Cycle and Recycle – a Day in the Life of our Planet

I was pondering the other day on the ‘cycle of life’! A big subject for one so young…

In recent weeks we have had both a death and a new birth in our family circle. A great aunt gone and a new baby arrived. What does it all mean? Well, it seems to mean different things on different levels.

Objectively speaking, it is simply a question of arithmetic. One in, one out. In statistical terms, we wiped the slate clean. No change. Still the same number in the family; still the same number on the planet. Life goes on. The family continues. Things are just a little re-distributed. On one side of the family there is an additional mouth to feed, an additional bundle of fun – and of trouble! On the other side there is one less aged relation to care for, but also one less human being and much-loved family member. But in the scales of life, it all weighs the same.

Subjectively, it is a whole different ball game. The loss demanded a funeral, a modest crowd of grieving relatives and a gap in the family which will never be filled, no matter how many new additions arrive in the family. So much individuality, creativity, personality and love lost, never to be recovered. Such a big gap to fill in the lives of those closest. As for the new addition – such a source of happiness, hope, expectations, warmth and vibrancy! A new life which just the other day did not exist – and now does.

People are born. People get old and die. On a similar theme, again just the other day, I was pondering the strange qualities of the English language, more particularly, the question of ‘opposites’. ‘Old’. What does it mean? We can learn more by examining the opposite concept. But what precisely is the opposite of old? On closer examination we find that old is coupled with young – yes, we knew that. But also with ‘new’! Young and old; old and new! So young and new – are they the same? Their opposites are obviously both contained within the concept of oldness.

In this spring season, I have been confronted with a lot of young-ness – baby chicks, lambs, ducklings, calves, piglets and the family of blackbirds that are in the process of hatching out in our hydrangea bush. They are very young, very vulnerable, very sweet. But also, of course, brand new! Their newness is exhilarating and a large part of their charm. Lambs on new wobbly legs; baby birds unable yet to fly; ducklings that have yet to be introduced to water. Why? Because they’re new. It’s all new – and exciting!

So the cyle of life goes on. Spring is full of it. Autumn sees the other end of the cycle. But that’s another story. Life and death: joy and grief. Hope and disappointment. It’s a big subject, the comings and goings on our planet, but one we take for granted every day. Funny that...