The Good Life - 07/10/2023 - A warm stone to sit upon
I sat in the garden all afternoon yesterday, which is something I could never do before age 59, as I was always before so energetic and restless, always eager to get up and do something, go somewhere, or be someone seemingly different and new: off to the beach for a quick swim in the cold deep, or hopping on the motorcycle for a thrilling, twisting ride someplace new, or hiking alone somewhere for the mere sake of being outside and moving, or engaged with some small project about the house in an effort to stay useful and well employed. Not so much anymore. The Adirondack chair out there in the garden seems a nice place for a sit. So, I’ll just grab my old book and a cool cup of water, and then place a beach-towel on the grass where my bare feet and my dog can rest. I’ll then open wide the big umbrella above my head and settle back for some slow hours of quiet summertime reading and peace. Such a good and simple use of my time—progress for sure, of a sort.
I sure do enjoy getting old, and would not wish to return to any age prior, every new decade being a clear improvement on the one before: fifty more peaceful than forty, which was less fretful than thirty, and much less confused than twenty, and so on. How about sixty? I guess I’ll begin to find out next year... But, what could be simpler than my Adirondack chair in the garden on a summertime Sunday? Maybe a large, warm, flat rock to sit upon any day of the week beside a clear quiet stream in the mountains of Japan? A hidden place to sit in nature without a book, and with no cup of water, and with just whatever thoughts remain in the waning years of life? Yes, that sounds like the sort of real progress I’m after—an improving life of less and less, during whatever day of the week, during whatever season of the year; days draining away into diminishing forms of simplicity, days and nights of quiet fading, until there is one day nothing left but some warm reflections of the past, some interesting thoughts of now, and a few soft seconds of whatever moments might still remain.
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
#Stoic #Stoicism #StoicPhilosophy
Â
My name is Kurt Bell.
You can learn more about The Good Life in my book Going Alone.
Be safe... But not too safe.