The Beauty of Life In What We Give

Salmon Creek Beach/N. California/Photo by Gaye Abbott

“Life is strange. We come with nothing and fight for everything, and in the end, we leave everything and go with nothing.”

Life is a fleeting journey, a cycle of gaining and letting go. We arrive with empty hands, yet we spend our days chasing, building, and holding on, as if we can outrun time itself.

We grasp at love, success, meaning, desperate to make something of the brief moments we are given.

And yet, no matter how much we gather, there comes a day when we must release it all. But perhaps the beauty of life is not in what we keep, but in what we give, in the love we share, the kindness we leave behind, the lives we touch along the way ..” ~Antoinette Sallit

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This morning at my favorite community coffee shop a woman I know stood up and asked me for a hug. As we hugged she asked me the question, “how are you today?” I replied that at this stage of life I have learned to celebrate every morning when I wake up as it means I have one more day of embodied moments to explore, love, connect, share and create.

This could be my last day here, but being fully present in that hug, in that moment, was a gift, given and received. Simple.

Many conversations here in the U.S. now are about the less than welcome changes that are happening because of the present administration. An antidote to those often endless fear and anger based conversations can be to attend to extending love, compassion, deep listening, humor, kindness, creativity and acknowledgement in the moments given to us.

“In truth, we’re just passing through and before you know it, we will all be ancestors. May we not forget everything is temporary. What do we want to leave in our place?” Mary Morgaine Squire

To be part of a “gift economy” where prosperity grows from the flow of relationships, and where the currency of being in those relationships is expressed in gratitude, interdependence and reciprocity – not the accumulation of goods. Where wealth is having enough to share and “making good relationships with the human and more than human world is the primary currency of well being.” (Robin Wall Kimmerer/The Serviceberry)

This week a beloved friend and I talked about making a positive difference and the ways in which we can contribute to that. She shared with me about a stack of 3 x 5 cards she has at home with a rubber band around it. On each of these cards is the name and contact information of someone who has been in her life over the years and has made an impact on her, the community, the natural world in a myriad of ways.

Each week she chooses the card on top and from a selection of greeting cards she has writes a personal message acknowledging this person and the contributions they have made and sends it off in the mail. In a time when most everything is digital – text, email etc – a personally written card has the potential to touch someone deeply making them feel seen and acknowledged for who they are.

That they are loved and thought of. That they have made a difference.

It seems vastly important that there is tangible proof we are making a difference, a positive difference. That someone has noticed a special contribution made and are grateful for that.

That we are loved….and that we have loved well.

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“When we lose someone we love, we suddenly feel free to speak beautiful, flowery sentiments of gratitude, affection and admiration; words that we’ve kept bottled-up for years. And now that we’re finally ready to say them, they can’t be heard by the person who needs to hear it most. Let’s not wait for another funeral to tell someone how much we love them. Time is startlingly short – let’s give eulogies to the living – memorialise them face-to-face. Speak all the words of love, to those we love. Say everything while they can still hear. Let’s celebrate life and those who matter in our lives, every day! This film, which chronicles how the global Gracenotes movement began, tells the story of the first Grace note that Andrea ever wrote, a eulogistic tribute to her father. “

Featuring Andrea Driessen (www.AndreaDriessen.com and http://www.Grace-Notes.org) Filmed in Seattle, USA. Watch her TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/andrea_drie…

All of our films are made possible through the generous support of our patrons. To be part of this journey :   / reflectionsoflife   If you’d prefer to make once off contribution, our PayPal details are : paypal.me/reflectionsfilms Join our YouTube channel to get early access to our films :    / @reflectionsoflife  

Who is Reflections of Life? We are Justine and Michael (previously known as Green Renaissance). We use our passion for film making and our love of storytelling, to remind our audience of one simple truth – that we are all human. The more that we understand and believe in this interconnectedness, the more we will treat ourselves, one another, and planet earth with a greater sense of compassion.

Filming – by Michael Raimondo Editing – by Justine du Toit Sound mix – by Tamryn Breakey

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Gaye Abbott, Wildly Free Elder, 04/15/25