CONTENTS OF MY GOURD

I have purchased a new gourd, a guaje, from Oaxaca. There is now a question; how to utilize it. There is another meaning for gourd, a slang term for the contents of my mind. I will distinguish the two meanings by using guaje for the new purchase and gourd for the less physical container, the brain, in a physical skull but with contents that are controversial; are they physical or non-physical?

My new guaje can be used to hold the physical things that I normally carry in my pockets, a woman might think my guaje should be called a pocketbook.

I am now considering what I should keep in my guaje and also considering what I should keep in my gourd. It is much easier to decide what to put in the guaje. I will start with all the things that were in my pockets and I hope that I can find the wanted objects when they are needed. I used four pockets in my pants but the guaje only has one compartment. That explains why women spend so much time searching for what they want from their pocketbook! Some pocketbooks have been designed with several compartments but women still search in all parts for desired items.

I will need to carry something larger than my guaje from Oaxaca if I want to carry a thing that will not fit the remaining empty space in the guaje. The space in my gourd seems to be infinite.

That seems to be a satisfactory solution for the guaje;'pro tem.' It is not so simple to organize the contents of my gourd; the contents keep increasing as I write about them and the access becomes much more confusing. I may not even remember what I was thinking unless I think slowly enough to record all my thoughts so I can read them to remember what I thought. This may not be possible. I quit. There is a big problem here. The physical contents of my guaje are so blessedly simple compared to the stuff that goes into my gourd!

This all leads me to describe what I call physical reality versus metaphysical, spiritual, reality. My education in Engineering Sciences allowed me to earn a pension which I now enjoy. My wife has not retired; she still teaches what she calls spititual reality and now enjoys her portion of my pension which came via application of physical reality. Her physical income is still smaller than mine. Her pay seems to be intangible, coming via those who express their love for her. I guess that pay comes back to each person in the currency that they spent in their work.

My gourd is full of more stuff than my guaje. I can manage my guaje better than my gourd because I need to simplify the contents of my gourd. I still do not know how my wife manages her guaje or her gourd but we are both happy.

AND SO IT IS!