A Few Days of REflection

I drove to a tiny town south of Santa Fe, NM when I left Sean and Natalie’s after Christmas. My little casita overlooks some spruce covered hills. The only sounds I hear are of the passenger train that passes two times a day. Los Cerrillos State Park is just across the tracks. There are many trails that lead to great lookouts at the top of easily walkable inclines. Therefore I made the trek both up and down with very little stress!

The reason for my trip was not to test my climbing abilities. It’s hard to explain. I felt the need to update my priorities and to find answers to questions when I wasn’t sure if I even had the questions right. So I read and I wrote and I wrote some more. And I came to some interesting conclusions. I will not bore you with all the pages and pages of gibberish. I will say that in the end I landed on eight precepts that I hope to follow. I will need to type them up and place them around my house so that I don’t forget them, as I think they are very good for me. 

As often happens for me in times such as these I came across a poem that I had never heard before. It felt just right for my studies. “Living in the Dash,” by Linda Ellis. She is much more eloquent than I will ever be:

The Dash Poem
by Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on the tombstone from the beginning to the end.

He noted first came the date of the birth and spoke the following date with tears.
But he said what mattered most of all was the dash between the years.

For that dash represents all the time that they spent life on Earth.
And now only those who loved them know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not how much we own, the cars, the house, the cash.
What matters is how we live and love, and how we spend our dash.

So, think about this long and hard. Are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left that can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough to consider what’s true and real,
and always try to understand the way other people feel.

Be less quick to anger and show appreciation more,
and love the people in our lives like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect and more often wear a smile,
remembering that this special dash might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy is being read with your life’s actions to rehash,
would you be proud of the things they say about how you spent your dash?

www.LindaEllis.life