Regardless of where I go, I hear them.
They are like mirrors that reflect back what they see,
- like tones that ring through the ears,
- like feathers that caress the hands,
- like the wind that brushes the face.
The things we say leave behind echoes. How we act or react to someone, some event, some occurrence leaves an echo that follows us through life. Many of us discover this when we look at the people that have followed in our footsteps.
- The neglected child who neglects,
- the neighbor who never has time,
- the partner that refuses our overtures of tenderness;
- the friend who has been ignored.
These are all echoes that leave behind inharmonic traces of bridges burned.
Sure, some friendships are not destined to last forever; some children feel neglected because of their own inability to give love; some neighbors are not our cup of tea for good reasons; some partners' brutality, whether mental or physical, have destroyed our trust; some friends are better off not having in our lives, but still these are echoes. However, these echoes stop when we decisively walk away from them. They become impotent.
Echoes, can you hear them?
The warmth of the woman turned mother as she mirrors the love her mother gave her to her own child;
The support of a friend who shares his or her daily bread with you;
The neighbor who shed tears at your kindness in their time of sorrow;
The partner who climaxes in shared sexual intimacy that restores.
These are all echoes that leave behind harmonious traces of bridges that have been built and are standing solid like unmovable rocks.
Echoes of life define the harmonies within us and paint the relationships we have with our partners, families, friends, neighbors, colleagues and with the world around us.
The echo,
My echo,
Your echo,
And turns into echoes of our lives.
Listen!
Do you hear it?
It's your echo.
What echoes are you leaving behind?
Ciao,
Pat Garcia
I can only hope that I have made the bad echoes impotent. Let the good ones, the kindnesses and compassion ring on, loud and clear! Let me hear it again and again myself as it echoes from me throughout the canyon into the hearts of those oppressed! Good choice on a word, Pat!! I am very proud of you! Have a very blessed evening! I love you!
ReplyDeleteHi My Dear,
DeleteThank you, I wish you a very nice evening. I was thinking about you as I wrote this post. I read your letter to your daughter and that touched me deeply. They were loving and sincere words from the heart that I am sure your daughter will pass on to your granddaughter.
Love you, Lady.
Shalom
Pat
Pat, I'm applauding you. I LOVED this post as it is sooo very true. Hopefully, I have changed my own echoes, but now I'm faced with those of others. I have shared your post on Facebook as they are such excellent words of advice.
ReplyDeleteHi My Dear Friend,
DeleteThank you and let me say here that I applaud you also. You are so patience to listen to me as I work through some of my inner most beliefs and for that I am thankful.
Ciao,
Pat
This is great, Pat. I think it's the finest thing you've written, both sage and lyrical.
ReplyDeleteHello My Dear Friend,
DeleteThank you. You are a true poet and coming from you, that means much too me. Thank you also for your loyal support.
Ciao,
Pat
I really love this, Pat. I think it's the finest thing you've written, that I've seen so far; it's both very sage and very lyrical.
ReplyDeleteHow true that everything echoes Patricia! Good, bad, indifference. The energy of whatever it is, is never lost - it may transform but it is never lost. This is how it is with an echo as well, as you so poignantly describe.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what echoes I have left behind? This is an important question you have posed to us. I will reflect on this and try to do better in everything that I do .. so that the echo that bounces back is a good one.
A beautiful post thank you!
Hello My Dear Friend,
DeleteThank you. I too ask myself every now and then when I go through my own self examination, what are the echoes that I am leaving behind. I must admit, I have left some bad or erroneous echoes too, but I have matured and grown through divine revelation and these echoes have become impotent in my life. For that I am thankful.
Ciao,
Patricia
Love these thoughts on echoes . . . I hope the echoes I leave behind are positive, warm ones.
ReplyDeleteHi,
DeleteThank you for visiting my blog and I hope also that your echoes are positive and warm.
Ciao,
Patricia
Hi Sis, Well what can I say? It is beautiful, I think you've really hit your niche here, beautiful.
ReplyDeleteBro
My Dear Brother,
DeleteThank you. You are so supportive of me and I want you to know that I appreciate it dearly.
Sending you and Lorelle my love.
Ciao,
Patti
Patricia, You have outdone yourself once again. I would say this is the best you've done yet, but I always say that and the next thing you write is even better-you are a true work in progress, ever ongoing. I get a mental picture of echoes, seeing them as footprints left behind. In sand, they are fleeting, in mud quickly washed away or dried and cracked by a hot sun. In hard earth they can remain, but faint for a time. Yet in cement, they are cast forever. I pray the bad ones I've left bad ones I've left behind fell upon sand, and the goods ones I try to leave as I grow in truth and wisdom remain as a sculpture in hard cement.
ReplyDeleteLove, Micki
My Dear Micki,
DeleteThank you. Your evaluation of my skills touched my heart. I treasure your words. It is not always easy living in a community where I am an English speaker of one and do not have the possibility of sharing my thoughts on being a writer with other English speaking writers.
So, I thank you for your loyal support, but more than that I thank your for your friendship. It means much to me.
Shalom,
Patricia
I really loved this post and I am glad I found it. I sure I hope I leave some happy echoes behind!
ReplyDeleteGood morning Megan,
DeleteThank you. That you found me makes me happy. I believe you will leave lots of happy echoes behind. The desire to leave behind a good legacy is the most important ingredient needed to make good echoes.
Ciao,
Patricia
That is a beautiful poetic essay. I love how the echo resonated in differing ways, good and bad, but both learned experiences to make us who we are.
ReplyDeleteGood morning Nancy,
DeleteThank you for the lovely compliment. I must admit that one of my mentors, Peter Marshall, who died in 1949, gave me the idea of how to write my essays. Marshall, a Scotsman, who immigrated to the United States, became Chaplain to the Senate. He also preached and lived in Atlanta, Georgia before going to Washington D.C. He wrote his sermons in such a way.
Thank you once again.
Ciao,
Patricia
Sometimes we are so lost in the echoes that we hear, we forget the ones we leave behind. A give and take is what keeps the balance going. Thank you for being the voice to remind, right now.
ReplyDeleteBlogwatiG
Hello Blogwati Gee,
DeleteThank you for visiting my blog. You are so right. A give and take is what keeps the balance going.
Nice meeting you.
Ciao,
Patricia
My dear Patti,
ReplyDeletethank you for this beautiful post. I love it and enjoyed reading it. How true it is.
Love you
Pamela
Great post! I'd like to think of the positive echoes. For example the child we help grow, the students we assist, the friend we listen to. I hope they are building "harmonious bridges" as you say.
ReplyDelete