DESIDERATA

Ik dacht hier al veel eerder aan.
Lang voordat ik mijn blog “Herfstkleuren” schreef.
Voor het eerst die bomen zag met het blad in die schitterende herfstkleuren. Herfst 1983. En vertelde dat ik die anderhalve vrije ochtend in New York had en door Lower Manhattan dwaalde.

Chinatown zag. Op zondag, winkeltjes open. Ook buiten, gewoon op straat, tegen de winkelpuien. Drommen Amerikaanse/Chinese kopers zowel binnen als buiten, bij het goud vooral. Maar wat ik ook zag, toen, voor het eerst van mijn leven, dat waren, in een groentenstalletje, de kleinste (alfalfa-) en de grootste (giga-) taugé’s. Prachtig! Vanuit Chinatown door Little Italy gedwaald. Central Park geweest. Uiteindelijk in Greenwich Village beland.
Daar was dat kleine boekwinkeltje. Wat souvenirs, o.a. posters. Eén sprak mij bijzonder aan: “Desiderata”. Hangt al vele jaren aan de muur. Eerst op kantoor. Daarna meteen thuis, nog steeds, boven mijn werktafel.

Zie onder, blijft in het Engels, dan verliest het geen authenticiteit. En deze intro volgt hieronder nogmaals, in het Engels, voor familie en vrienden die het Nederlands niet (meer / zo) machtig zijn.

Wat iemand toen uitsprak – in 1692 ! – geldt nog steeds. Voor mij zeker. Nu, ruim drie eeuwen later! Vooral het tweede deel spreekt mij persoonlijk aan, zeker het slot! Ouder worden, ouder zijn betekent voor mij een zich steeds verkleinende horizon, er verandert zo veel, er verdwijnt en verdwijnen heel veel uit je leven.
Er komt een moment dat je denkt... en Peggy Lee zong het: “Is that all there is?”

Maar toch! Ik heb er nog steeds plezier in. Ben bezig. Partner. Vrienden. Hobby’s!
Die vullen zeker je dagen. Bezoekje, belletje, e-mail.
Eindelijk weer een spiegelreflex. Muziek bijeenharken. Nu mp3 (foei!). Ach, ook mijn gehoor is niet meer wat het geweest is. Puin ruimen in je pc, op orde brengen, sorteren, van XP tot Vista. In huis is dat veel moeilijker, ik bewáár van alles zo graag...
Genoeg. Terug naar nu. Naar gisteren. Naar morgen:

For fam and friends all over the world, I am translating my intro. Possibly not in the best of English... American? Well, I managed communicating, bring across whatever I had to say & explain, managed to sell my technical goodies in Dutch, Indonesian, English-American, even in French and German. Here comes:
I already thought about this long ago. A long time before my blog “Herfstkleuren”. Went by car through New Jersey to New York. Saw for the first time those trees with leaves so beautifully coloured. In the fall of 1983. And that on this Sunday, I was free a whole morning, plus a few more hours. So I wandered through Lower Manhattan, Chinatown, small shops open. Also outside on the sidewalks against the shopfronts. Crowds of American-Chinese shoppers, mainly around the gold. What I also saw, for the first time in my life, in a small veggy foodstall: the smallest and also the biggest bean-sprouts ever! Wonderful! From Chinatown into Little Italy. Central Park. Finally Greenwich Village.
There was this small bookshop. Some souvenirs, and posters. One poster appealed to me a great deal: “Desiderata”. Have it on my wall for many years now. At first in my office. Immediately afterwards at home, still there, over my desk.

And then, what someone said – back in 1692! – is still valid. For me anyhow. Today, many centuries later! Especially the second part touches me, in particular the end. Getting old, being old, is to me like a continuously narrowing horizon, so many changes, so much & many disappearing from your life.
There comes this moment... like Peggy Lee sang: “Is that all there is?”
Still. Life still appeals to me. I am busy: Partner. Friends. Hobbies.
Keep me busy every day.
Visits, phone-calls, E-mail. Have a SLR again, at long last. Harvesting music: mp3 now (naughty, naughty!). Alas, my ear is not what it used to be. Clear up the rubble in my pc, from XP to Vista, try and sort things out. In the house that is much more difficult, I do love to keep things...
Enough. Back to now. To yesterday. To tomorrow:


“DESIDERATA”

GO PLACIDLY AMID THE NOISE & HASTE, & REMEMBER WHAT PEACE THERE MAY BE IN SILENCE. AS FAR AS POSSIBLE WITHOUT surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.

<<>> Avoid loud & aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with other you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

<<>> Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

<<>> Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity & disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.

<<>> Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

<<>> You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees & the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

<<>> Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors & aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

<<>> With all its sham, drudgery & broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be careful. Strive to be happy.

<<>>


Found in old Saint Paul’s Church, Baltimore; dated 1692.