Seeing this old shack, and the many other abandoned-looking buildings like it around the roads and bays of Newfoundland, inspires curiosity and a little bit of nostalgia. Overgrown and dilapidated, it’s just a matter of time before a gale force wind, or heavy snowfall, collapses it into a pile of wreckage. I imagine all the activity and people which once brought this place to life, who may now be lost to time and memory. There is not always a surviving family member to uphold the traditions of place, or to bring them into the future. Eventually, the wooden planks will rot away and revert to ground, and all that will remain is a few footings to indicate where it once stood. This remains to serve as a monument to the past.
Equally, it is a reminder. A call to awaken to the finite aspect of life on the physical plane of existence. It can be hard to face that knowledge which we all sense but hesitate to examine too closely. The unknown is frightening. The guesses, ideas and beliefs that pass as consolation can’t be confirmed, merely taken on faith. This is the great mystery of life that will not reveal itself. Perhaps there is peace to be found by accepting fate. But the great miracle of life is that there is always a choice: accept or refuse to accept. All our decisions, the path we take to get here, the outcomes and consequences, are aligned on that choice.
We can flow through life like wind, cling to our place like a boulder, or rise and fall with the seasons like wild lupins until we release our claim on time, the physical fades away and our energetic essence begins its next adventure. Considering this, it could feel like life has no real purpose. We’re born, live until we die, and eventually all trace of us crumbles into oblivion. But life could also be accepted as a gift; a time to appreciate what we learn from others, friend and foe, and to share what lessons we can give of ourselves.
These gifts develop the traditions that travel beyond our time, and last longer than any monument to our physical existence. They work together, the outside and insides selves. To create something meaningful we need to be caretakers of both, while we can.