The Good Life - 07/24/2023 - Emily returns
Our daughter is over the Aleutian islands now. She just purchased the Airplane WIFI, as I saw the credit card charge flash by on my phone. She’s sitting alone in a darkened airplane cabin, folks around her asleep; uncomfortable in her seat, staring at some distraction on her phone, mind and body utterly tired and spent. She’ll be home soon in just four hours, landing at LAX. Yumiko and I will be there to meet her, take her to a big American breakfast, and catch up. Emily will be tired from her trip, ready for home and a long mid-day nap with her dogs. The cool ocean air of Huntington Beach will be a soothing relief after the sweltering heat and humidity of a full, long summer in Japan.
Her trip to Japan is sunk in—irrevocable, like schooling. When she wakes in the late afternoon, dizzy and confused, as from a dream, she’ll then have the rest of her life just ahead like a near bend in a road, or a bending curve in a gentle stream—somewhere going forward, slow-moving, around and away, advancing lost, into a mist—like a forest in Robin Hood—can’t see too far, just a little ahead as we go. It’s a bit scary. How far is it to the other side? And what’ll be there when we arrive? And what’s making those strange and unfamiliar sounds from further on, just ‘round that gentle-seeming bend? Good questions... Why not keep moving forward to go and see? There’s no sense staying here after all—as such consequences are no longer for you—you’ve already discovered that. Because there’s no undoing adventure once adventure is gone and done, and especially when it’s gone and done alone. It’s better then to just to keep moving until you know you’ve arrived—until you finally know that you have truly reached the other side.
#GoingAlone #PrincipleOfFamily
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.