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Ireland, Spring 2011. Photo by M. Ionescu
Hello! Welcome to The Collected Life, a magical place of ponderment, kittens, vintage love, adventuring, family and friends; the stuff of life. Well, my life -- a lovingly collected life.
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I thought a good intro would be to share an article that changed my life not too long ago. This is from the May issue of Yoga Journal, 2011. It is an article on identity and how we, despite all our achievements or failures and setbacks, are perfect as we are, and how we are not the identities we or outside foreces craft for ourselves.
This un-awareness is called "avidya" (the ignorance of our understanding of self and the universe") and "vidya" is the opposite (knowledge and wisdom through experience). I won't try to sum up all the detail, but if you are interested, read the online article HERE.
Why all the fuss over an article in a flexy-bendy contortionists' magazine? Well, I had a revelation not too long ago that occurred while I was on my hands and knees on my bathroom floor.
I was cleaning and it came to me: That I would much rather be creating a pleasant living space, cleaning up fecal matter, piss spray, bacteria and hair, wiping down the toilet, bathroom floors and walls of my home... than doing what I was doing for a living.
So, I left.
And while I guess that doesn't make me a school librarian any longer (or a School Library Media Specialist for the 'official' title), it doesn't make me a failure or less of a person, despite the Masters degree and massive debt. It was an experience, one that brought me great pleasure and pain, including the photo above, from an overseas student field trip to Ireland. Good times, looking back. Most things look alright from the back. =)
What's your biggest "A-ha!" moment? (not sure I like that term, but I get what it means. I guess for me it was more like, "Jesus-Christ, what-took-me-so-long-to-figure-this-out?!!"-moment)
Hi Anne! Welcome to blogland, great to have you here, have read your posts after just finding you, love the name! I arrived here from your Etsy shop, enjoyed seeing all the vintage goods you have. Ray and I do auctions and flea markets and have been going for years. There is one we hit every monday while in Florida called Webster, massive flea market, you would love it there!
ReplyDeleteWe've had a few AHA moments in our lives too, my biggest was leaving nursing (RN) to follow my creative path and stay home to raise my children and I don't regret a single moment!