Today is the 20th of December 2014. Seven days till, I embark on my life affirming adventure. Having lots of “catch ups” and farewell drinks, Christmas is next week and everyone is under massive pressure to “get ready for the Christmas break”. Its truly amazing to see what was at one point in the history of the world, a nouveau slant on Ancient northern hemispherical calendar practices, now an excuse for a comingling of consumer and capitalist greed.
All in the spirit of “giving”.
I was at Elite cycles in Beaufort street in Northbridge, Perth, Western Australia, having my bike serviced and tweaked in preparation for next week. (A massive thank to all the staff, you guys are awesome, thank you for helping me make this happen)
I had an hour to kill, so I wandered over to the park and sat under some beautiful old trees and watched the world race by me. The only other person I saw, staying still, was a 60 something homeless man. He was dressed in what looked like his old tradesmans work blues. No shoes and very minimal personal effects. It was lunchtime, many people came out of everywhere to catch a quick bite and some harsh 39 degree summer sun, before heading to work again. No one saw this man, trying to stay cool, except for one woman. She had wandered to the park, strolled around and away again. She strolled back about ten minutes later, with a cooked chicken from Woolworths and a large 2L bottle of water. She strolled over to the elderly man, squatted down, talked with him and gave him the food. Both were smiling as she walked away in the midday heat. He ate the whole chicken, with gusto!
I watched the crows frolic in the shade, pecking around, eating what they found and sharing it with each other.
Think on this, O gentle reader…
We are the only animals on earth that procure food to horde it and then sell it back to each other. WHY?
Paraphrasing Mark Boyle from his TedX seminar:
“Prostitution is to sex, what buying and selling is to the acts of giving and receiving.”
For the second time in two years, I am giving away almost everything I own and now reducing my possessions to what I can carry on a bike. I know as my confidence in my innate abilities as a Natural Person rises to the fore, my reliance on “things” will reduce. I still aim to give as freely as I receive.
Giving and receiving are two points on a spectrum of part of the human experience of social interactions.
What do you receive by giving?
Smoky Ranger
The saga of Smoky Ranger 