Comments on: Guest post: Family, by Kurt Vonnegut http://www.persephonearbour.com/guest-post-family-by-kurt-vonnegut/ Conscious Ageing – the grand adventure? Sun, 08 Jan 2012 14:49:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: James E. Bonser http://www.persephonearbour.com/guest-post-family-by-kurt-vonnegut/comment-page-1/#comment-3103 James E. Bonser Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:25:27 +0000 http://www.persephonearbour.com/?p=1049#comment-3103 I must confess I do like writing these comments. I have just read the above passage, and found it to be amusing, whilst at the same time sad. Why sad? Sad that we need so many other people to make our lives function. Sad that we are not enough in ourselves. Even when we seek out a lover - we are not enough. Sad because at one time in our life, we were the center of all the attention. As the years pass by, that focus is then shifted to the next generation, and for some of us, even further than that. I worked for a short while in an elderly people's home, and was surprised to see just how few times those old people were visited by their closest family. Some were visited as little as twice a year. Your extended family, as is mentioned, is something you can be born with or that can be created from choice. Or, you can simply look within to discover all that exists, that will ever be needed, such as love, joy, fulfillment, tears and happiness, reside within you. Nothing like this exists outside of yourself. Your extended family exists for everyone, all you have to do is surrender to it. I must confess I do like writing these comments. I have just read the above passage, and found it to be amusing, whilst at the same time sad. Why sad? Sad that we need so many other people to make our lives function. Sad that we are not enough in ourselves. Even when we seek out a lover – we are not enough. Sad because at one time in our life, we were the center of all the attention. As the years pass by, that focus is then shifted to the next generation, and for some of us, even further than that.

I worked for a short while in an elderly people’s home, and was surprised to see just how few times those old people were visited by their closest family. Some were visited as little as twice a year. Your extended family, as is mentioned, is something you can be born with or that can be created from choice. Or, you can simply look within to discover all that exists, that will ever be needed, such as love, joy, fulfillment, tears and happiness, reside within you. Nothing like this exists outside of yourself. Your extended family exists for everyone, all you have to do is surrender to it.

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