets from aircraft carriers. I free-soloed 1,000-foot routes. I ran ultramarathons every weekend in the summer.

Now I can't imagine doing that kind of stuff anymore. These days, living on the edge of death would put me into a panic attack.

Now I just wanna have fun and survive even if I screw up.

Wayno

Big Wall climber

Seattle, WA

Oct 28, 2014 - 01:01pm PT

and tempura prawns.

Even though I do not care for fried shrimp, I can appreciate your sentiment. Sometimes it is just the simple things that give perspective to such a potentially complex picture.

"life is only as kind as you let it be"

a quote from Charles Bukowski that often seems appropriate to me

Tvash

climber

Seattle

Oct 28, 2014 - 02:44pm PT

One thing that hopefully improves with age is the capacity and wisdom of forgiveness - oneself and others, and the appreciation of forgiveness for our own occasional transgressions.

Now, my focus has shifted a bit towards passing on whatever I can to an upcoming generation to keep them out of the hospital or morgue as they develop their own relationship with the outdoors. I've had friends and former students die - it happens, but I'd prefer that these kids stay off that list if at all possible.

I still take on challenges I never thought I would - challenges for me, anyway. Nothing to write home about in the grand scheme of things, but I've come a long way from looking up at climbers on El Cap for the first time as a teenager and thinking "THAT would be my worst nightmare".

I'm in awe of the boldest climbers - I still climb with some original hardmen, now in their 60s, but I'm not sure I would have chosen to join them.

Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber

moving thru

Topic Author's Reply - Oct 28, 2014 - 07:31pm PT

And so six years ago.....

"I went to the woods
because I wished to live deliberately,
to front only the essential facts of life,
and see if I could not learn what it had to teach,
and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

Henry David Thoreau, Walden

I did this 6 years ago. Still, still learning to front the essentials and get rid of the rest. But when I die I will know that I have lived. The raw woods, barren peaks and their aloneness have worked their magic. lynnie

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Oct 29, 2014 - 07:04am PT

Live in the moment.....not something in which many are adapt.

Off White

climber

Tenino, WA

Oct 29, 2014 - 08:40am PT

Here's an anthem for the thread, everyone sing a long to the chorus:

Birth!
School!
Work!
Death!

[Click to View YouTube Video]

Fletcher

Gym climber

A very quiet place

Oct 29, 2014 - 10:42am PT

With gratitude Lynne. Very much appreciated. Sometimes, we don't know these kinds of things. Other times, we do, but it's nice to get a reminder.

There are at least a couple of common things that we can know.

1. That we are going to die.
2. That we don't know when.

In other words, we all have expiration dates that are at least partially obscured.

The rest is commentary.

Peace and love,
Eric

Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber

moving thru

Topic Author's Reply - Nov 3, 2014 - 05:22pm PT

Got home tonight and checked the email.

"Hi, Lynne. My name is KB. I have been thinking of your husband Dan for awhile since I saw the recent thread you started here." KB goes on to describe meeting Dan at Pirates Cove, Corona del Mar and then a trip to Suicide with Dan as well as an invitation to climb NWHD. (Dan must have thought KB had what it takes.)

KB moved to the NW, continued climbing but never ran into Dan again. "But my remembrance of him is still clear, and that is of a kind and genuine person.

"The Trilogy of Life thread brought up a bunch of thoughts. Even though we have never met, I want you to know Dan touched someone you had never met." KB

Wow and Wow. It is incredibly special to hear from Dan's past. Dan's kids and grandkiddos will so appreciate this. Peter, our oldest son, celebrates his birthday today. What a gift to him. Thanks! KB

Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber

moving thru

Topic Author's Reply - Nov 3, 2014 - 07:46pm PT

Eric, Fletcher, I bet you do stuff like this with your daughters. Did you get to the Eastern Sierra with them this summer?

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul." John Muir

A family I love has been plagued with painful back problems, respiratory problems, flu etc. kids and adults alike. Sometimes I really feel like the stress of life, living and trying to keep it going financially for the parents and grade wise and sports wise for the kids takes its toll.

Yet I see threads about people here on the taco that are in similar circumstances tho they live in John Muir's nature. Tough to figure at times.

Bushman

Social climber

The island of Tristan da Cunha

Nov 3, 2014 - 09:13pm PT

#1. Time spent thinking I'm doing what I want to do
= 25 percent.

#2. Time spent thinking I'm not doing what I want to do
= 25 percent.

#3. Time spent not thinking about too much
= the rest of the time.

Twenty nine years of marriage has taught me to be happy to
live with the illusion of #1...or was it #3?

quantum7

Trad climber

Squamish

Nov 3, 2014 - 09:32pm PT

Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber

moving thru

Topic Author's Reply - Nov 3, 2014 - 10:13pm PT

One last quote from Mr. Muir. "My logs give back their light, slowly gleaned from the suns of a hundred summers."

Such a great summation of life itself. We grow and then, hopefully, we give back light that can last long past our own lives. I live with grand kids. I hope that my life will make a difference in theirs. Challenging them to reach, to live for more than the gaining of things. To explore and expand while they take their steps on this planet. Making their steps count.

Edit: Nice, Quantum 7. Love Proactive Living. :)

rbord

Boulder climber

atlanta

Nov 4, 2014 - 10:34am PT

Thanks!

"There's a right way to live life and a wrong way to live life, and I know the riight way!" I think that we can choose to add that to our trilogy of commonalities or we can choose to believe that it's not a commonality and allow it to perpetuate our antagonisms.

SC seagoat

Trad climber

Santa Cruz, or In What Time Zone Am I?

