Memory Lane Flooded

I woke up yesterday with an overwhelming need to get my office emptied so that I could walk away from it for good. The salt water, mud, and sewage ruined almost every thing in the office. What took a U-Haul to relocate from New Mexico a year and a half ago only took a few square feet of my truck bed to evacuate yesterday.



The tidal surge seemed to place random value on items that in no way coincided with my own value for my stuff. Of the surviving gear I pulled out a news article on my parents form the 60’s, a valentine’s day card someone special gave me years ago, the slingshot my grandpa made for me when I was a little kid, the field book I used to record my masters thesis research. All around the office the faces of people from my past stared from water blurred photos as I moved waterlogged items to the dumpster.

That job is done. I am sorry to have lost so many reminders of times and people in the past. I did find one book soaked from cover to cover that I didn’t even know I still had. It was crumbling like wet toilet paper, but it opened to a page I remember reading very well almost 7 years ago. I’ve kept its message close in my mind as I’ve figured out what I am doing and where I want my path to go. I am quoting it here:

“Listen to the still small voice inside you. If you do not live your life completely, realizing goals you hold to be worthwhile, making your unique contribution to the world, nobody ever will. Your song will die with you.

Many of us have discovered what we want to do with our lives. We have a purpose that resonates to the very core of our being. Somehow our lives will never be complete unless we answer this calling. But, we refrain…the “still small voice” whispers a dream…but later that day or the next our vision starts to fade…immersed in the practical, our dreams and aspirations seem uncertain and perhaps a bit foolish.

We plod the highway of conformity, each following the other. We seek what others seek – comfort, security, money, power, pleasure. We are not alone, but only a stranger to our better selves. Years leave wrinkles upon the skin. But this loss of enthusiasm leaves wrinkles upon the soul.

It is impossible to tell another what path he should follow. Only you, in stillness and humility, can listen to that still small voice. Success and happiness are not distant goals to capture and hold. They happen incidentally while you are fulfilling yourself."
- Michael Lynberg, Author

We’ve taken a pretty good hit down here. Overall, I came out pretty well. Given the very limited time I had to prep I would do it again exactly the same. The boat comes before the office and “stuff” every time. I’ve pulled the countdown timer off the blog for now. I need some time to regroup and reassess where I am and when I can go. It will be back up. We are talking about days weeks, and maybe even a month or two, but not months or years.


Lee