Simple Ramblings.....................

Laying in bed this morning wondering if I needed to get up at 6:00 AM ( I decided not), for some reason beyond my conscious understanding,  I remembered two sayings that I had posted on my bulletin board all those years ago at UNB. 

 “I sound my barbaric yawp over the rooftops of the world.”

And

“I shall tell the world that I am here and then I shall live in a house without doors”

 The first one is of course from Walt Whitman. I read it in high school when I was 17 and I don’t think I have ever forgotten it. It may be in fact the only line of poetry that I have ever memorized. It is such a powerful statement, an almost overwhelming declaration of  being comfortable with who and what one is regardless of the rough edges, the paradoxes and the fact that it may, on occasion, bother other people.

The second one I wrote at some point during my adolescent poetry writing phase. Actually the second half was in French but I am no longer able to translate it to that other language. I don’t think I have thought about the line for at least 40 years. Although I don’t think I understood the quote that I wrote when I created it, it strikes me how accurate a prediction of my life the two quotes are.

I have never seen the need to brag about what I do, nor to be completive about almost anything. A body should do what they need to do, what they can do and then let their actions speak for themselves. You do the best you can and then walk away. It is not for us to judge our work, or our contributions (or the lack thereof). If they need to be judged someone else will do it. One should not take credit for doing what feels right. It is what we should do. This philosophy also means that one must be comfortable about being out there, of sharing values and beliefs, of living them and of accepting the consequences.

I find it somewhat comforting as I go through this reflective phase that at least a little bit of what made sense to me 50 or so years ago, still makes sense to me today. But I have  to wonder if that younger me living all those years ago who felt so alone and afraid and completely lost in the world of university would recognize the me of today. I wonder if he would like me. 

I hope so.