"I think I am fit and healthy and still young. I forget how tired I am and, as I sit and rest, I feel exhausted, my legs ache and my chest feels tight. There is a melancholy, a sadness to getting older; life changes and there is a clear knowledge that things that have never been will never be. But there is also a freedom that comes, responsibilities are lessened and there is space to be more creative. Less is possible, but so is more; age is a knife that cuts both ways. I am perhaps at the most creative part of my life now, and I am better at the things I want to enjoy. Life has become hilarious - we laugh until we are nearly sick sometimes and don't care abut stuff any more. There are fewer material things in my life, and I enjoy each of them more than before. We are happy an confident and able to cope with adversity. I meditate every day, an hour or two sometimes, and that makes me happy."
(Marc Hamer, 'Seed to Dust')
I'm currently enjoying this wonderful book which takes the reader, month-by-month, through the gardening year. The writer's reflections on life and our place in nature are thought-provoking, and I particularly like the one above about getting older.
Writing prompts:
- As your life has changed over the years, are there things that have never been that you now realise will never be. Write about them for six minutes.
- Are you at the most creative part of your life? If so, write about your creativity. If not, write about what is stopping you from being creative.
- When was the last time you laughed until you 'were nearly sick'? Describe what happened. What made you laugh? Who were you with?
- Are material things important to you? Write about one thing you particularly treasure and enjoy and explain why.
- Write about a time when you have had to 'cope with adversity'. Do such times become easier the older you get?
- Write about what makes you happy: meditation, singing, being with children, paddling in the sea, watching a film, listening to the birds sing?
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