Leaving a Mark

Is there anyone out there who doesn’t want to leave their own individual mark in the world? There are the literal marks, like the graffiti I saw in New York.

And I’ve found this Electric Man on a few utility boxes around town. We’re not quite as colorful or imaginative in the burbs.

And I pass by this reminder to “Think” every time I get a craving for real coffee at work and walk to the coffee shop a block away. Hmmm, both of these appear to have light bulbs. There could be some kind of cyberspace, secret message there…

Then there are creative marks. I love this old-style bike and it’s spider web on the back wheel.

Some people view their mark on this world as their children. While some of us who are a bit handicapped in the parenting area just do the best we can and hope our children grow up more capable than we did.

There are those who battle not to leave a mark — environmentally speaking. Even in this desire, there is still the mark of making the world a better place to live.  

I wonder if this desire to leave our mark is driven by another desire — to have mattered. In my darker moments, I am convinced that I could disappear without a blip, that, if anything, the world would have been a better place without me. Java doesn’t think much of this line of thinking…

It brings to mind the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.” It would be helpful to have a glimpse of how our existence has made a difference — in ways we’re not aware of — to people we know and those we have never met.

Regardless of whether we know our place in this world or not, mostly I think we keep trying to be a light and not a leech of suckage. Generally, at least in my case, we end up being a bit of both and have to forgive ourselves for those times when our best foot is not the one we step out with.

We hope that others forgive us too, but at some point, we have to let go of any need for forgiveness from anyone other than ourselves. Shame and guilt are not steps towards self-improvement. But a smile might be…

It was a quiet weekend. The biggest event was coffee Saturday morning with a friend. Getting to know her has left a good mark on me. She has gotten me to think about many things from a different perspective. I have a feeling that I am going in the right direction. Right Latte?

Sunday morning there were spiced pumpkin pancakes, topped with cinnamon maple yogurt (I used my homemade plain yogurt versus the Greek yogurt). So good! And the house smelled liked pumpkin pie all day.

The rest of the weekend was a time to rest and write and walk the dogs and be thankful, rather than afraid, of an unexpected turn of events. They leave a mark, yes indeed. Whether the mark is good or bad depends on what we make of it.

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6 Comments

  1. a very, very thoughtful post. Sure hit home about hoping our kids grow up more capable than we did … and that’s a great photo!
    Love your pups and love that bike, too!! Hope your week is going smoothly.

  2. What a thought-provoking post you’ve created here. With so very many of us in this world, it’s hard to imagine that every single one of us will leave an indelible “mark” upon the world…however, having said that, I also believe that every single one of us has a lot more impact than we’ll ever realize. Self-worth is important, but caring about someone else’s feelings more than ourselves is even more valuable, especially in the selfish, self-centered world in which we live today. A kind gesture, a smile, a loving word spoken to another person, or animal is something that is priceless, and we’ll never truly know its’ value to someone else. Does that even matter? The act of kindness is what matters, the randomness of the act, expecting nothing in return, is at the core, the value. It’s a Wonderful Life is one of my all-time favorite movies because it is simple, honest, selfless and gives me a glimpse of the “what if” I never existed? We all have value. And, I believe that someday when this world has ended, those of us who are blessed to meet up in heaven with our Creator, we will have those elusive answers. That is something of value to strive for, and gives us a solid foundation for doing good, wherever we may be. I do however, disagree with you on one very critical issue…about forgiveness. Forgiveness is vital, but not from anyone else, or even from ourselves, but from our Creator. He is who we strive for forgiveness from. And all we have to do is ask, and be sincere in our asking, and a true desire to be better. Grace. Such a simple, but the most important concept there ever was. Nice post…blessings, Lorie @ cingspots

  3. Susan – It’s a slow moving work week so far. I’m hoping to slide on to the weekend!

    Lorie – Thanks for you thought-filled comment. I know some of the kind words of support people have given me have made a world of difference, much more of a difference I’m sure than they are aware of. This makes me think we should verbalize more often our gratitude.

    On the forgiveness, maybe I’ll post more on that next week as I’ve tried to explain it here and it got too long and complicated and I was afraid I’d be misunderstood. Right now I’m in a transition that feels too fragile to take in words that would make me doubt my gut feeling about what I need. So I’ll hold off for now until I can figure out a way to not sound like a lunatic. Or maybe I’ll take the risk of being seen that way because where I’m at right now, I’m almost to the point that I could take that. Maybe…

  4. I love your thoughts about this. I think that many of us make bigger marks than we know… And, you’re right – we need to tell people more often what a difference they’ve made in our lives.

    I’ve been in a state of turmoil. Forgiving oneself is so important but also so hard. I am quite capable of blaming myself for things that I couldn’t possibly have controlled. Have you ever read about mindfulness and meditation? Learning about that was a turning point in my life, I thought. Being “mindful” of what the dialogue in my head is saying helps me to acknowledge it and move on…

    Anyway, take care during your transition. I’m sorry that I’ve been such a bad correspondent. Between K’s illness, K’s death, R’s illness, and the surprise of Shyla’s very bad upbringing, I’ve fallen off the radar at various times. Sorry about that.

  5. KB – I understand. A few things have kept me from getting around to people as much as I’d like to also. And yes, I have been reading quite a bit about mindfulness and meditation. I need to put what I’ve learned into practice now.

  6. Hi Maery! I finally took a few minutes in the craziness of trailer training, new doggies, and getting ready to move and just sat down to catch up on a few blogs. This one post in particular caught my eye! For what it is worth-you have made a mark in my heart and in my mind 🙂 I think about you often! Meeting you was such a high point for me-you have such a humble lovely way about you that is full of grace and beauty-and you don’t seem to even realize it which makes you even more sweet 🙂

    I guess that’s all I wanted to say-if you suddenly left this world there Woukd be MANY blips and MUCH heartbreak for those who would miss you!

    Sending lots of love and thanks for being in my world 🙂
    Xoxo
    Suebeedoo

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