There’s a very old man where I live now. I see him like a chimp sees the humans walking by its cage. The old man limps past my chimp cage a few times a day, “dragging my left leg” as he once told Yumiko, on his way to get the mail or to put out his trash. He passes by while I’ve got my head down at work or while I’m talking in meetings, and I smile and wave when I can. The old man is alone—very alone, I can see it in his eyes. He’s given up politely pretending that he doesn’t see me in my cage, and instead waves happily as he shuffles past, and I wonder what cage he lived in before he gave up work to begin fading away. I know that’s saying a lot, reading a lot into a circumstance about which I know little. But he seems that way, seems to be caught in a powerful rip-tide current carrying him away somewhere he doesn’t yet want to go, isn’t quite ready to leave—again, I read that in his eyes.
Soon, the weather will be nice again, and I’ll be able to leave the window open and we’ll talk. A talking chimp. I look forward to getting to know the man and perhaps becoming his neighborly friend. And maybe he’ll help me too somehow, providing me a brief chance a few times each day to become the human man I wish to be, rather than the caged chimpanzee that I’ve allowed myself to become.
#GoingAlone#SocialPrinciple
The Good Life Meditation is my daily recitation and reminder of personal objectives and principles used in pursuit of a purposeful life in spite of a universe of seeming indifference. Learn more about The Good Life at my website GoingAlone.org or by reading my book Going Alone. And visit our Discord at: https://lnkd.in/gFgfGmY6
OBJECTIVES: 1. Be Always Ready to Die 2. Make Good Use of Time and Resources 3. Develop Good and Sound Life Principles 4. Cultivate Good Emotional Reactions 5. Perform Good Actions 6. Recognize True Limits and Opportunity 7. One Thing Slowly
PRINCIPLES: 1. Principle of War 2. Principle of Reason 3. Homunculus 4. Anchorhold 5. Home of Good and Evil 6. Principle of Purpose 7. Atomic Principle 8. Principle of Nature 9. The Pirate Ride 10. Principle of Maturity 11. Social Principle
12. Principle of Family 13. Public Speaking 14. Temperance 15. Life Will Not Go Well 16. The Horror Show 17. That Which Must Be Borne 18. The Feast of Offal 19. Distraction 20. Agency and The Great Indifference 21. The Best Seat in the House 22. The Restless Man 23. The Path of Wildness 24. The Great Life Adventure 25. The Risk of Avoiding Risk 26. Sin and Damnation 27. Complete Oblivion 28. The Season of Philosophy
29. Scriptwriting 30. Bullseye Aim 31. The Uphill Climb 32. Arena and Utility 33. Nothing IS enough 34. The Principle of Fun
My name is Kurt Bell.
You can learn more about The Good Life in my book Going Alone.
Be safe... But not too safe.