There's a passage in Neal Stevenson’s sci fi novel Snow Crash in which the protagonist, Hiro, who has been wearing a pair of special glasses that project an idyllic image onto his bleak environment, finds that his brain and eyes have adjusted and he can no longer see the projection, but is looking straight through at naked reality.
Such an evocative piece - Your metaphor is perfect - thank you. At 72, my views on my life are foreshortened. 82 is my actuarial date. I spend most of my time in the present, because even the most mundane task or experience is now filled with meaning. For soon, there will be nothing.
The past fills most of the rest of my consciousness. Not regret, but just gratitude for the life I have had. The standouts are my memories not of work but of love.
Iona, your writing feels like I am in the company of a magical tour guide. One able to zip us around past, present, and future. Here, near, there, and beyond. Evoking memories and hopes. Surprising with delightful turns of phrase.
You are right about work - it's a foundational issue that provides our core security both financial and emotional - I did not mean to underplay its value.
A hard thing for me now, is that not working for money has removed a part of my core identity as a provider, a very male attribute I think. But maybe not so much any more. My grand daughter aged 14 is very aware of not relying on a man to be her breadwinner and is on the road to financial independence or at least self reliance.
I had a great teacher about values - his view is that we have to take care of the basic security issues in our lives as a matter of priority. The hierarchy of needs.
As an artist, as I think you are, this can be very hard - my son's dilemma. So I extend my best wishes to you in this area of your life
Such an evocative piece - Your metaphor is perfect - thank you. At 72, my views on my life are foreshortened. 82 is my actuarial date. I spend most of my time in the present, because even the most mundane task or experience is now filled with meaning. For soon, there will be nothing.
The past fills most of the rest of my consciousness. Not regret, but just gratitude for the life I have had. The standouts are my memories not of work but of love.
I wish for you freedom from regret. You deserve it.
I love Neil Stevenson!
....even though he is in the habit of making a short story long. I wager he'd take 40 pages to describe my modest kitchen.
I had to look up, "varifocals". We call them "progressive lenses" over here.
As we go through our lives, we select how we focus on everything we see, present, past and future. Therapy taught me to be careful in how I do that.
Thanks for your essay.
Dan
Iona, your writing feels like I am in the company of a magical tour guide. One able to zip us around past, present, and future. Here, near, there, and beyond. Evoking memories and hopes. Surprising with delightful turns of phrase.
Gracias y abrazos.
You are right about work - it's a foundational issue that provides our core security both financial and emotional - I did not mean to underplay its value.
A hard thing for me now, is that not working for money has removed a part of my core identity as a provider, a very male attribute I think. But maybe not so much any more. My grand daughter aged 14 is very aware of not relying on a man to be her breadwinner and is on the road to financial independence or at least self reliance.
I had a great teacher about values - his view is that we have to take care of the basic security issues in our lives as a matter of priority. The hierarchy of needs.
As an artist, as I think you are, this can be very hard - my son's dilemma. So I extend my best wishes to you in this area of your life