I had a Prof once who was bright, funny, generous and wise. He had a very good grasp of life in both theory and practice.
His advice for when times got rough was to: Get yourself out onto the rim of the world and weather the storm from there.
Being on the rim of the world lends perspective and opens up all sorts of new angles on things.
As I would climb out the window of life, I invariably found myself on a chair-o-plane flying round and round with childish excitement. Chair-o-planes were forbidden fruit in my youth as my father had a vision of the whizzing apparatus spinning so fast that we’d be catapulted to kingdom come.
The thing is: can you be on the rim of the world without at least a hint of danger? It’s all about balance, in every respect, and knowing the tipping point.
The garden swing had quite an element of the rim of the world about it. Wind flying through flowing hair, legs propelling the seat to go higher and higher, ropes creaking, carving out magical angles and giving Over the Top a meaning that could and would never be forgotten.
SOCIAL BRIDGE ~ Jean Tubridy connecting with you from Ireland 
I love this…the rim of the world…there are a few phrases which speak of the…how to say it?…the largeness of things, of being and this is one. Thanks. Again 🙂
Glad it resonated with you, Clare. It was around 1981 when he first mentioned it to me and here I am 30+ years on still using it. So, yes, it has power!
I love this idea of the rim of the world as well!
Its on the edge of such an expanse and the unknown.
Val x
Hi Val, glad you like it. It’s certainly a liberating sort of place.
One of my supervisors used to say when you were in a difficult place in life, “Find something bigger than yourself.” I have used that a lot–in practice as well as in my head–during those tough times that happen to us all. Finding something bigger than yourself resonates with me in terms of get out on the rim of the world and weather the storm from there. The rim of the world, of course, is much bigger than our selves, and in which direction one takes to weather the storm from that standpoint is very dependent upon the direction in which we one is looking for a path…or for no path and rather creating one.
Hi Suz, ‘find something bigger than yourself’ is great advice too. Thanks for bringing it here.
T’is the rim of the world, yes indeed. Another way to grab it is to ride a motorcycle in an ice storm.
Hey Van, I think I’ll leave that one to YOU or else be your pillion passenger and hang on for dear life!
I like the idea of the rim of the world. What a wonderful concept!–though figuring out the balance part can sometimes be difficult.
Hello Sheryl, yes, I agree that the balance part can be tricky but I think it’s probably easier on the rim of the world than in lots of other places!
“when on thin ice you might as well dance” – don’t know who said it first
Love this advice, Angie!
Reblogged this on Salty Pinches and commented:
Sounds like Jean was taught by a good Prof. I’m reblogging in the spirit of sharing wisdom from the uni of life. Keep on tipping your tipping points!
Many thanks for the Reblog, Angie. Yes, he was a very wise Prof. Wish I’d listened more!