Sometimes our tunnel vision only sees what we are experiencing in the moment. When we meet a person we see who they are at the moment, negating their past; they are who we see ‘now’. But life isn’t like that. Some say we are like floating shells in the vast ocean of life. As we float through life we are tossed, lifted, drowned and in the end carried to shore. That’s life! It is fragmented and often disjointed.
I am most definitely not who I was at 8 or 23 or even 50. My time has been full of fragmented relationships, over busy years and sometimes stressful events that demand I make a choice one way or another. It has been full of travel, expanding the way I relate to others.
Really, look at these photos of my college years. Do you see ‘me’ here? The first is my maiden and final voyage with Tequila! That was a simple decision of never again. The second is my blossoming from a city girl to one who found freedom in the wilderness and with animals. Here I babysit Jessabelle, my next door neighbor, a black-footed ferret.
We all hope there will always be support when we feel blindsided with undesirable events. But youth can overshadow life's realities, simplifying what you see right in front of you. Funny how age crams that realty firmly into place.
Seeing old photos reminds me to experience all of me, to be my whole self and not a narrow version. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and in this case a thousand stories. Celebrate life!