The Good Life - 08/26/2023 - The other man at the beach
I have a new companion—of sorts. He’s a man maybe five years older than me. He looks Persian, very handsome and distinguished, like a doctor. I could so easily see him in a white coat with his name written in script on the left breast followed by the letters “M.D.” He just has that look. The man always wears a “UCLA” hat and dresses smartly, with a collared short-sleeved shirt. He brings a fresh, nicely folded towel and sits on the sand nearby. I don’t think he’s noticed me yet, though we come at almost the same time every afternoon, almost down to the minute. In fact, two days back we stood together at the highway crosswalk and waited together for the light to turn green, and then walked almost in lockstep across Pacific Coast Highway, down the Seventeenth-Street stairs and across the sand to where the ocean touches the shore. Soon, I’ll say hi.
The man and I have exactly opposite routines. He opens by sitting on his towel while staring out to sea. So many do that here, simply stare out to sea, including me. And while the man stares, I go in for my swim—flailing about in the big waves, doing my energetic laps between the lifeguard towers and catching and bodysurfing whatever lucky waves I can. And when I emerge half an hour later, and grab my towel to dry, the other man gets up and goes in. But he doesn’t swim. He simply glides somehow to the outer breakers and then floats in the salty brine. And while he floats I take my seat, it being my turn now to simply watch the sea. Or I read my book. But more often I just sit straight and stare at the far away nothing while the afternoon trade wind dries whatever drops of saltwater remain on my skin. And the other man just bobs. His bald head poking up out all alone way out there in the sea, disappearing now and then behind a passing wave, but always above the water and looking forward and into the retreating day.
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.