Need

It's interesting, the things we need.

I often wonder if we define our own needs

or let society define them for us.

There are few things we actually need

for survival ~

growth.

When I lived in my first apartment downtown,

I was driving home one night and saw flames

light up the sky as I got closer to home.

I wondered what I would do if it was

my apartment and everything I had was

destroyed.  I thought about the things I'd

miss ~ photographs, poems I'd written,

the baby blanket I've slept with since I

was born. 

But the most important things,

myself, memories, the stories

that have made up my life,

the people that have made it worth it,

would still be here.

I would start again, and I would be ok.

I would gather new things and memories and

the shape of necessity in my life

would change.

My history

would change, but I

would remain constant.

Every once in a while, I think about

that moment in my car, when my

checking account is low and I wonder

if the colorful thing at Target is something

I really need. 

I would rather buy something

from a local artist,

maybe pay a little more,

but buy the story behind the art,

something I can always keep,

even in the face of loss.

I have to remind myself that

the meaning cannot become the

object. 

The value is always so much more.

The value is the story that lives

within us all and

cannot be lost.

Comments

[Scotty]

That is a very touching chapter. I especially liked the part when you were driving home and saw flames and worried your apartment and your stuff was burning... what about worrying that your brother downstairs was a quivering mass of charred flesh!!!

"You broke my heart Fredo..."

Then again... I'm never home.

Just kidding-- and that's a real "just kidding", not the other "just kidding" when somebody says something horrible that deep down they really mean, and then they crack a phony smile and say,...

I love you. Did you laugh? Laughter's good.

S

[Carrie K]

Wow. This is what I needed to hear as we clean out the clutter of things my grandmother saved and as I prepare to say goodbye to my mother. Thank you for being inside my head!