Thursday, April 9, 2015

I am yours, just a dream (Fleetwood Mac)

As you know, I'm a big fan of Occam's razor

William of Ockham (c.1287–1347) was an English Franciscan friar, philosopher and theologian. His day of commemoration is, coincidentally, 10 April (also two whanau members, Denene and Suzanne's birthdays).

The widespread lay person's maxim that "the simplest explanation is usually the correct one" appears to have been derived from Occam's Razor. Wozza's take on this is: the simplest solution is usually the correct one.

Life is simple when you allow the most important things to dictate. 

My 2004 calendar has St. Francis of Assisi's quote: Start by doing what's necessary, then what's possible, and suddenly you're doing the impossible

[I've posted on this before - http://wozzasplace.blogspot.co.nz/2014/03/start-by-doing-whats-necessary-then.html]

This quote makes sense to me now. The key to it is in that first bit - 'start by doing what's necessary'. In a moment of great clarity I know exactly what that is. Once you've figured that bit out, everything else falls into place.

I love it when an epiphany sits me on my ass.

That calendar includes another quote I love by Vernon Howard - You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need. 

[I've also posted on it before - http://wozzasplace.blogspot.co.nz/2014/06/you-have-succeeded-in-life-when-all-you.html]

Recently, all of this came to mind when I began to think about my possessions.

If you had to pack up in a hurry and had only one suitcase (total weight about 25 kg) to include what you need: your clothes and the things that are most important to you, what would you include?

These are the kinds of things I think about from time to time.

Here are the first things I pack:
  • A spoon that used to belong to the US navy, then my dad 
  • A framed photo from my parents' wedding 
  • My ipod and Klipsch ipod dock (I need immediate access hence the dock) 
  • Arsenal and Beatle ties 
  • That 2004 desktop calendar
That's it!

There are plenty of other things I'd want but those are the things I need to include.

Everything I am staring at right now - my books, records, CDs, DVDs...wanted but not needed.

Necessary and needed. A good mantra!

The spoon? It's the emotional investment I have in it. It connects me to important things.

Love and peace - Wozza

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