“This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. Being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it what I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”
Now while I would love to be able to write that the above words are my own, I cannot, as they were penned by famed Irish Noble Prize laureate George Bernard Shaw. I have shown, so far at least, to be incapable of mastering any high-minded thoughts into memorable prose, but that does not mean I cannot apply those words to my overall conception of how a life should be lived; one that at its end there is a continuation of Shaw’s “purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one.”
One purpose I believe to be mighty is that of volunteerism, the decision to expend one’s time and energies toward a goal or goals that benefit individuals, groups, and community. This mindset is as far as my tertiary research could reveal is universal, all peoples of the earth, from superpowers to small tribes, have a portion of their populace who step up to aid in the overall betterment of their society. In fact, many communities no matter the population or geological location would not operate as efficiently without a core of its populace involved in volunteerism in the civic arena or with professional businesses or profit and non-profit organizations.
When improvement is seen in areas ranging from citywide landscape to teen violence to historic preservation to advancing the arts and technology and beyond, it is a boon to any city enhanced by the involvement of people it does not, to put it bluntly, have to pay. Any objective evaluation of King City’s past decade and one can readily see the working relationship between a city and its volunteer corps.
Shaw tells us that for him in it a privilege to assist in the betterment of one’s community because he believes his life belongs to that community, and continues with his desire “to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live.” Because there are a couple of generations of citizens involved here in King City and at 72 years I number in the eldest category those words strike more of a chord in we seniors than it does in the teen-to-30s group, so if indeed our lives are torches to be handed down then what I see from volunteers and professionals my age and older is that our local torch burns brightly in fact and in deed.
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When there is a sizable gap in writing, no matter if poem or prose or report or speech or whatever, it can happen that the writer must go back over what is already written, and the longer the gap the less enthusiastic one is about those words. I wrote the above over a matter of four days with a recent two-day gap, ending early this Monday morn. After reading the above I thought about Byron, whom I spoke to a few months ago when he returned to KC for a visit (I don’t use last names, but there is a street in town named for his family) and he told me he reads my column but confessed “I don’t always understand it.” Well, the above is for Byron and all the others who sometimes get baffled, as do I at times, at what is written.
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I must make a correction, plead mea culpa, to information in the Aug. 7 column where I encouraged any young resident interested in getting involved in city affairs to begin looking toward the planning commission, as I was intending upon relinquishing the seat I hold when the term expired next March; I was wrong. The term expires in March 2027, so barring any unforeseen circumstances I’ll be in the seat for the next two years and seven months.
Also, I intend, with many others, to keep on with Museum Workdays down at the park Thursday mornings, and though past a time when guaranteeing a good stage role for the Dance Studio I would work the rail or bring in sets or backdrops if needed, will do what I can when the Stage Hands again trod the boards, and will continue with this column until told not to. It’s that whole keep the torch burning idea, it rather caught hold of me at a time I needed a bit more reason to “keep on keepin’ on” with some activities.
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Elliot and Harper are two young artists whose works were premiered and exhibited in Sol Treasures Gift Shop the other day; the walls were adorned with some fine productions from these two talented young people. Placed around the room were small notebooks, I guess about 15-18 pages in length, labeled Brain Dumps and were collections of Elliot’s drawings. Scads of drawings, many very involved and colorful, and though I flipped through all of them I was drawn back to one notebook with a very minimalist sketch of a seated, tuxedo clad gentleman playing the violin. I am not one knowledgeable of art, but to bring about such a reaction as I had with such few strokes of a pen takes a real artist. Just my opinion.
Take care. Peace.