Nov 4, 2014 - 11:11am PT

I live with grand kids. I hope that my life will make a difference in theirs

Oh it will. Yes it will. My mom died when I was very young. My dad raised me with 3 brothers but my grandmother lived a couple blocks away. She was the main "mothering" figure in my life. Grandmothers (and grandfathers) , even if the birth parents are still around, I believe, are the most special people in the world.

Lovely thread, Lynnie. I'm glad to say that I'm feeling pretty dialed in on the first two...so hoping when number 3 say's howdy, I'll be ready to say "howdy" right back. But not for awhile!

Susan

SicMic

climber

across the street from Marshall

Nov 4, 2014 - 11:25am PT

Marlow

Sport climber

OSLO

Nov 4, 2014 - 11:32am PT

Marlow

Sport climber

OSLO

Nov 4, 2014 - 11:35am PT

Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber

moving thru

Topic Author's Reply - Nov 4, 2014 - 01:37pm PT

SicMIc.....so what is it about noses anyway? Why do they, of all things, keep growing?

Just thought of one of my fav movies. I'm not a movie watcher, hard to sit still, but I accidentally watched "Death becomes Her" years ago. The last scene in the movie really got me and I began to understand why death is a good thing. (Did I just say that?)

SicMic

climber

across the street from Marshall

Nov 5, 2014 - 05:48pm PT

I've heard that ears keep growing Lynne. Don't know what to tell ya about noses.

MH2

climber

Nov 5, 2014 - 06:43pm PT

Birth

John Gilley was born February 22, 1822, at the Fish Point on Great Cranberry Island, Maine, whither his mother, who lived on Baker's Island, had gone to be confined at the house of Mrs. Stanley, a midwife.

Life

http://www.gilleymedia.com/john1.asp

Death

In half an hour John Gilley had passed from a hearty and successful old age in this world, full of its legitimate interests and satisfactions, into the voiceless mystery of death.

Bldrjac

Ice climber

Boulder

Nov 5, 2014 - 07:15pm PT

Lynne,
I don't know you personally, and don't believe I knew your husband. But I have followed your posts for some years, and over time, in a sense mine have blended with yours since I lost my husband Jack. Perhaps our husbands knew each other "back in the day"....I never asked him, and now I can't. It's left to you and I to stagger forward.......sometimes with graceful leaps, sometimes with ugly diggers into the ground. But ever forward, nevertheless.
Jan, I don't know you either, but I know you as a person that posts up lovely and insightful words from time to time. I live in Boulder, too. Not sure if you ever knew Jack Roberts. Regardless, if you ever want to get together (always nice to have friends in new places!), my email is:
srfrpam@aol.com ......Life if short. All we have in the long run are our friends............
Pam

MikeL

Social climber

Seattle, WA

Nov 5, 2014 - 07:45pm PT

It’s said that not any of the three are real, Lynne.

“Time” is a lack of awareness (not here-and-now). It, too, is unreal.

Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber

moving thru

Topic Author's Reply - Nov 5, 2014 - 08:01pm PT

Thanks for the post, Bldrjac, I hope our paths will cross as we travel this earth. I love to make my way across the US and as many foreign countries as I can. Truthfully, I work for gas money and air fare. Or, my latest goal, a place on a boat working and traveling the seas. Pretty much got the rest covered.

Losing the love of your life, best friend, best of everything has been the hardest challenge I've ever dealt with. But like you, Living and discovering.
Love your heart, Gal. Go for your dreams. Don't settle. Hugs, Lynne.

Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber

moving thru

Topic Author's Reply - Nov 5, 2014 - 08:13pm PT

MikeL, Hmmmmmmmmmm

I am intrigued. Who says not any of the three.....Birth, Life and Death are not real?

These three words describe how humans enter this planet, spend their time here and leave. I find the leaving part supremely special, but so far not many have addressed it on this Thread.

“Time” is a lack of awareness (not here-and-now). It, too, is unreal.

I'm a bit puzzled by this phrase. But looking at meanings of time found this one. "a nonspatial continuum that is measured in terms of events which succeed one another FROM PAST TO PRESENT TO FUTURE. (Birth, Life, Death ?!)

From all I've just read, Time is the opposite of a lack of awareness. Time is all about awareness.

Thanks for making me think. Smiles and Cheers, lynnie

WBraun

climber

Nov 5, 2014 - 08:19pm PT

You forgot disease and old age. (Birth death disease and old age)

Life should not even be in there as life is eternal.

Life comes from life.

The living entity transmigrates from body to body according to it's desires .....

Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber

moving thru

Topic Author's Reply - Nov 5, 2014 - 08:35pm PT

As always, I hear you Werner and enjoy what your posts bring to heart, soul, body, mind and spirit.

I'm tuning into what you say "Life should not even be in there, life is eternal." and "Life comes from life." I agree although I don't know if our semantics are the same.

I didn't forget disease and old age, just figured they are a part of Life. And they lead to Death. Which I think you and I may agree on that we live on after our bodies die.

WBraun

climber

Nov 5, 2014 - 08:44pm PT

Birth death disease and old age are NOT part of life.

They are only part of the material body.

When you wear out your coat you throw it away and get another one.

You're not dead, but your coat is now different.

The material body is the gross physical covering of your real self (soul).

This a very simplistic explanation although is much more complex .......

Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber

moving thru

Topic Author's Reply - Nov 5, 2014 - 09:27pm PT

Ok, Werner, wrote some things and deleted. Need to think about your last statement a bit more. Have a handle on it, but I'm tired and I want to make sense when I post the response. Thanks as always for making me think. Cheers, Lynne

Off White

climber

Tenino, WA

Nov 6, 2014 - 03:14pm PT

Problem is, all the experts are dead.

That's what Ed LaChappelle, author of ABC's Of Avalanche Saftey said to me about avalanche experts 35 years ago. I've found it a useful koan with many applications over the years.