The Whole Truth

Hm, hm, hm... Just woke up... what to say...?
Often I have an idea when I start blogging, but this morning I'm a bit fuzzy... Probably because I just got to the coffee shop and have not had my coffee yet.

The neighbors are back and have turned the wi-fi back on––yay!–– but I still like to come here.
And especially since the burned house next door is being restored.

That's good news!
I worried they'd knock it down and build condos on the entire lot, right up to my window. I'm glad they're not, but... it's bang, bang, bang, CRASH, starting at 8 a.m., as they tear out and replace the fire-damaged parts--which is most of the interior.

So, the coffee shop it is for me.

We're due for a hot weekend, but this morning is beautiful.
I'm sitting outside in the shady breeze with Mz, who is reading the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius.

Whoops--no. Not anymore.
She just threw her book on the ground, saying:

"God it's all the same stuff, just people prescripting for the human condition.
It's all like, people are just trying to control their experience... There's all these ways to think, maybe I don't have to suffer...

There're all these different strategies. I suppose they might work, they're good and useful... sometimes.
They just create a different kind of suffering.The suffering of not being in touch with yourself.

'These things outside our control have no ability to harm us.'
What is this disease where we're trying to try to seal things off, make them airtight?

Eleanor Roosevelt said, 'No one can harm us without our consent'.
Fine! I consent! Now will you just let me be upset?" 

I respect when people work it out as an individual instead of adopting a system.
Make your own!
It's probably going to be similar.

But people feel a different sense of authority if they didn't make it up.
If you don't think you have the authority to do it, who do you think does? Marcus Aurelius didn't grow up as you!You have a different relationship to things you've worked out on own.

I'm just going to do my hobbies."

[end of speech]
_____________________________

I'm not a fan of comedy for its own sake either. It's manipulative and boring.
I'd been reluctant to watch stand-up comedian Hannah Gadsby's Nanette (on Netflix) because everyone was raving about it, and I distrust crowd pleasers.
(Enough Marvel movies already!)

But when the noise died down, I decided to give it a try, and I loved it too. (Have you seen it?)
I'd never liked Gadsby's former style of comedy, which relies on self-deprecation. It felt icky, and incomplete.
Turns out, it was, and that is the whole point of Nanette.

Recently Gadsby did a TED talk, which I also like, and which goes down sweeter. (Nanette rasps your skin, though it's also a balm.)

So, yeah...
Tell your story, and do your work.
That's advice I can sign up for.
The work is your own.

I should bike to work now, but it's so pleasant sitting here...
This is the view:

It's a noisy street--buses, traffic, people booming music out of their cars.
It's a noisy summer in the neighborhood.

I'm still thinking about moving... If the rent weren't so cheap, I'd have done it already. BUT... I do love the freedom of cheap rent!!!

Do I want to work more, to earn more money?

NOT REALLY.

There's always a trade-off. 
Which annoyances do I prefer?

Quiter neighborhoods are not as good for public transit, or for things being close by, for instance.
One day this past winter when it was –20 below zero, I wanted to make chicken soup. I had ingredients for American chicken noodle soup, but not Thai. I bundled up and walked two blocks to the Asian store (a couple blocks the other way from this coffee shop), and bought coconut milk, lime leaves, and lemon grass.

So, I don't know.
I don't have to know, right now.
But I had better get on my bike and go to work. The entrance to the bike/walk path is only 4 blocks from here---another advantage to my location...

Ciao! Have a lovely day, everyone!