<From what you write, I sense a contentment in you that I'd like to hear more about! But duty calls, and a tone deaf tenor.>
Well, I gave this some thought while I was out hiking today... but just for a little while you understand... hiking is a time for free-wheeling thoughts and just "being"...
And BTW, Wolf Trail up in the Gatineau Hills was a super-nice hike. About 5.5 miles long with an ascent of 700 feet. We did the trail bass-ackwards which was a bit of a mistake as it made the hike a lot tougher. The nice part of it was that we were the only people crazy enough to do that, so we got to meet about 75 hikers going in the normal direction during the 3+ hours that it took us make the whole circuit. Great look-offs out over the Ottawa River from massive granite exposures on the mountaintop. Discovered that fallen, dried beech leaves are right up there on the "slippery scale" next to sock feet on a highly polished hardwood floor... Had a great time though...
Hmmm... and now back to that "contentment" thing. Uhm...yeah... actually, I usually feel pretty content. I don't know if I have any secrets to reveal though... but I said that I'd give you some kind of answer after my hike, so here is an attempt...in point form, no less.
(BTW, as an "afterword" now that I'm done writing this post, this exercise was weird... maybe somebody else ought to try it and let me know how it felt..).
Re: Contentment... what creates that feeling:
* Nothing stays the same, or as George Harrison might sing, "All Things Must Pass". It's true. For the good or the bad, everything is in a constant state of flux... so I try to recognize the good and enjoy it when I can, and when things are truly rotten in my life, I try to keep my eye on the ball and remember that things won't always be that way.
* Bad isn't always bad. Sometimes I learn from it. Or sometimes it makes me change, and change often turns out to be very good. Also, "bad" is often just a perceptual thing... if you look at it differently, maybe "bad" is actually just "funny".
* It's important to know what creates personal happiness...and then make time for it. For example, I do a lot of things outdoors in nature... being there happens to be very important to me, and always has been ever since I was very young. I make time for walking, hiking, canoeing, because these things bring me back to the center of myself where there is no time, no worries, no pain, no future, no past...just the very moment that exists when I'm looking at a cloud, or fish swimming under my canoe, or the veins in a leaf, or whatever. The "thing" that creates personal happiness is not the same for everyone, but I think that whatever "thing" it is, it has the capability of doing what nature does for me.
* Make time to play... and when I say "play", I'm thinking of it in the very loosest terms. It might mean outright playing... which is why there are plenty of kites, puppets, el-cheapo musical things, frisbees, etc... around this place. Or it might mean doing work differently so that it is play... maybe chatting with customers in a certain way, or perhaps singing while you work... (BTW, I used to work at a place where I could do that a lot. One of my favourite diversions when things got too tense and annoying was to get out an old steel oil funnel and hold it on my head while dancing and singing the Tin Man's "If I only had a heart" number from the Wizard of Oz... Made more than one crabby co-worker stop grousing at me..;-}>
* Throw away the whole notion of doing what you're "supposed to do". Like,...I still walk on top of concrete curbs and walls, the higher the better. And sure, people stare at me, but I don't care... at least not enough to let it stop me from doing it... What other people think doesn't really matter much to me... and that is becoming more and more true as I get older.
* And then the final thing... nothing is perfect. There will always be times when, no matter what I do, I'll feel crappy, lonely, sad, etc... but I learn things about myself at those times... and they are often times of creativity for me, so perhaps they are just meant to be....
Well, that's just about it for the small stuff... Now, if you REALLY want to know what makes me contented... read on if you're willing to suffer any longer...(-:
MY FAVOURITE THINGS -- (Croc Version)
Pea soup with crackers
And mondegreen lyrics**
3-D George Clooneys as
Batman on cereals...
Lounge lizard legends
Who strut like they're kings
These are a few of my favourite things.
Package tray doggies
Whose eyes light up brightly
Nodding their heads as you
Brake oh-so-slightly
Hi-voltage lines wrapped in
Kites and kite strings.
These are a few of my favourite things.
Busted cement gnomes
At "Garden of Concrete"
"Urban Myth" legends
That end up on newscasts
Rad kids on skateboards
Twirling "gummy worm" rings
These are a few of my favourite things.
When my canoe flips,
When my stocks tank,
When I'm feeling sad.
I simply remember my favourite things
And then I still feel....real bad!
***signed for posterity's sake,
Lady Croc -- a "Renaissance reptile"
"I made this thing "
** A "mondegreen" is a misunderstood lyric...
usually "heard and repeated" in a way which
has only an absurd resemblance to the real words...). |
