Cemeteries and churches have always been my thing (along with castles and ruins of all sorts) I've always had a fixation about old churches, castles, cemeteries and memorials, both intentional and accidental. I don't know why, but I think it allows me to connect somehow with the people who have walked a similar path to me and who have experience to share. I have always found it sad and frustrating that we (as a society) don't connect to the wealth of wisdom that surrounds us on a daily basis. We lock up our elders in aged care facilities and forget them and yet when they die, we sensationalise their lives and speak of them as if they were saints. We forget that they were normal people like us with the same faults and foibles. We miss the opportunity to learn from their hard earned wisdom.
And so, I hang around in falling down churches and cemeteries where I can see, hear and feel the stories of my elders, my ancestors. If only we could collectively open our eyes, our ears and our hearts on a daily basis and connect with the wisdom and experience of those older people in our community NOW, before the opportunity is lost and we find ourselves hoping that we can connect to the spirit of those who have preceded us by traipsing around the ruins that represent lives lived long ago. Mind you, I've got to say, I find great comfort in those old places. Listening to the voices, reading the stories and feeling the presence of people long gone. I only hope that one day, in the distant future, someone will sit by my grave and wonder who I was............ and that I will be able to leave some sort of imprint on their life as those who have gone before have left on me.
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