I guess I'm the lucky one. . .
Tribute to Mary Anne Pasina xx
Tribute to Mary Anne Pasina xx
I know this super highway
This bright familiar sun
I guess I'm the lucky one
Who wrote that tired sea song
Set on this peaceful shore
You think you're heard this one before
What super highway are you on?
Wherever the sun rises or sets on you, do you still feels its warmth or the harshness of its rays?
We can too often be consumed or subsumed into the rat race of life and forget to see what the important things are in life, because we spend all of the time investing energy into planning for the future. To some extent that is true and quite a sensible approach to take. What else can you do to prepare you for a future that is unknown? There are too many worries that swirl around you when you try to figure out things that are beyond your control. Instead figure out exactly what your own personal peaceful shore is - whether it's a significant place of meaning that brings inner peace for you - or a group of people, select friends and loved ones who always remind you what home is like.
Well the danger of the rocks is surely past
Still I remain tied to the mast
Could it be that I have found my home at last
Home at last
When danger passes you, and you think that it has, you might not often get the indicators about how that has come about. Or whether things have actually come to pass. Instead you should just cross that bridge when you come to it. If we remain tied to masts, so be it. The thing about the mast is that at least it gives you a clear view of what is to come and if you have some decent seafaring skills, you should be able to ascertain and make judgements about the best possible course of action. I don't know about you, but half the fun of living is navigating through trials and triumphs that present themselves to you. My high school motto is 'per angusta ad augusta' (which literally translates from the Latin as 'through trials to triumphs or through hardships to glory) and I had a chance to celebrate and honour the survival of a high school friend at a pink ribbon breakfast fundraiser that she hosted this morning. The last time I had seen her was last year at my birthday party and prior to that - our senior year of high school. Listening to her speak about her journey and the decisions she made to survive stage 4 breast cancer, made me realise how important one's home is - and who makes you feel at home the most.
She keeps me safe and warm
It's just the calm before the storm
Call in my reservation
So long hey thanks my friend
I guess I'll try my luck again
In almost every movie with a strong female lead, the plot line is always the same.
She is a strong career woman whose journey we follow, where she starts out as a lowly underling, working her way up in the company. She is a woman who is often dumped on, whose ideas are stolen and never given credit for and sure enough gets burned or burnt out - whichever comes first. Along the way she experiences the professional success that she has been craving, she fulfils goals that lead to the career of her dreams - but through some machinations of the antagonist - almost always another woman who is threatened by her presence in the company (let's be honest - just through her pure existence really), we see our she-ro go through some soul searching and troubleshoot her own problems to find her way back home. How many times do you try your luck again? How many times do you exhaust all options until you arrive at something that you are willing to accept? We should never give up. Ever.
Well the danger on the rocks is surely past
Still I remain tied to the mast
Could it be that I have found my home at last
Home at last
I hope that whatever you are going through in your life, that you have a place to call home.
I have talked about this in several blogposts in the past on my old blog www.manuscr1pt.blogspot.co.nz about the different places or people who contribute to what we collectively call home. I have always been heartened and envious of friends who have such strong connections to their own families and have the opportunities to bond and spend time together making memories. All of my siblings are overseas (tough being the lone sister in a sea of brothers!) and there isn't a day that goes past that I don't relive certain memories with them in my head. I highly recommend that everyone cultivate their own internal film reel in their head so they can playback their own collection of home movies, or see favourite images or scenes like the good old ViewMaster that we grew up with in the 80s. The thing about being tied to a mast is that we need to remember what's below us on our ship and keeping in mind, the crew that we choose to surround ourselves with. I hope that you count your blessings and learn to love the trials that you endure, because not only will they make you stronger, they will keep your resilience contained longer than you ever thought possible. Reach out to loved ones, reach out to friends. Accept invitations to events that are for a good cause. There are no such things as random coincidences anymore. They are all part of the greater design about the learning that you must undergo in order to realise your full potential, and the best possible version of yourself. Once you keep that at the forefront of what you are doing in your life, you will always be home at last. . .
Standing: Rachel, yours truly, Kalala, Chris
Seated: Teresia, Mary Anne (breast cancer slayer!)