What a pleasant day it was this past Sunday. Our chores and shopping were done and I spent the entire day in an Adirondack chair in the garden, sipping cold lemon-water and reading a bottomless book. There was a big umbrella over my head which I could deftly position for just the right amount of sun, which burned warm, not hot, and enlivening an otherwise cool and salty breeze blowing in from the sea. The two dogs lay stretched out in the warm grass while squirrels chittered and jumped about in the trees and bees zipped passed to and fro from last years flowers suddenly raised from the dead. Spring is here, and boy has it arrived! After the sun went down and I went back indoors for dinner, I told Yumiko “I could learn to live this way!” and I know she could too.
I used to wonder why old people rarely complain of being old. Sure, they complain about their ailments and pains and diminished capacity and fading minds; but rarely about being old. And I think I get that now. For it’s good to get old and get over and on the other side of the heavy lift which is our years of career and parenthood and community and the burden of carrying the great package of responsibilities which come of accepting our fair share of the hard work of living right. It’s like arriving at last at a pleasant inn after a long walk through mountains and woods, to find the door open, a fire lit, the garden in bloom, and rest at last.
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.