The Good Life - 07/23/2023 - When I grow up
Emily’s childhood is really done. It’s taken me a bit for that fact to settle in. But, with university nearly over and her life path unfolding ahead, and watching her charge around the earth this summer alone, without needing me much, I guess that’s really true. Sure, I still pay the bills, but she seems ready and willing—eager even—to stand alone. It’ll be tough. But I’ll still be there if she needs or wants my help. Yup. Childhood is done. And parenting is largely over as well. What’s next? There’s still time, I think, for a whole another life to be lived.
I feel like I’m five again and a grownup has asked me “What do you want to be when you grow up, little boy? A fireman, maybe? Or a police officer?” Hmm… What a question. I guess I finally am really grown up, and it’s truly time for me to become whatever I want. Not a fireman. Not a police officer. Though, those are certainly fine things to be… Maybe a poet? Or perhaps a gardener? Or maybe—yeah, I like this idea,—maybe someone who simply walks the earth like Caine in the sun and the dark, who carries a book, and who sits under a tree when it rains, and who swims in clear rivers when it’s hot, or grabs a coffee at an old kissaten somewhere when it’s time to rest, or who stops at a park to watch children play when it’s time for an innocent smile; and who, at the end of the day, comes home to his wife when it’s that time too, and who goes to bed quickly, and who sleeps long and deep and well in the deepening dark, with the bedroom window open just enough to let in the sounds and the smells and the feel of the night. Yeah. That’s maybe what I’m ready to be, now that I’m at last, and finally, fully grown—though I doubt my five year old self would understand or approve of this decision. Maybe that’s why such important choices are not ever truly left to children to decide.
#GoingAlone #TrueLimitsAndOpportunity
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
My name is Kurt Bell.
You can learn more about The Good Life in my book Going Alone.
Be safe... But not too safe.