That's a fine summation, gruff, but mothers don't have that choice usually. I needed to give my children some stability so I moved into my mother's home after her death and it is now a colossal trap. I feel I should be a grateful steward to my mother which is ridiculous sounding, I know. Plus my children live happily half-way round the world in opposite directions. It's a terrible dilemma for all of us. Anyway, I am happy you found contentment. I hope I find mine. Soon.
On Jul 28, 7:59�pm, gruff <[email protected]> wrote: > Very nice opening Francis. �Great topic too. > > While enjoying possessions throughout my life, I've never felt much > sense of ownership in them. �I get things, enjoy them, then pass them > on to others. �I think I get that from having been completely divested > of family and possessions when I was a young teenager. �Family was a > distant concept that eluded me and I felt no draw to stay in one place > longer than I felt like it. �In my early twenties couple of years in > prison divested me of any further sense of possession that might have > remained. > > From the time I was a young man until I was in my mid 40's, I owned > one suitcase, a few small boxes and moved a lot. �As a result any form > of possessiveness eluded me. �When I got ready to move, if it didn't > fit into that suitcase and a few small boxes, it got sold, donated, > tossed or left behind. �I never felt a need for anything but myself > nor did I ever feel any loss at leaving anything behind. �Material > possessions were a major pain in the ass to own and care for so it > never bothered me to lose them because I could always get them again. > > I never owned real property when I was young because I couldn't see > myself staying in one place long enough and I'd probably have wound up > losing it or selling it at a loss because I needed money. �As I got > older I began to develop the perspective that you don't really own > land -- it owns you. �What with maintenance, taxes, upkeep and the > vicissitudes of the real estate market, people become a slave to their > real estate. > > Now that I'm a old man creeping up on decrepitude I am the most > possessive I have every been in my entire life. �I love my small > library, my computer, my camera, my library of music and photographs, > my Internet connection and a few other small possessions which I'd > miss terribly if they somehow were taken from me. �Yet I know I'd not > grieve for long. �I've spent most of my life getting rid of > possessions. �I've always considered myself just a temporary custodian > of possessions. �I'm generous to a fault. �If someone needs or wants > something I have, I readily give it to them. �I look for things that I > know people would like just so I can give it to them. �I get a great > deal of pleasure out of it. > > Now what that makes me, I'm not sure. �From one perspective, I'm a > failure who never managed to acquire anything in life and moved from > one empty place to another, yet from a slightly different perspective, > I'm a lot like a monk walking the high road of poverty in that > possessions have meant little to me and I'm fairly free of the yoke of > owning things. �In the latter sense I have far more freedom than most > whom I meet in this journey. > > On Jul 28, 10:02 am, frantheman <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > In the course of the recent discussion here concerning the reposting > > of Minds Eye contributions in other internet fora, the question of > > copyright arose. It got me to thinking about the idea of intellectual > > ownership and the idea of possession in general. > > > We have all seen the Westerns in which the Native Americans sold away > > title to land for nothing, or pittances because the white man's > > concept of "owning" land was incomprehensible to them. Throughout > > history, many of those whom we regard as great thinkers have been very > > critical of the benefits of possessions and owning things. Indeed, a > > controversy centred on the absolute poverty of Christ raged throughout > > the medieval Christian Church and completely split the Franciscan > > movement (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ > > Franciscans#Renewed_controversy_on_the_question_of_poverty). In this > > context, it is perhaps interesting to note that one of the all-time > > heroes here on Minds Eye, William of Occam, was a proponent of the > > principle of absolute poverty and lost his job as English Franciscan > > provincial and was excommunicated as a result. > > > Personally I spent almost a decade as a Dominican friar, during which > > time I took a "vow of poverty." I don't want to go into a discussion > > on the extent to which Catholic monks actually live according to this > > vow here, personally, I always found it to be the expression of an > > attitude of freedom from a dictatorship of "things." It may also have > > left an indelible mark on me in that in almost a quarter of a century > > since leaving the order I have been pretty bad at earning, > > accumulating and retaining material wealth and possessions. During my > > life I have gone through a number of pretty radical changes, which > > have often involved leaving nearly everything behind and starting > > again. Such processes have been, inevitably, traumatic, although not > > necessarily negative. One of the things that has helped is the fact > > that I have never felt particularly attached to "things". But maybe my > > sense of "ownership" is just underdeveloped, or damaged! > > > There's a German saying which states that "he who has possessions has > > worries." Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, one of the founders (!) of modern > > anarchism went farther with his statement that "property is theft." > > What does it mean to "own" something anyway? > > > To use Molly's words: What do you think? > > > Francis- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. 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