The Speed of Life

Making coffee this morning I realized more than likely I have less years to live than years I've lived in my current city. That’s not some fatalistic, depressive thinking. It’s just a realization about how temporary and quick it all is. I really felt it in that way that a reality hits you some days. You find yourself so deeply anchored in the revelation of the moment. You are here and now in this thought.

We think seventy or eighty years is a long time but it’s not. This is why we must be so careful in how and what we fill our thinking with, how we spend our time and who we spend it with.

Nothing terrifies me more than getting to the final scene of Act 3 and be holding an empty bag.

The Peace and Quiet of Peace and Quiet

A year and a half ago I decided to not have a television anymore. If I want to watch something I stream it through my laptop. My generous estimate is that I watch maybe two or three hours of programs a week. I have no TV squawking mindlessly in the background to distract me. I stream music either through my laptop or my Amazon Echos. Most days it's a welcome stimulation, and some days I don't feel like having anything playing. On those days the peace and quiet is wonderful. This morning, for instance, I don't feel like having music playing and it's gratifying to just be with me and my thoughts, nothing more. The restful and rejuvenating quality of that and the increase in my mindfulness is so enriching.

I've always been apprehensive of those who can't do that; people who always need some kind of noise going on. What are they afraid they'll find if they just sit quietly with themselves?

The Optical Delusion of Being a Human

"A human being is part of the whole, called by us “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest - a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."

– Albert Einstein in replying to a stranger who asked for consolation on the death of his son.