This morning on Facebook I saw this very question. One lady was sad that the usefulness of her long-lasting toothbrush had finally come to an end and she didn’t want to offend it by using it to clean anything else before finally disposing of it. Another lady wanted to know how on earth you actually offend a toothbrush? I would have liked to answer her at the time but couldn’t stop to do it then – however, the druid in me can’t let it go – so here is my answer – see if you agree with it or understand what I am talking about. There are actually two ways in which we can ‘offend’ an inanimate object.
Firstly, everything resonates with energy – scientifically proven fact. Mental thoughts, spoken words and emotions also have vibrating energies – also scientifically proven fact, as illustrated in the many research programmes involving plant life and how it responds to certain actions being performed near to it or various emotions and/or thoughts being directed at it… sometimes from hundreds of miles away.
I acknowledge that a toothbrush is an inanimate object rather than a plant which ‘lives’ but it will still resonate with energy and still be subject to thoughts, (and the intentions they contain), so at some very low level of resonance it will react to the unharmonious thoughts being directed at it while its owner/user is contemplating throwing it way or otherwise destroying if.
For those of a more sensitive nature I suggest that before disposing of anything in your household, you at least take a few seconds to register your appreciation of the object and give it your thanks. If you are putting a load of stuff in your rubbish or recycling bins, just pause for a moment and be thankful for all that we have; for all the richness and variety which we have in our lives; all the convenience; and also for having someone to come and take it all away for us – even in these challenging times when recycling centres and council tips are closed to the public. In this way, your ‘rubbish’ takes on a resonance of harmony and gratitude from humanity to feed into its own mass-consciousness of existence. (An action which humanity is all too frequently sadly lacking in – appreciation of our surroundings and possessions.)
The other way in which we often ‘offend’ inanimate items is by not using them for that which they were fashioned or made. Using something for which it was originally intended honours the item itself and the people who crafted or manufactured it, transported it and sold it to you – an activity which we are not nearly so free to indulge in now that the Covid-19 pandemic is upon us.
Using something carelessly, without thought, in the wrong or inappropriate manner has an inharmonious effect on the item and its surroundings. The word degradation springs to mind. Too frequently we degrade our possessions and the natural world around us – we are careless and thoughtless, like undisciplined children. In my youth I had a good Muslim friend who, if he ever found a piece of dry bread upon the ground would acknowledge the importance of this ‘staff of life’ by picking it up, briefly putting it to his lips and then placing it in an alternative elevated position. Ever wondered why, apparently for no logical reason, you suddenly feel so ratty or irritated when you have been doing a simple job ar activity? Think again. Perhaps you have unwittingly created disharmony and are then suffering the effects of such.
In this way we might remain a consumer society but at least we shall be one which is mindful of what it uses, grateful for what it has and ethically disposes of its possessions when they reach the end of their useful life. Action follows thought. Many of us would like to see a better world, a better way of doing things and living our lives arising from the difficulties, collapse, heartache and emotion of our current lives. If you want to bring this change into being, start by altering your attitudes and outlook… even to a humble toothbrush.
So while many of us are stuck in self-isolation, we do have the time and opportunity to ponder on such things, although I recognise and understand that so many of us are also in a fog of fear and despair.
As thoughts can take tangible form and travel to their intended recipient, my love and hugs go out to all who read this – stay well and safe and keep smiling!
I’m so glad to hear that other people feel as I do….. Even from childhood, this feeling that “things” had a life of their own, caused me to experience sadness or even anguish when for instance, a china animal was broken accidentally. I still have a small teddy bear, ‘blind’ and worn, that has lived in some or other of my cupboards for these past 60 odd years, that I just don’t have the heart to throw out (it’s well past the stage of giving to a young child or to the charity shop).
I too hesitate before throwing out a toothbrush – and in fact I have about half a dozen old brushes, but they are kept for the purpose of household jobs, as I ‘tell’ each one that it is to have a new job in life. It can become a problem when we are persistently reluctant to throw things out, and our lives can become cluttered. But my father had a saying – “Cadw, mi gei…” which roughly translates to “keep, and you shall have”. Indeed only today I rummaged in the big box that holds all my sewing bits and pieces and triumphantly pulled out a yard of elastic, which is just what I need to make some masks to help protect against Covid 19! Furthermore, necessity is the mother of invention, as they say, and that old toothbrush becomes the best ever tool for cleaning the tops of skirting boards, or those difficult corners in seed trays in the greenhouse; in fact it’s perfect for a myriad of uses after it has spent its first life protecting me away from having dental problems.
Ultimately, yes, it’s a case of appreciating everything in our lives, from the toothbrush that keeps us smiling, to the car that enables us to get about. Everything has a lifespan, and each atom in the Universe has its own little life. Let’s be sure realise how fortunate we are, and when the time comes to let go of something, let’s thank it for playing a part in our lives.
Those are some lovely observations, Kate – thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us. I, too, have a teddy bear which was given to me by my parents when I was six months old – he has been re-covered twice by my mother and has still worn bald in places but I would never part with him. And I love your father’s saying – it is so true. We live in such a dispensable society with such a cavalier attitude to our possessions; a few decades ago people would have been far more careful and valued their things a great deal more. We need to return to some of this acknowledgement of how lucky we are and re-learn to appreciate and not waste.
Found this whilst searching in old archive s. The longer and light days are generally more comfortable for just been preasant and perhaps there’s a open kindness the season brings forth, alongside a venturing more welcomed by the wellness light offers.or maybe this is a more continuous by the latter that isn’t so let’s put some thing here much thought of and it’s motivation provided by the sun’s energies, even it’s apparent in this observation making sense to me anyway I know something changes these thoughts, actions in a few months which is just as well to have the different elements and season s. So enjoy yourselves, bye Ros