What is the right way to look at the past? Note: cover art is the cover to my autobiography to aged 11. Written at 13. It was called ‘Deep Roots’ and got a mark of 49 9/10 out of 50 (they did traditional fractions in those days)
What is the right way to look at the past? Note: cover art is the cover to my autobiography to aged 11. Written at 13. It was called ‘Deep Roots’ and got a mark of 49 9/10 out of 50 (they did traditional fractions in those days)
Really enjoyed this, Ant, but disagree with most of the points you make. I consider the past alive within me because it impacts each day on my emotions. I live with the past so it exists, and shapes my dreams and future actions. I know we are talking semantics but your “perspective” does not match with how I feel about the past. You mentioned “perspective” but didn’t refer to how destiny (the future) impacts immensely on our own interpretation of the past. Fate (the past) and destiny exist together to defined and shake our present. This is why prophets had some success. They have a deeper knowledge of time and its circular nature as well as the living link between time zones. All imo, but very interesting. 😃
Nice 👌🏻. Well spoken, as always, and it was interesting to hear of your teacher’s reaction to your autobiography. Maybe I’m taking it all too literally, but in one sense I disagree: that the past does not exist — it does, somewhere deep within our consciousnesses, shaping us, forming our thoughts, opinions, reactions, whether we are aware or not. Triggers can bring pages — or chapters — from the library of our past to a level of remembrance, and from there we can either read them or put them back on the shelf, meh, don’t want to go there today. Then there are still other tomes that remain buried on the deepest, darkest corner shelf, dusty and forgotten, that will never see the light. But even those are not gone entirely; they’re still somewhere deep within.
🤔…
I am still pondering whether the past doesn’t exist. A moot point. Your words also bring to mind that famous saw ( by Shaw?): The lesson we learn from history is that we don’t learn the lesson from history.