Sunday, May 20, 2012

Notes from the River, May 2012

Blows the cover off old diary.
"What's this? Posting at least twice a week?"
"I said she crazy, that chick. She writes whenever she gets the chance, she says. Then she writes posts four months in between."
"You have to make your own chances," opined the man with the blue necktie.
"Thanks, guys. If you're done, I'm going to post. Today, and not a minute later."

As per usual, my life seesaws from one extreme of pursuit to another- I just made peace with the fact that I have no interest in a couple of old obscure texts I've clung to for over three years. I'm hoping that sticking them on Amazon for sale will both free some shelf space and fund worthier pursuits.

And thinking about the excessive materialism of the modern age (and getting rid of my smart phone). My reasoning is thusly:

* It is true that the very rich and the very poor have similarities in that they live excessively simple lives. The poor (most of them) are not living simply because they choose to do so, except for religious orders, and whether or not you live simply because you choose it seems to make all the difference in the world.
* The very rich are freer in that they can start from absolute simplicity but can go in any direction with their pursuits- whether it's starting a new type of business, a new profession, or heading a volunteer project. Their only constraints on their spending/pursuits are those they elect to be held by- whether it's keeping up with the Joneses or making the Forbes list. The poor are less blessed in this respect, except (again) the religious orders, particularly orders like the Missionaries of Charity and the Franciscans, the Carmelites- they are sustained by something outside themselves that gives them not just endurance, but joy.
Conclusion:
* The only thing that determines happiness or misery(regardless of how much money one makes) is the ability to fully live one's potential and do what you really, really want to be able to do, regardless of how much hard work you need to put into it. The possessions should always be a stepping-stone to the real goal: whatever you feel called for, whether it's building houses in Nicaragua or teaching an English class in your spare time.

 It's trite, but I think less trite when you live with a constant barrage telling you what possessions you need and how they'll help define you: "Buy this dress and be a quirky romantic heroine", "Buy this all-natural bamboo teething ring and be a Conscientious Mother", "Buy this iPad for your kids and be the Hip Parents", "Buy this beer and be a Real Man". And we can't shut that noise out, which wouldn't be so persuasive except most of us aren't really happy with what we do. Our work ought to define us, or whatever worthy endeavors we support through it. Instead of our work being defining, we have to look for something else and since we have no time to go busking on the streets of Madrid or read all the George Eliot novels, we buy things that will, hopefully, at least tell other people that's what we'd like to be doing.

Sigh. What price a ticket to Madrid?