ALONE

 

A series of essays....

“WE ENTER THE WORLD ALONE, WE LEAVE THE WORLD ALONE.”

....as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

"We enter the world alone, we leave the world alone," a quote by the English writer and historian, James Anthony Froude, in the mid 1800's. Orson Welles added his own spin when he said, "We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone."

Variations on a theme. 

With eyelids carrying the day’s exhaustion, I tuck my pillow beneath my neck and slowly curl into a fetal position, my future dreams taking me down the haunted path of aloneness.

What is the reasoning behind this dour feeling?

I spend hours inspiriting a sensation of acceptance knowing that this vast, natural world is cradling me within its arms even when people fail to do so. Surely, I cannot be alone when I hear the joyful birdsong drifting among the tree branches, piercing the morning haze as I listen from my cozy bed.

I am not alone when I open my eyes and Nature’s concert carries me through simple morning routines: making coffee and relishing the first sip, brushing my hair and deciding what to wear, and drifting to my desk to begin my workday with a second cup of steaming coffee poured from the carafe on the kitchen counter.

Certainly, I could not be alone when the lively conversation between husband and wife of a gentle, spring evening clings to me like a second skin. Sitting side-by-side while plotting, planning, and dreaming of a time with mixed desires of future travel and moving back up north near family and friends. Life will never slow down if we do not allow it to slow down.

Can we be alone with others so nearby?

The realization hits me as if it were a hammer striking truth deep inside my brain—I am successfully 'creating the illusion' that best fits within my life's mold. I see the fine line between actual and contrived. It divides my thoughts like a gossamer web stretching between two solid objects.  

"Only through our love and friendship...." 

How much control do we truly have? The pieces float along the gentle breeze and match one shape into another adapted for accuracy and exactness like the pieces of a machine-cut puzzle. We are instruments of the grand illusion—living in the moment.

We are on the outside looking in.

Within the span of time we become thinkers, dreamers, artists and imagineers. A puppetmaster of our own world. Alone, I see the color blue. Alone, you see the color gold. Alone, I am bombarded and assailed by words and phrases. Alone, you create beauty from stone and mortar.

As we differentiate between fantasy and reality, we decide

when to choose love over hatred, or when to stand alone or follow the masses, or the right time to employ common sense or become a loose cannon—potentially causing damage to this beautiful planet and the people we share it with.

Do we believe in the rights of women worldwide or do we crush equality between men and women like so many generations of organized religions and cultures have done before us? 

Will honest souls prevail and black-hearted souls be crushed by their own cowardly deeds?

I sit upon the edge of my bed in the shadows of the early morning and chant "Thank You, Thank You, Thank You to my personal deity. I do so in appreciation of my life and the well-being of those I love. My prayer is carried out into the ethos on the wings of angels.

James and Orson, I remain grateful to both of you for your insight.

Vironika Tugaleva, an inspirational speaker and healing coach from the Ukraine, explains that, "The greatest tool of self-love is self-awareness. Once you truly know yourself, love is the only option."

Self-Love.

If love and friendship creates the illusion, for the moment, that we are not alone, then we must learn to be our own best friend and love ourselves with the passion and grace that we would afford to every other living soul around us.

In summary: We are alone with our thoughts and ideas. We create a glass-domed world around us in order to protect these thoughts and ideas. However, we must constantly watch our own beliefs because they will become the words of the people we draw into our inner sanctum.

Live—Laugh—Love for today! Tomorrow we will leave this world, all alone. May we make the best choices for ourselves and everyone around us in the meantime.

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

Photo Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

HAPPINESS IS MY INSPIRATION

A series of essays.....

STANDING AT THE SUMMIT ~ CONNEMARA NATIONAL PARK, 2013

.....as seen through my eyes!




By: Jacqueline E. Hughes


I am back at the controls on my weekly blog site after enjoying a busy and memorable two weeks with family and friends in Michigan. Embracing the joy that a 'picture-window framed,' crisp Winter's morning in Kalamazoo has to offer helps to set the world right again. Relearning to appreciate wearing long pants and completely covering my feet with socks and shoes/boots is quite another story. Then there's the application of heavy coat, scarf, gloves, and a five minute prep-time before even opening the door to battle the elements outside!

If living up in the Tundra in winter seems less simplified for me now, accepting that the new year has placed another notch on the trusty old No.2 in my hand has been bittersweet. Certain aspects of 'change' and catering to 'what's new' excites me greatly, including having to update 'Moving On.....2015' to the new year, 2016, along with all that implies with regard to my writing. Truthfully, life excites me! Allowing creativity to control my very essence and bring new and adventurous ideas to the table, sets the stage for a stronger, more interesting, and heartfelt communication between myself and you, the reader.

LIVING & DINING SPACE BEFORE ANY CHANGES

MADE TO OUR MICHIGAN 'COTTAGE'

Having our own little 'getaway' near all of the children has allowed me, after twenty years, to see the broader picture of change on a very personal level. My minor aches and pains seem so trivial when compared to having my own child suffer in any way. I now must pacify my maternal instincts, feelings of helplessness, by knowing that they are capable of calling the doctor for an appointment if something seems serious enough. After all, they've been doing a brilliant job with their own children for years now!

Even though it is sad to have the second set of adorable babies in my life grow-up right before my eyes, I see these magnificent little children turning into young adults with every birthday celebration; each pleasant occasion marking new physical changes, mental growth and maturity, and a stronger intellect encompassing each child.

