Shades of past lives – reflections on influence

After five years of research – not totally continuously – it is weird to come to a halt, so to speak. The book is finished, the edits completed, and the mind should have turned to the new project, and turned off from this all-encompassing subject…

But he is still there, the subject of the book. He still influences one’s thoughts; and he references and shades one’s reading; and his experiences still colour one’s own life. Not family; not even a friend; but a presence that one has gone after, cultivated, grown, encouraged. And he is unaware of this concentrated, one-sided attention – at least, one thinks so. Then the (very) few missing patches – here and there – are filled in; linking together the story and revealing a life that disappeared long ago. But there are clues that linger into the present. Still here, if you open your eyes, your senses, your mind.

And wonder about the almost palpable ‘weight’ of those who have come before, living their lives: are they aware, or unaware of what they leave behind? What cosmic energy allows that legacy? What influences are we leaving behind, as we simply live our own lives?