"Well that doesn't look safe", he says looking at the scattered Tiramisu boxes, one of which indeed looks like it is about to fall off the shelf. The others look somewhat stable, but messy, as if someone took the bottom box from the pile and pulled it out, carelessly leaving the remaining boxes scattered all over the place.
I watch my son pile up and sort all the boxes. It takes just a few seconds. I smile.
To the next person who comes to this aisle everything will look perfectly in order, there will be no trace of the Tiramisu massacre.
I also do such things sometimes. Mostly little things, and not something worth mentioning or talking about. In the same moment however, I have a flashback of his father and something that happened many years ago. Probably because it was a tad extreme.
Walking through the park, we came across a huge mess. Mind you, it was nice and well-kept, like most Viennese parks, featuring a lovely pavilion as one of its highlights. This time, however, the entire ground in and around the pavilion was covered in newspapers. It was as if someone decided to empty a paper dumpster and then spread it all out to cover the largest possible area. I couldn't imagine what could have possibly caused anyone to create such a mess and leave it behind.
We both stood there, both of us angry, and while I still stared at the trash in disbelief, Ryan started picking it up.
Still angry over the careless people I kind of snarled at him, asking, what the heck he was doing?
Cleaning up, he said.
But it's huge, I protested.
He kind of shrugged, and continued collecting them and throwing them away.
I think of my friend Monica. Mauritius is somewhat split regarding the trash issue. People used to throw banana peels into the bushes when they are done eating them, and there is nothing really wrong with that. Banana peels decompose. Unfortunately some treat plastic bags or bottles the same way, and they don't disintegrate as well.
So, Monica.
Any time she goes on a hike, she takes a rope with her. She ties up plastic bottles she finds along the way, and drags them along during her hike, to throw them away at the end of the journey.
I think of planting Papaya trees with Jerome, and of him collecting broken tiles and pottery pieces from remote destinations to create mosaics. Of course, that also reduces the number of these sharp little objects laying around in nature.
I like remembering these people.
There is no applause and society hasn't established any reward system for such acts. The act itself is invisible, only the effect remains.
Actually, this reminds me of a story.
In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway.
Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock.
Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it.
Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.
Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables.
Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded.
After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway.
For us, in life, the reward is another. It is meaningless whether others know the great or the terrible things we have done. We always know it.
Doing the right is, therefore, a matter of self-love and self-respect.
You do the wrong thing (something that you yourself know is wrong), and even if nobody ever finds out, you will eventually end up punishing yourself for it.
Besides, it does something to us when we improve our circumstances, when we change our reality by taking charge rather than sitting back and complaining about it. This can be done gently, fluidly, while we continue to move along. It doesn't need to be a life mission or anything grandiose like that. Basically, it is merely one of the answers to the question of who we are, or who we want to be in life.
"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity.
The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
Winston Churchill
Sabina Nore
@anibas
yes, I agree..... I have often had discussions with people who criticise "society" and political movements etc.... and come to a stuck point. I feel I can only act upon immediate facts around me. No need for recognition, just feel I´m not stuck in the bigger picture feeling paralysed. Doing little acts in ones own dimension brings fluidity, it´s healthy. Being coherent with ones self and beliefs empowers ones life, it´s challenging and wonderful. ...oh, this brings up a whole conversation I had not long ago with some good friends, but too long to write about, but interesting topic to depic. xxR
totally agree... the inside and the ouside (also of ourselves) are connected - they can't exist wihtout each other. So everything has influence vice versa. Sometimes, what we do is not visible, and therefore not possible to define or judge by someone else - but it is still there... and it is interacting... thanks
ps.: btw: isn't carma a concept that is approaching this?
Nicely put! Yes, it is approaching that concept, but I think a lot of people imagine karma as something that is more outside of ourselves. Similar to the concept of god, who sees everything from above, making it something that happens TO us and not THROUGH us. Underestimating how much our own awareness of us (who we are, what we do, ALL of it) contributes to how our life unfolds, and how we feel about ourselves, deep inside.
In that sense, whether it is karma, or god, or whatever other concept, they all help externalize something, and through that, all these concepts contribute to the pushing away of our own responsibility. And I don't mean that in any tedious sense, like an obligation, but in the most beautiful possible sense.
So much said in a gentle and remarkable way. Great writing Sabina.
(: Thank you....
oh yes
A persons maturity level has little to do with age.
