Musing

[written and published from Calgary]

0C/32F, another warm day unfolds; all that snow, all that slush - through it all Gusta seems to be able to smell (and chase) the rodents though she did not come up with anything live

to CB & BP . . happy birthday

to BB . . congrats, 9 years on your extended warranty and you are still ticking like a Timex;
these precious three are three among many who impact life; some often, some rarely . . but in some little or large way they have affected me . . and I them

to BB . . this is for you:

ink on paper, paint on canvas . . or the impression we make on everyone you touch in your daily life IS what matters most, lasts longest, marks where we have been, is the legacy we leave

we easily realize this concept when it is someone brilliant, famous, prolific who fills the page or paints the canvas or leaps off the screen; entertainer, artist, politician, intellectual – it is easy to understand when the people have names we know like Warhol, Picasso, Yeats, Lincoln, Michaelangelo, Churchill, Glenn, Galileo . . you get the picture

is our canvas any less grand?

is our ability one bit less because we lack the talent or reputation to have our work hung in a gallery or because we do not stand on a world stage with cameras rolling?

each day a blank page awaits for all of us

you paint yours, I paint mine

it can be a page, or a canvas or a blue sky or a spare hour; our canvas might be the faces of the people we have an impact on today

how many people see the world, or their role in life or see you DIFFERENTLY at the end of this day because of something you did?

we all paint a picture for others to see; we are all sculpting the image others see when we are not in the room, not in town . . or when we are no longer here

just think about the people who are gone; they might have moved away, been alienated or died - the impressions you have of them are not memories of what you did, but of what they did, how they looked, what they said, how they lived their life when you knew them, when you last saw them, when you last told them how you felt about them

for me it begins . . as each keystroke I make reduces the amount of white-space on this page, it fills up by the end of the day, sometimes it feels like art, sometimes it feels like a 3 yr old with too many crayons

sometimes it is tidy, sometimes it is a blur or a mess or incomplete

each morning I start with a fresh canvas

our lives, the lives of our friends, the lives of our adversaries, the lives of our loved ones, the lives of everyone – whether they matter to us or not – make an impression every day on their blank canvas

not just a contrast of black and white, substance on absence

someone, some thing, some idea, some experience added to the nothing on that daily canvas

sometimes it is just daily routine that marks where we’ve been, what we’ve done; some days (most) no one notices what we’ve done

this world of ours is not about sound-bytes and who said them, greatness is in every one of us – all we have to do is be real, be truthful, be there; we can be genuine or we can be phoney, we can be self serving or we can serve others, we can be loving or hateful

everything that is good or bad in the world is a product of our time, of our generation, of history, of pain, of experience, of politics, of culture, of faith, of humanity, of inhumanity - or, is it a product of ourselves - flawed and ordinary people?

every one of us makes a difference to tens and hundreds – perhaps thousands of people – we don’t do it with masterpieces or takeovers or discoveries; we do it because we put a little of our blood sweat and tears on our canvas every day

billions of us paint in obscurity, very few of us affect many outside our family or local community - what matters is that we made something of our day, what matters is how we treated those who don't matter to us, those who can do nothing for us . .

keep going . . go make a difference in someone's life by continuing to live yours fully; be creative, be exuberant, be outrageous, be simple, be kind, be gentle, be swift

you are partner, friend, colleague; you have been a client, an adversary, a putz and a pain; you have shown me by good examples and poor ones too the goodness in you, the value of friendship, the value of life – I’m so glad I’ve had a chance to be part of yours and you have been part of mine

some folks, like BB, come with an extended warranty - they get a new lease on life, and they keep signing off on the renewals . .

some don’t

just be you, all day today

when tomorrow comes, grab a fresh page/canvas, do it again

Mark Kolke
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