We all learned about the periodic table of elements in junior high and high school…we know that all matter is made up of elements or combinations of elements…but what if we had a table for what matters?  What if we had a table of the elements for the heart, the soul, what we feel, what we love, what we crave, what we loathe?  Everything we FEEL, everything we DESIRE, everything that makes us weep, or yell, or jump for joy, is also made up of elements isn’t it?

I have not used the periodic table since I was in college.  I’ve explained it to the children I love, and we read about it in their book called “Science Verse” and I do very often refer to water as H2O, and I sometimes call salt “nacal” which makes the kids laugh, but in general the periodic table of the elements  became nothing but a blip in my memory after I was finished with college, however, if we had a Periodic Table for what matters, not only for the elements OF matter, I am quite sure that I, and you, would use it or refer to it, EVERY SINGLE DAY.

A beautiful smile, straight white teeth, creativity, a deep voice, talent, a sexy laugh, affectionate, nice biceps, defined deltoids, athletic ability, smarts, compassion, humor…those are just some of the elements that make the man I love VERY appealing to me.  He thinks I am smart, have a radiant smile, am kind, funny and make him laugh, capable and hard-working, honest &  faithful…those are some of the elements that make him love me.

We all know that when two or more elements are combined it’s called a compound.  We know that Hydrogen, Oxygen, Helium, and Carbon are the most common elements in our world.  BUT if we had a different kind of periodic table, the elements of what matters, I think the most common ones might be LOVE, COMPASSION, UNDERSTANDING, KINDNESS…most of what matters has a base of one or more of these elements doesn’t it??!!

I got straight A’s in college, which included chemistry and biology, so I know I can, if I apply myself, “GET IT.”  There is nothing tricky about science, it’s really just facts and sure, some science is based purely on hypotheticals, but those come from bits and pieces of  facts, science is not subjective, it is pure and simple when you break it down…kind of like life when I think about it…it may seem complicated at times, but really, when you break it all apart into its categories and its basic elements, it simply is what it is, it’s how we organize all those parts that really matters…

I was doing a job yesterday where I had no music, no distractions, just the hum and rattle of my pressure washer for 8 hours…back and forth, board to board, deck to deck…you might think the monotony of the job would be awful, but it isn’t…it’s oddly soothing…it’s like mowing my field or vacuuming to me…so I thought a lot, for a lot of hours yesterday, about feelings I’ve been having since the solstice, questions I’ve asked myself, confusion about some aspects of my life and unquestioning certainty about others…and I was breaking down all of the thoughts into their smallest possible detail…

Part of, or maybe all of, a good present tense-  living a happy life, making a happy home, having a fulfilling job, caring about your friends or your family, ALL include combinations of one or more of these elements.  If any of our personal goals are unmet, if we feel something is missing in our lives, if we feel unchallenged, out of balance, dissatisfied, confused about our life’s purpose, discontent, uncertain, perplexed about what role we are supposed to be playing, in our world in general and or home in particular, any of the thoughts that we all think, some of us more frequently than others, (yes, I am totally comfortable sharing the fact that I suffer from this character flaw of “over thinking” almost everything) all we have to do is recombine some of those basic elements, reconfigure our compounds, and my hypothesis is that the answers or the change will come…now, let the experiments begin…