I have said this many times before: Life is about being able to handle the transitions in your life with grace, style and class. For some reason, these three, small words elude the best of us when it comes to dealing with age, absence, and aloneness. We do the best job we can of coping with these three 'A's,' so to speak, knowing full well that life will throw curve balls as much as high-speed fastballs at us on any given day.

When I began this blog site back in September of 2013, I had just returned from Ireland having climbed to the summit of a mountain, hiked many miles within the lushness that only this Emerald Isle has to offer, and met the most interesting local people, as well as many travelers from all over the world! We lived in a small cottage built over one hundred and sixty years before and walked land previously tread on by Saints and Kings! We luxuriated within the stories of modern-day troubadours who highlighted them with trills from ancient bagpipes and the rolling, pulsating rhythm of the Bodhran (Irish drums).

My happiness was my inspiration for creating this blog site.

Initially, my happiness was centered around my Irish conversations, footsteps, lifting frosty Guinness mugs, and the clicks of my Canon Camera as I snapped picture after picture in a wild attempt to permanently capture my adventures.....frame by frame. The moments I was able to secure were lovingly brought back and served to illustrate my stories and help explain my deep, abiding love of all things Irish.

Turning the corner into a brand new year, 2014, my previous travels to France, St. Martin, Aruba, and Ireland were well worth a story or two in and of themselves. So, it was a privilege to recall, through my journals and personal memories, the many engaging adventures we had experienced with each trip and then illustrate them with photos I had taken at the time. I was thrilled to have this broad, Internet  platform where I was able to share my 'adventures of a lifetime' with others and, actually, enjoy reading the feedback from other travelers, as well as those interested in traveling themselves in the future. I knew I must be doing something right and, it felt so good.

OUR 'WORK IN PROGRESS'

Moving On........2015 brought a new and stronger platform for me in content and personal opinions when I realized that my appreciation of people in general, especially among those who have endured negativity yet processed it into a positive scenario, would be interesting to write about. My newest forum aligned with current events, stories concerning human strengths and tragedy, and people who intrigued me and touched my own life by their noted talents and deeds.

The life stories of established authors such as Kurt Vonnegut, Harper Lee, Carl Sandburg, and Eva Ibbotson enriched my life forever. Having lived through their (our) plight of many decades, it was interesting to relive some of the stories behind the activists and Women's Rights advocates, Gloria Steinem and Annie Lennox, who played a major role in bringing women out of the Stone Age. And, the undeniable musical genius associated with Bob Dylan and Joe Bonamassa languidly seeped from my soul to trickle note by note, word by word, into my i-Pad.  I engaged in stories of untimely loss when writing about the unfortunate death of Robin Williams. May you rest in peace, sweet man. I learned from David Rubenstein that, "Philanthropy is a Greek word that means 'love of humanity,' not rich people writing checks." The pleasure of rediscovering  my illustrious Russian heritage by writing about My Ukranian Connection pleased me to no end as the memories of my grandmother's delicious pierogies continued to melt in my mouth. Note: Must engage grandchildren in the process of making pierogies for future reference.

Happiness grips me when I think about the 'Book Reviews' written for up and coming Indie Authors I have met via social media who have worked so hard to self-publish their amazing talent and encourage mainstream readers to appreciate said talent. I honor their perseverance and extreme dedication and hope to follow along their worthy path myself one day.

My greatest joy is derived from the poetry of my past and present creation that I have occasionally slipped into the mix. My first formal publication was a poem I had written in high school English class back in the day. It had established the journey I gladly travel on today. Most recently, I have been interested in selecting words and phrases and personally defining them in a series of small essays that capture their 'true essence' in terms of my own experiences and beliefs; "Through my eyes." Common Sense, Nostalgia, Grateful, Complacency, Self Love, and Alone being among the titles. Photos I have taken throughout the years help to illustrate my personal feelings about each topic.

Yes....Alone, one of the three 'A's' I mentioned before, published on March 19, 2015, highlights my personal insights about what it feels like to be alone, inside your own head. By combining age and absence into the formula, I understand the importance of being alone and how the greatest tool of self-love is self-awareness no matter what my age is. I know that we must learn to be our own best friend and love ourselves with the passion and grace that we would afford to every living soul around us. Once you truly know yourself, love is the only option. With the application of these principles.....we will never be alone.

Photo Courtesy: Phill Cassey

Now, with the click of a few keyboard keys and the wisdom of knowing that we have no control over time, I continue my journey into a world as seen through my eyes! Moving On.....2016 marks its debut through the delicate emergence of the new year like a young bird pushing through its calcified home in order to greet the unfamiliar world it is to live in. Who really knows what this world will bring?

I remain eternally grateful to all of you who read my thoughts placed  into words each week and I promise to continue 'Moving On.....2016' for as long as time will allow me to do so. In the meantime, other projects such as completing my first novel and getting it published and working on the rehab of our 'Little Yellow Cottage' in Michigan will and must fit into my immediate agenda. Also, several new trips are being planned in 2016 and I am looking forward to, eventually, writing all about them for you. Yes, life is busy. Life is good.

Please remember that I always appreciate your comments, positive or otherwise, and know that I constantly learn through them. Hopefully, I will become a better writer and person because of them. So, here's to a new year, 2016, and the many meandering thoughts that lead us down paths we have only dreamt about following before.

You may find me anytime at my Website below:

 www.thetravelingkeyboard.blogspot.com

Copyright © 2016 by Jacqueline E. Hughes
All rights reserved