THE CUP IS ALREADY BROKEN
Gary's video about his artist's cup reminded me of the documentary I watched last Monday on Netflix. "THE BUDDHA The Story of Siddhartha" (2010 by Director David Grubin) I have read the book, "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse several times during my life. The book belonged to my mother and it was one of her favorites. The film depicts the life of Buddha and his experiences while trying to discover why there is suffering in this life. The film is beautifully and artfully documented and quotes are given throughout by different religious scholars and such. Truthfully, as the story goes, we will all eventually lose everything and everyone that we love. We will eventually all become ill and we will eventually all die. Nothing lasts forever, it's true. I believe that the sooner we come to this realization, the happier we become.
Five years ago, I gave away or sold just about everything I owned. I let go of my house, my pottery (wheel, kiln, supplies, books) and just about everything else that was not replaceable. I downsized because I was about to begin a new journey in life. I was going to work six months and travel six months. I couldn't carry all my "stuff" around the world with me, so it all had to go. Well as it happens in life so frequently, things changed. My place of employment was taken over by new management and this changed everything---all my plans were shattered in a five minute phone call. I was devastated. I had given up everything! All for nothing, I thought, at least at the time. I was unable to be happy until I began to embrace what had happened and go with the flow. I found that "Letting go" is really the only form of freedom we have and we don't always have control or power over what happens to us. This can be a tough lesson to learn but easier if you realize that * "the glass is already broken". I soon realized that letting go of material things was really easy, in fact, very liberating! I felt light in my heart and on my feet. The simple truth is once you let go of "stuff", you get even more "stuff" in return, it's just "different stuff". You would be surprised at how quickly you accumulate "stuff". Who wants to look at the same stuff all of their life anyway? A bit boring, eh? Well, my dreams of traveling the world haven't happened yet, but I will never give up. I think that is why I love, "The Traveling Painting" so much. At least I can travel vicariously through that project for now. So what I have learned from my situation and what both the film and the book teach is truly, "Nothing lasts forever and it's the journey, not the destination that counts."
*One of my favorite quotes from the film is, "The glass is already broken." so people, enjoy that glass (or "cup" as it may be), now while you are able. Read the book, "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse and see the PBS documentary, "THE BUDDHA The Story of Siddhartha" and remember, it is not what happens to you, but how you react to what happens to you, that counts.
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Comment by Karen Musgrave on August 13, 2010 at 12:43am -
KIm, Well said!
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Comment by Janet Stevens on August 1, 2010 at 6:11am -
oh! big wave to you Mary Helena * hi! to you at the Singapore Airport)*
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Comment by Janet Stevens on August 1, 2010 at 6:08am
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A part of me is agreeing with this and a part of me is not. I have let go of so much stuff/people in the last 6 years it would make heads spin right off! But now, I am getting different stuff from different places involving different memories. Stuff for me is about memory. Every time I am attracted to an item it is because of a fabulous memory. Either a conscous memory or a memory that surfaces long after the item is bought. When something breaks that I have that I cherish I get a replacement. I want to keep the special to me memory alive that the item represents. If not a memory I can remember it is a feeling that I want to feel by looking at the item and using the item. So if it is already broken I get another one.
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Comment by Joan Anne on July 31, 2010 at 5:01pm -
Well another interesting blog! Thank you Kim.
Five years ago I couldn't pay my mortgage and very nearly got repossessed, but just managed to sell my house. Then I paid of all the credit cards and invested the money. Now I find that this recession has wiped out £7,000 of my investment. Plus the crap interest rates mean that I have to spend my capital just to pay my basic monthly outgoings.I have to accept that I made the wrong decision with the money and that I am not meant to be rich!!! I sold most of my furniture with the house or a boot sales to afford to live. So now most things I have are 2nd hand or gifts from friends.
Then I have had the year from hell with the landlord and heating and carbon monoxide nearly killing me.
All of this I got through because I could more or less cope, but on Thursday I lost the plot. The heating engineer and the boiler delivery guy managed to drop all the packaging on my pots and tubs of flowers. So I guess they were my current cup. I had to walk away from them and take Molly up the road as I was just so spitting mad. I must admit that I threw my dummy out of the pram so far and hard its now broke. Then the boiler was damaged and had to go back. Another 1/2 day delay.
At the moment I think there is a big kick here, she needs more humility sticker on my butt. But hey guess what I will keep sticking my head above the parapet, until I'm out I'm not going to give in.
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Comment by Glenda on July 30, 2010 at 1:10pm
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“The cup/glass is already broken” – what a fabulous quote! I, too, learned this lesson many years ago and it is reaffirmed to me on a regular basis. I could write pages about this lesson, but I will keep it short with just my “artist cup” story. My cup was a (no snickering now) Coronation Street mug that was bought as a gift for me when I visited Granada Studios 20 years ago (and I still love Corrie to this day...) I kept it at my mother’s house and it was MY mug for MY tea. One day I went to visit my Mum and I couldn’t find my mug. I asked where it was and she told me she broke it. She became all flustered telling me how it just slipped out of her hands, and she didn't know how it happened, and she would buy me another mug, etc. etc. I was a bit peeved when I first heard it was gone, but then when I saw how upset and worried my Mum became when she told me the mug was broken, I realized that no mug – or anything else for that matter - was worth having someone I love get upset over. I let go of that mug, and a lot of other things over the years, because when it comes right down to it, we all know what's really important. Anyway, that’s just my “mug” story.
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Comment by Nicole Umina on July 30, 2010 at 1:44am -
I like this blog Kim. and it's true. I've been letting go of things all my life - we moved around alot when i was growing up - so as an adult i did the same. When I moved to Scotland - I left behind my country, my friends, family, my much loved cat, I came over with a few clothes and my passport and books. My books were about the only thing i kept a hold of. I even left behind my dream of a fine arts degree, i was just starting my second year. that was the hardest thing to let go of.
I'm not sure I would call it liberating - it was just something i have always done. I guess there is a freedom in that in itself. I'm the kind of person that can at any time go - I'm moving state, I'm moving country - I'm quiting my job - I'm starting over again. Just like that. It always scared my parents and i dare say it still does. But then they did the same. Nothing is permanent - everything is fluid - we don't have roots, we aren't trees.
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Comment by Greef on July 30, 2010 at 1:20am -
Wonderful Blog Kim, believe every word! So true. Thanks for posting it to remind so many of us!
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