Thursday, June 9, 2011

Spread Love - Make Tea Not War.


To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, that is genius. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Prompt by Eric Handler
What is burning deep inside of you? If you could spread your personal message RIGHT NOW to 1 million people, what would you say?


Today blends with yesterday. Why dwell in the past? To tell the story of a man and a woman thrown together by fate, or of a family suffering shame over a favorite son's mistakes, one generation after the other. Are we talking history on a personal level? That can't be enough. What is it that needs to be shared? Zeitgeist? The post-war idealism that called for possibilities allowing artists to create without having to work an evil day job? How about the skeletons the couple thinks to leave behind in the city, when they move to the country? Face your demons, one way or another, sooner or later, here or there. Might as well sit down and sit back and let the good times roll.


What I really want you to know is that that telling a child stories only meant for grown-up ears ruins her childhood. That taking away everything she cares for, everything she loves, to save her the anguish of loss does not work. And isn't  all this about remembrance and forgiveness, and ultimately love? 



My message right now: 
Put the kettle on, spread love, make tea, not war —Memento Mori.


This work by by Judith van Praag is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

5 comments:

Gary D said...

What a lovely photograph. Where is this?

Judith van Praag said...

Thanks Gary! Wish I remember where I took that picture. Looks like it might be the Strait of Juan de Fuca seen from the bluff at Fort Worden, in Port Townsend.

Michi said...

Yes, Judith, let's put the kettle on and make tea, not war! /Michi

Nina said...

I'm really enjoying your expanding on your and your family's stories. Thank you! and I love the way you've delineated out the quotes and the prompts - brilliant!

Judith van Praag said...

Thank you Nina! I've been absent from the challenge for a while, but may look into a few of the prompts for the sake of continuation of course, triggered by your lovely comment!