I’m pleased to read so much good advice and thoughtful prescriptions from the younger generations here. Paying too much attention to legacy media would suggest otherwise.

It’s encouraging to me to read the thoughtful, critical thinking of those suggesting that we be ourselves, walk in and meditate on nature, on the present… now, not overly worrying about the past or the future, trusting ourselves to just be and prosper.

It gives me hope that we might not commit ecocide in the near future after all, and perhaps even curtail the genocides running rampant across the planet for what seems like forever now.

But having said that, please consider the following as well:

Personal experience for those of you just starting out, who believe you’ve your whole life securely planned and cast in stone or marble or gold… –LE

That’s Life

the end of each chapter in my life
left me dangling in mid-air or flailing
in whitewater rapids to nowhere

new chapters, always begun in disarray
regardless of best intentions and plans
always went astray – but that’s life

seldom has anything gone as expected
not always the worst result
but generally not one fondly projected

it’s surprising to me how many of them
ended in pain and sorrow and how many
left me speechless and uncomprehending

each new start, an improvisation
laying-on paint, running musical scales
or penning rhymes – stabilizing time

final chapters not sad or bad
though not what I thought or expected
but a lucky one, gobsmacked, dumbfounded

that’s life

–LE – 11/11/24