Saswqatching my Life
Not one to complain about the given situations in life, I would like to take a moment to...well, complain. As you all know, we live in a place where capitalism is the means of survival. You wana eat? pay. You wanna rest? pay. You wanna read? pay. And that is the one that gets me. Of all the things in this life that are beautiful and absolutely necessary, knowledge is the one with a price. I firmly believe that all books should be free of monotary cost. How would this work? I have no clue. But it is ridiculous when I lay in bed at night and stare at the 19 books and magazines I have pilled high under my alarm clock and next to the trash and wish that I didn't have to read book number 3 again because I own nothing else. What punctuates my point even more are places like Barnes and Nobel, where each book is straight off the press with it's crisp stiff pages, and just to absorb any of that information outside the limits of the store, you must pay a hefty price. But they shouldn't be bought. Some books have eternal value; you can read them everyday and learn something new. But most books worth reading leave an imprint on your mind or heart or soul that you don't need to reread them to remember. They become a part of you and unless you give it to someone else, will remain a part of you and eventual the layer of dust that coats your closet shelves. Maybe we should all just distribute books like we do flyers. Samples of this world, free of cost, use it as much as you need and then pass it on. The world would be a better place if we became a eutopia of literature without bounds....
Speaking of literature, I am reading a spiritual book about living life for real, not illusioned. This book offers little that I haven't thought but words it in a way that I can finally express what floats in the puddles of my brain. It addresses how every human being desires happiness above all else. Sometimes the religious will deny this factor but ultimately, reaching God is a means of reaching happiness for most. Then why, if all are trying for the same goal, do some fail? The problem lies in what I will call identity fraud; people mistake other sensations for happiness. The book states often the path diverges at happiness verses pleasure. In other words, we settle for pleasure when happiness is more fulfilling, and sometimes in the opposite direction. Pleasure isn't bad, just temporary. Pleasure is external, sensory, fleeting, solitary and of limited capacity whereas happiness is internal, wholistic, enduring, shared and boundless in capacity. Now all I can wonder is how often do I, personally, adopt pleasure into the crevacese in my life because I have mistaken the familiar face for happiness?
It gets worse. There are more sections such as the happiness verses pleasure titled sex verses love, relief verses peace, achievement verses success, excitement verses adventure, positive thinking verses hope...the list goes on.....ugh, life is difficult