Advance and Retreat

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dsc07722

Advance and Retreat

The farther we grow apart,
every time we try once more to merge,
the hastier the retreat must be
back to ourselves.
But still we try, over and over,
little incursions, trying to find
a level meeting place more suited
for festivities than battle.
We work our whole lives to become ourselves,
yet must regret losing those less-finished times
when we all floundered together,
no one right enough or formed enough
to be sure they were right.
Every step forward is
a step away from something else.
Every progress a departure, as well.

The prompt word today is “retreat.”

18 thoughts on “Advance and Retreat”

  2. Allenda Moriarty

    Nesting in the house today and enjoying doing a few little chores while still savoring some of the delicious temnants from Christmas that have managed to survive our appetites. Hope to acclimate Tony’s pig to the family room today. It has been resting in the living room gazing at the tree after hiding in my closet since The Monte Sano Art Fair. Speaking of the fair, I think of you every time I walk down the hall past your surprise photo from the fair. Muchas gracias otra vez. Hope you are having a dear time with your friends and are recovering nicely from your fall.

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    1. lifelessons Post author

      I had forgotten about both the big and the photo that reminded me of your fast progress as an artist. Did T. love the pig? I think of you every time I go out to my back yard! Gorgeous weather here.. although a bit nippy tonight. About to go into the pool. oxox

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      1. Allenda Moriarty

        Yes, he did. Since one of the nicknames I had for Tony was Piglet, I couldn’t resist bringing that oinker home from the fair. We hung it above that exercise bar, HA, in the family room. The only time it is used is when I hold on to it to bend over and plug in the vaccuum, or more likely, T’s computer, in the outlet behind that brown leather chair. Appropriate placement. Maybe it will motivate me. Oink!

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  5. Anton Wills-Eve

    Judy, few people can have advanced reflectively further than I have this year, but beating a terminal prognosis by two months now while welcoming twin great grandchldren into my life has given me more and stonger reasons to want to hang around for as long as I can to try to ensure they grow up in as pleasant a world as possible. I can’t turn off their access to social media explicit porn at a very young age, but I hope I can make sure it doesn’t dominate their formative years to the exclusion of having a happy teenage life as opposed to the equivalent drug run world which ruined so many of the youth of the 80’s & 90’s; is that retreating positively? Remembering a world I was never part of because I was too old and scared to have exprienced but fought against to protect my children and grandchildren? My next personal goal is to reach my 75th birthday next May and get my wife and I well enough to spend it with the family in Italy and then cheer up my Trump depressed cousins in Caifornia, Pensylvania and Indiana. But a really great retreat forward would be to pole vaut that wall into Mexico 🙂 love Anton

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    1. carol1945

      Anton, I know exactly what you are saying here. I am 71, and I am appalled by what my grandchildren will be exposed to; they are only 2,4, and 6 but before long they will hear the hateful lyrics of rap. No more songs like “Where have all the flowers gone?” I listen to this song and I think of how hopeful we all were in our youth. How innocent we were before people we knew got into drugs and sex, and that became a lifestyle for them. I luckily escaped it, but you know, kids are so influenced by their peers and by musical idols, it scares me. I wish you every bit of luck with your illness, even though I do not know you at all. I only saw your post here.

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  6. Anton Wills-Eve

    how kind of you Carol. Judy’s wonderful site introduces so many of us to each other in this digital world mankind has invented. I am very grateful for your comments and I know Judy would bear me out when I say I have no intention of giving in to my cancer when there is so much still to be done in our world. If you want to follow a fuller history of my fortunate and very unusual life I blog on word press as ‘Anton’s Ideas’. Have a great 2017.

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  8. Leland Olson Hoel

    Anton, you sum things up quite well. Much better than I could ever do, I have learned quite a bit since I started visiting Judy’s site. I believe she’s the first schoolteacher I’ve learned anything from, because I never paid attention before. I just turned 76, I have a great grandson who was active in athletics, an outstanding student in high school. He left for college and was headed straight for HELL within six months. I cannot believe this world we are living in! He has gotten himself turned around with the support of a a lot of family members. Happy New Year to you all and above all stay well. Try to remain positive, just keep on keeping on.

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    1. lifelessons Post author

      Well, Leland, both you and Anton have given the best gift you could give to a writer or a friend, and that is your kind attention. I wish you both the best in the New Year. I, too, love this little community we have established through our blogs. My friends went home today but some friends remain right here on our computer pages. Happy New Year to all.. xoxo

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