Happy Monday!

It could be just another day in the life of a retired guy, but this Monday seems like the early coming of spring! With the freshly acquired later hour of daylight (which I happen to think is stupid) and some warmer temperatures this week, it does, in fact, feel like spring has arrived.

However, it is only the tenth of March and this is SWMO, so one would be foolish to believe that winter has completely left us. I will enjoy these warmer days while keeping the sweatpants and flannel shirts handy for the cooler days that will surely reappear. 

As for the Monday Meditation thing --
I've been thinking about stuff lately, the kind of stuff that we get attached to and brings us both joy and suffering.

Buddhist tradition teaches that stuff (or the attachment to it) is the source of suffering.
Mesoamerican mystics believe(d) that we are addicted to suffering.
Jesus referred to it as worry and asked -- Why do you worry about everything?

How much of my daily existence is connected to and defined by stuff?
(By the way, you can include people and relationships in with stuff as those are also a part of joy and suffering.) 
What stuff would I be better off getting rid of?
Are attachments or connections to certain things or people a cause of stress or suffering in my life?
Am I addicted to suffering? Has it (suffering) become a way of life?

Just stuff I've been considering lately.

John

What's the point?

I've been spending less time on social media and I have refrained from posting here at Out of My Hat for some time. It's a strange conundrum -- I don't really want to be silent about the stupidity and injustices that are happening in our country, but neither do I feel like writing about it is going to change anybody's mind and there is more than enough negativity in the world without adding to it.

I am much more of a pacifist than an activist, but I have contacted the local Democratic party committee. Maybe there is something I can do to oppose some of the bullshit that is taking place. Social media isn't the place for education and correction of misinformation. The misinformed just double down on their stupidity and continue to spread their lies.

Honestly, I feel like staying in my isolated little world of experimenting with my smoker, planting flowers, smoking cigars, and sipping bourbon or tequila. However, watching the world burn from my privileged place has an elitist feel that I really don't care for. I'm in a place where I really don't know what to do or even what I can do. I live in a deeply red area and all of my elected representatives, both state and federal, are Trump supporters or at the very least -- party first supporters. Writing or calling their offices is merely an annoyance and is likely more annoying for me than for them.

What are you doing to cope?
Wait and see?
Happy about how things are going?
Wringing hands and clutching pearls?
Checking out the expat life?
Or just enjoying your privilege and living day by day?

John