Something Left Undone
Labor with what zeal we will,
Something still remains undone,
Something uncompleted still
Waits the rising of the sun.
Society is based on time, each day we are inundated with all things ranging from menial to monumental- things arranged by time. This is not new, we are aware of time as a thing limited, as precious as it is perpetual, our part of it of course being finite. In light of this we are ever punctual for work, never to miss a dentist's appointment nor show up late for any sort of meeting which allows for the further scheduling or multi-tasking of our busy, compartmentalized life; we're always on time for obligations. Dutifully we tune into the bad-news at 6, we watch it all again at 11. Perhaps we are creatures of habit, all things being cyclical, perhaps these are our responsibilities, things we must do.
Waits, and will not go away;
Waits, and will not be gainsaid;
By the cares of yesterday
Each to-day is heavier made;
What is curious, however, is how we never fail to file our taxes or other necessary pains each year on time, and yet allow for time ten-fold to go by between even the slightest of conversations with an old friend, or relations. We of course being human, we of course being mortal, we who are aware of the preciousness of our time, why then are we tardy with kind words for someone we love, how are we so reticent to send glad tidings to those we hold fondly in our hearts? It's puzzling, and I say this not as one who condemns, but rather as one who is most guilty of these transgressions. For in the end, it is not those people we care about who suffer through our silence, but rather ourselves- in failing to say the things we mean to say- are the ones who must bear the weight of something we might have said, when we no longer have the chance to do so.
Till at length the burden seems
Greater than our strength can bear,
Heavy as the weight of dreams
Pressing on us everywhere.
A long time friend of my family, also someone I admired greatly passed on Thursday, I just received word today. My first thoughts were sadness for the people that knew her, their loss is a great one, my next thoughts were sadness for myself, for not having taken the time to tell her how I felt, or even just to say hello. I realize now I'll never get that chance. Jane was a wonderful person, and a very special one as well, and I'd like to acknowledge that fact, having failed to say so properly in years previous when I should have. Hopefully she's taught me this lesson for the last time; even now these thoughts give me pause, and I can think of a few people in my life I'd very much like to get in touch with. If only to say thank you, or hello, again.
The questions life asks of us are complex, and daunting-- in turn the answers are rarely simple or even satisfying. And as we get older I find that there are a great deal more of the former than the latter. But also I like to think that maybe the best places to find any answers to these pressing questions lie within the people we care for the most, the same people who care about us. These are the people we share our dreams with, the same people who have given parts of theirs to shape our lives, the people who've made this world a better place for having been in it. And maybe, if we can find the time to let the people we love know how much we actually do, just maybe, we can find some of those big answers before our time here is done.
And we stand from day to day,
Like the dwarfs of times gone by,
Who, as Northern legends say,
On their shoulders held the sky.
-H.W. Longfellow
Something still remains undone,
Something uncompleted still
Waits the rising of the sun.
Society is based on time, each day we are inundated with all things ranging from menial to monumental- things arranged by time. This is not new, we are aware of time as a thing limited, as precious as it is perpetual, our part of it of course being finite. In light of this we are ever punctual for work, never to miss a dentist's appointment nor show up late for any sort of meeting which allows for the further scheduling or multi-tasking of our busy, compartmentalized life; we're always on time for obligations. Dutifully we tune into the bad-news at 6, we watch it all again at 11. Perhaps we are creatures of habit, all things being cyclical, perhaps these are our responsibilities, things we must do.
Waits, and will not go away;
Waits, and will not be gainsaid;
By the cares of yesterday
Each to-day is heavier made;
What is curious, however, is how we never fail to file our taxes or other necessary pains each year on time, and yet allow for time ten-fold to go by between even the slightest of conversations with an old friend, or relations. We of course being human, we of course being mortal, we who are aware of the preciousness of our time, why then are we tardy with kind words for someone we love, how are we so reticent to send glad tidings to those we hold fondly in our hearts? It's puzzling, and I say this not as one who condemns, but rather as one who is most guilty of these transgressions. For in the end, it is not those people we care about who suffer through our silence, but rather ourselves- in failing to say the things we mean to say- are the ones who must bear the weight of something we might have said, when we no longer have the chance to do so.
Till at length the burden seems
Greater than our strength can bear,
Heavy as the weight of dreams
Pressing on us everywhere.
A long time friend of my family, also someone I admired greatly passed on Thursday, I just received word today. My first thoughts were sadness for the people that knew her, their loss is a great one, my next thoughts were sadness for myself, for not having taken the time to tell her how I felt, or even just to say hello. I realize now I'll never get that chance. Jane was a wonderful person, and a very special one as well, and I'd like to acknowledge that fact, having failed to say so properly in years previous when I should have. Hopefully she's taught me this lesson for the last time; even now these thoughts give me pause, and I can think of a few people in my life I'd very much like to get in touch with. If only to say thank you, or hello, again.
The questions life asks of us are complex, and daunting-- in turn the answers are rarely simple or even satisfying. And as we get older I find that there are a great deal more of the former than the latter. But also I like to think that maybe the best places to find any answers to these pressing questions lie within the people we care for the most, the same people who care about us. These are the people we share our dreams with, the same people who have given parts of theirs to shape our lives, the people who've made this world a better place for having been in it. And maybe, if we can find the time to let the people we love know how much we actually do, just maybe, we can find some of those big answers before our time here is done.
And we stand from day to day,
Like the dwarfs of times gone by,
Who, as Northern legends say,
On their shoulders held the sky.
-H.W. Longfellow
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