Day 26 – Humanity’s Common Bond

January 4, 2015

(This is part of a 365 project during my 70th year where I write and illustrate a blog on each day's gift.)

Another visit to a funeral home today. These visits are becoming more frequent lately. At least we are all in this together. Everyone shares the same future although our paths to the end might vary. No one gets out of this life alive—it is a common bond of humanity. 

Although death is never pleasant, in a way it is a gift.

Suppose death were not a given and our lives were to go on indefinitely. Forget about the logistics of over population and aging bodies. Let’s suppose those issues would not be problems. As of 2014, the average life expectancy for the United States is 79.56 years according to the CIA Fact Book, 77.11 for males and 81.94 for females. In the hypothetical deathless world, those end numbers would not exist. Suppose there is no average end of life expectancy. Suppose we would continue to live indefinitely.

Would that change the way we live now? I suspect that it might. It would be so easy to say, “I’ll do it tomorrow” because tomorrow would be guaranteed. It is the gift of death that makes now most precious. It is the impending final farewell that makes us appreciate today. Death is the catalyst for us to give our lives meaning.

Today’s gift is death.

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> DAY 27 Sunshine and Purrs

You can read my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html

Day 25 – Sacred

January 3, 2015

(This is part of a 365 project during my 70th year where I write and illustrate a blog on each day's gift.)

© Photo by Bonnie Schupp

This morning welcomed me with dampened sounds drifting through bare branches. The nearby Lutheran church bells were playing Holy, Holy, Holy. I love the sound of church bells, not because it makes me think about a deity or because it makes me want to pray, but because it breathes on my own internal wind chime and stirs a feeling of wholeness in me.

What is holy and is this word anchored to religion only? The English etymology goes back to the 11^th century meaning—something that must be preserved whole and cannot be violated. The Scottish hale means health, happiness and wholeness, not necessarily related to a god. The word holy is often replaced with the word sacred.

Most religions connect sacredness with icons such as the Bible, the Quran. Sometimes people become violent when their religious icons are destroyed, such as in the 2012 Afghanistan Quran burning protests where 30 people were killed and many more injured. To some, the word holy is a companion to war, which destroys life. I believe in the holiness of life, not objects or religious icons.

What is sacred for me are intangible moments such as the time I spent with my father in the Oak Crest chapel with rays of light coming through the window. It was not a holy instant because the setting was in a chapel; the magic and meaning had nothing to do with religion. It was sacred because it illuminated the connection I held with my father. For me, what is most sacred are connections that touch the human spirit, with or without belief in any god. This moment, this now, is holy. I am connected and whole.

Today’s gift is now, this moment.

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> DAY 26 Humanity's Common Bond

You can read my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html

Day 24 – Pink Pitcher

January 2, 2015

 (This is part of a 365 project during my 70th year where I write and illustrate a blog on each day's gift.)

Since my father passed away on December 2 last month, my sisters and I are spending time clearing his apartment. We take turns choosing what we want and then relegate the rest toward donations or items that other family members might want. I am not interested in valuable items or much of anything at all., with the exception of photos.

Today as we perused various items spread out on the coffee table, a glass pitcher stood rejected by all three of us. I have no use for a glass pitcher, with a small chipped piece, but as I observed the way light played on it, I decided to bring it home. There was something about the way its colors blended gently with light pouring through the glass that called to me. Light and shadow melted together. Pinks, yellows and blues mingled so it was impossible to see where one color began and another ended.

Blending is what drew me to this pitcher and the idea of the importance of coalescence in relationships, life choices, life and death, and the way we create peace within ourselves. My sisters and I were melding memories of our father with these inanimate objects in front of us. The objects are not important except for how they fuse his life, our memories and love which will flow forever in our days.

Alone, I am one, but blended, I become part of the fluidity of life.

Today's gift is blending.

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> DAY 25 Sacred

You can read my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html

Day 23 – Buttons and Joy

January 1, 2015

(This is part of a 365 project during my 70th year where I write and illustrate a blog on each day's gift.)

A friend died and we wore joy.

I just found a small button from many years ago, a souvenir from a memorial celebration for a woman who I was just beginning to know before she died early in life of cancer . Timmy and her husband, both balloonists, exuded a joie de vivre. She made plans for her own memorial party and after her death a group of friends gathered in New York City to celebrate her life. We watched a slide show her husband had put together and we released balloons in Central Park in her memory. And we all went home wearing a small button with a big message, “Don’t postpone joy.”

How many times have we heard about people who are waiting until retirement to travel or fulfill certain dreams? How many times have we heard about these same people passing away less than a year after their retirement? How many times have we not said, “I love you” or not spent some time with a loved one because we were in a hurry? There’s always tomorrow.

Well…not really. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring but we do hold power today—power to say “I love you,” power to make time to “do it now,” and power to set the direction of our journey.

David’s Aunt Alice, who lived just a month short of her 106^th birthday, had a mantra that we heard dozens of times when we visited her. “Do it now,” she would say and point to us with her index finger to add an exclamation point. She sang, “Enjoy yourself. It’s later than you think.” The video I made of her performance reached a huge audience when it appeared on Josh Lev’s viral video segment.

Timmy and Aunt Alice, young and old, never met but they were kindred spirits. Today I wear this button as a reminder to live joy each day.

Today’s gift is joy.

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You can see the video of Alice here:

http://youtu.be/W5TBwJF0v1g

> DAY 24 Pink Pitcher

You can read my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html