The Lost

Instead of souls, collectivists usw, let us speak of things.

There was a series of Harveytoon cartoons in the 50s, I recall, that featured a talking fish called Red Lantern.  He led two kids, a boy and girl, to the undersea 'land of lost things'.  They found and experienced  some kind of reconciliation with lost articles, which have formed their own community.

Ok, bear with me lest you think I've gone round the bend lol.  Symbolism is rampant in cartoons.  They are literally moving pictures.  And you can ascribe what you like.

IOW I am not going to do an in depth analysis of this stuff.  I'll leave that to you to find out.

It just seemed an amusing intro to the fact we acquire things, lose things and mostly add and subtract all our lives.

They come and go.  From watches to photos, we accumulate material goods.

Someone's GreatGrandmother had shoeboxes full of greeting cards, which she had acquired for decades.  That she lived over 100, it was a considerable collection.  They were paper expressions of love and devotion from many family, friends and others she touched.  What became of them is a mystery.

The same can be said of all, all of her possessions.

How could someone, quite old and a property owner, not have a thing materially at their death?

Could people be so covetous that they grab everything someone has and hope no one notices?

How frail these people are, to put such interest in all someone has.  Not just property, bank accounts etc, but everything down to utensils and yes, greeting cards.

Now, some people lose all things material through natural disaster.  They have to go on, as do we all, when we suffer loss.

The things lost most likely have significance only to them and a limited circle.  Yet, we can sympathize, even empathize concerning loss.  Most of us have suffered.

The loss most sad, most piquant, is the loss of a person.  I'd go as far as to say pets too.

Wherever there are relationships, when loss occurs, we grieve.

Then we have a choice.  We stay locked in or go on.

Life demands, gently or roughly, that we continue.  We are made to not just survive, but thrive.  Victorious.

I carry the loss of some 'things' and moreso, those friend, family, associates gone before.

Then again things are things yet life goes on.  That's not cruel.  For death is transition and love never dies.

The lost are found.