One Thing Depends On Another – an unusual musing on the page

A Persistent Dream

I don’t recall when or under what circumstances I first learned of Indra’s Net. Indra’s Net is a metaphor originating from Buddhist and Hindu philosophy, representing the interconnectedness and interdependence of all things. It depicts a vast net with a jewel at each intersection, and each jewel reflects all the other jewels in the net. This imagery illustrates how everything in the universe is related and influences one another.

At some point after my 65th birthday, I had an idea of how I would like to create a not-too-big installation to represent defining moments in my life, loosely based on Indra’s Net. It would include those special moments both challenging and celebratory, along with so many small moments of significance that were important to me. I had an idea of a net, like a fisherman’s net where I could stitch in small, beautiful jewel-like knots in a variety of colours and show the linkages across the net. I can imagine it in my mind, but have no idea how to do it since I have not been that kind of person who knows what to do with beautiful silken thread and needles.

The idea is with me still.

• An example would be the great gift of kindness shown to me by my Grade 3 teacher, Mrs Murphy. That knot would have several strands reaching across the trajectory of my next 72 years, fanning out in ways that I had no idea about when I was 8 years old.
• Small things – the knot for my first bike, which would stretch all the way to my Cabot Trail bike trip at 65, as an example, with points of connection in between.
• Reading a book a friend loaned me at 44, that connected me with Japanese Psychology, and so many wonderful people from then until now, including crossing the Pacific twice to spend time in Japan, and recently taking an intensive program in Morita Therapy from Simon Fraser University. And the people – the amazing people whom I have had the honour and joy of spending time with.
• My family, which has a long reach and both provided and accepted so much warmth and comfort throughout my whole life.

These are only a few examples of a particular way of reviewing my life – a visual more than a written memoir. Mind you, I suspect it would become very crowded and ultimately, I may not be able to separate out beginnings and endings. And that, consequently, would demonstrate how life works – interconnectedness and interdependence.

This poem, which you have seen here a few times, reminds me of the idea and nudges me to try and do it.

Safety Net by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

This morning I woke

thinking of all the people I love

and all the people they love

and how big the net

of lovers.

It felt so clear,

all those invisible ties

interwoven like silken threads

strong enough to make a mesh

that for thousands of years

has been woven and rewoven

to catch us all.

 

Sometimes we go on

as if we forget

about it. Believing only

in the fall. But the net

is just as real.

Every day,

with every small kindness,

with every generous act,

we strengthen it.

Notice,

even now, how

as the whole world

seems to be falling, it

is there for us as we

walk the day’s tightrope,

how every tie matters.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Every Tie Matters

It is the last line that gets me every time – how every tie matters. This is my experience, every tie matters. Even the ties we didn’t want or the suffering we may have caused – it all matters. They all contribute to making a life. However, as I highlight these words, now, I realize that I may be able to do my version of what I described by simply tying a silken knot at each intersection where I am honouring a memory.  Rather than attempting to make silken, jewel-like knots, they could be a simple tie.

Hmm…this may seem like an odd dream, but it has persisted for a decade or more. The idea of a life review is not uncommon, but I seem to want this net where I can see it rather than read it. Perhaps each decade could be a particular colour. I hadn’t planned to sketch out a design or a plan here tonight, but well, that’s what I seem to be doing.

I’m now wondering if any of you have done a life review? If so, did you have a plan or an approach? And did you learn something about yourself or the life you have lived? And did it change anything going forward? Hiking the Camino could very well be a way to do a life review. Or hiking trails in your neighbourhood. I can imagine any number of possible outcomes, including gratitude, clarity on what matters most going forward, maybe disappointment too, or perhaps joyful moments.

We don’t need to have lived a long time to consider doing something like this. I don’t mean my rather odd idea of the net, but a more traditional life review. I would love to hear your experience, from anyone interested.

Notes

1.  “Healing does not mean curing, although the two words are often used interchangeably. While it may not be possible for us to cure ourselves or to find someone else who can, it is always possible for us to heal ourselves. Healing implies the possibility for us to relate differently to illness, disability, even death, as we learn to see with eyes of wholeness. Healing is coming to terms with things as they are.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn
2.  A little music  from the Album Beyond the Missouri Sky by Pat Metheny and  Charlie Haden, (I like this entire album), The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
3.  If you made it to here, a special thank-you tonight. Always I send my best wishes for your health and well-being. With gratitude, Trudy

PS Much appreciation to Gottfried and Nathan Dumlao for today’s photos.