BUILDING BRIDGES

This is on my mind this week…..

I think that we need to be building bridges rather than putting up walls to keep people out. Are we building bridges or putting up walls?  I am doing both but I am trying to build bridges!

Except if I don’t get treated well, I put up a wall and block that person.  Oops!

Welllllll…. Let’s think about it.

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A thought!

“The TRUTH is, that all of the ‘STUFF’ here on earth we work so hard to buy and accumulate … does not mean a thing.

At the end of the day … people will be cleaning out our ‘STUFF’, going through our ‘STUFF’, figuring out what to do with all of our ‘STUFF’…

This ‘STUFF’ we’ve accumulated in our life.

The only thing of VALUE that remains, are the MEMORIES and what we deposit into others.

May we all learn to spend less time accumulating ‘STUFF’ and spend way more time making MEMORIES. Build a bridge!

—————

Another thought…..The impasse du Labrador, Paris 15th, an authentic charm

The impasse du Labrador is a street in the 15th arrondissement of Paris. 

It is well hidden in the middle of the streets of this district which is part of the Petite Ceinture area.

The Petite Ceinture is a 32 km long railway line built around Paris during the Second Empire (1852-1869). This railway line carried passengers until 1934 and goods until the end of the 1970s. Today it is no longer in service and has been transformed into a green space. When you walk around this famous Petite Ceinture, you may come across some delightful streets or dead ends, like the impasse du Labrador. 

In this beautiful impasse du Labrador, you don’t really feel in Paris anymore. The calm, the birds singing, the gates behind which you can see large gardens… There is also this little house in yellow tones which contrasts with the buildings.

Build a bridge! YES!!!!

———

Could not believe I’d hear from you as it has been so many years.  Iit’s only since Steve passed away that you have rekindled connections with your immediate family , culminating in your son visiting Nice a few years ago . To suppose that the family have ‘ abandoned ‘ you because of brain damage, might be true , but I think not . YOU from what you told me , gave up on them well before that . Not my business but maybe an idea to build on what you achieved only recently

Your soul knows what you need. It knows which way to go. Listen carefully to those uneasy feelings you get. Those are signs. Notice headaches, and if your gut hurts or when you’re extra tired. Certain relationships will become draining. Or you’ll notice you’ve become addicted to their recognition and validation so much that you forget your internal compass. Your soul knows this and will relentlessly steer you to your true path. 

You will likely need to leave a few folks behind because they’ve clipped your wings with assumptions and labels. You’ve played the game for so long that they see you through their eyes, and it isn’t pretty. It’s tinted with pity, envy, jealousy, or anger. This is a sneaky, sticky form of dominance to keep you small. It will hurt when you recognize this, but staying will keep you trapped, and you’ll hurt more.

Once you leave the relationship, end the dependency, and clear your path of distractions, it will be freeing and confusing. There might be a lot of self-doubt because it is so uncomfortable. Until it isn’t. Clarity has a sound of joy. Life will be brighter. Dreams will return. Sleep will be deeper. You will grow new feathers as you heal. New connections will find you as your soul shines true. You are no longer a grain of sand lost on a beach. You’ve set sail to a new land. This is soul speak. It is real. You are real. You are a masterpiece. Let no one take that from you. Believe. Listen. And trust your soul. You think you are better than most people because you live in Paris but you are not!!!!

Oops. Build a wall!  Block???

Another thought ……

10 Deep Psychology And Philosophy Quotes From “Carl Jung”

1. “The world will ask you who you are, and if you don’t know, the world will tell you.”

2. “If a man knows more than others, he becomes lonely.”

3. “Everything that irritates us about others can lead to an understanding of ourselves.”

4. “Life really does begin at forty. Up until then, you are just doing research.”

5. “You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.”

6. “Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darkness of other people.”

7. “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate

8. “Be grateful for your difficulties and challenges, for they hold blessings.

(In fact… Man needs difficulties; they are necessary for healthy personal growth, individuation, and self-actualization.)

9. “Everyone you meet knows something you don’t know but

 need to know. Learn from them.”

10. “I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.”

Wellllll

I am going to try to become a person who build bridges but it is not easy for me.. it’s easy to always build walls.

Paris has lots of bridges .  People leave but come back- like a magnet. 

Paris is now my home. And I will leave you with this piece that I love.

I counted my years and found that I have less time to live from here on than I have lived up to now.

I feel like that child who won a packet of sweets: he ate the first with pleasure, but when he realized that there were few left, he began to enjoy them intensely.

I no longer have time for endless meetings where statutes, rules, procedures and internal regulations are discussed, knowing that nothing will be achieved.

I no longer have time to support the absurd people who, despite their chronological age, haven’t grown up.

My time is too short:

I want the essence,

and

My soul is in a hurry.

I don’t have many sweets In the package anymore.

I want to live next to human people, very human,

who know how to laugh at their mistakes, and who are not inflated by their triumphs, and who take on their responsibilities.

Thus human dignity is defended and we move towards truth and honesty.

It is the essential that makes life worth living.

I want to surround myself with people who know how to touch hearts, people who have been taught by the hard blows of life to grow with gentle touches of the soul.

Yes, I’m in a hurry, I’m in a hurry to live with the intensity that only maturity can give.

I don’t intend to waste any of the leftover sweets. 

I am sure they will be delicious, much more than what I have eaten so far.

My goal is to reach the end satisfied and at peace with my loved ones and my conscience.

We have two lives.  And the second begins when you realize you only have one!

~

The bridges in Paris come in handy. There are 37 of them criss-crossing the river and connecting the two sides of the city. Fortunately, in keeping with its reputation, the bridges of Paris are as beautiful as they are functional.

These are things to think about. What is easy for you? I hope you will build bridges. I am going to try.

With love from Paris,

Best, Jay