Meditation for March 19th
This Moment
In the path to mindfulness, we try to live moment by moment. We focus on our breath, ignoring thoughts about the past and the future. When we live in the past, we are depressed, and when we live in the future, we are anxious. We concentrate on the task at hand instead of why you have to do the task, or what the completion of the task will be like, and what you can do after the task. It is hard to be in the moment. Let’s look at how to make it easier. Wash the dishes to wash the dishes, not to have clean dishes.
You are not your past.
No one you meet today will know who you used to be, and worse still, will care who you used to be. We might think that who we used to be is important, but it really isn’t, and a lot of times, it will be the reason we wallow in depression. I used to be a big deal, but when I moved across the country, I ceased to be one, and I have to rely on my present merit, rather than on a reputation I garnered in the past.
Just be a nice person, be polite, and dress like an adult. These are the only three things that will get a thumbs-up from the general population.
Plans don’t mean shit.
You could talk to me about what you are up to. Unless you are actually doing those things, I wonder if you intend to do them. Everyone spends a crazy amount of time coming up with the perfect plan for the future, where that becomes their identity. I’m the person who goes to school, I’m the person who is working my way up in this company, I am an artist, a writer, a sculptor, an amateur whale hunter, but in the end of the day, those things aren’t real until you do them. And just because you do something once doesn’t mean you are that thing forever. When we rest on our laurels, people forget that one awesome thing we did as we started to know you, as the ponceo did once. Who cares. Do something else.
This also goes for “diagnoses” unless it is the disease that kills you; not everything that we are diagnosed with needs to be an identity forever.
You are judged on your actions, not on your excited thoughts about doing anything. It’s also boring to talk about the path somewhere, so shut up till you get there.
Smoke cigarettes.
The only healthy side effect of smoking cigarettes is to stop the ability to stop what you are doing and be in the moment as you alleviate your craving. People who smoke are better at taking breaks than other people. Since I quit smoking, I don’t know anymore, and I sit in the break room staring at my phone, not really knowing if I am relaxing or not—smokers’ seven-minute ritual.
I guess the same can go with vaping (though vaping is usually a silly thing to do), or smoking other substances(I’m talking about crack-cocaine), because inhaling foreign gases into your lungs is a great way to learn how to breathe when you meditate.
Stop being mad at them.
A big anchor in moving forward in spiritual harmony is not being mad at people or institutions that you blame for not being a better person. Stop it, you fucking baby. You don’t get to blame your inadequacies on your economic origin, your economic demographic, a group of people that harmed you, Republicans, people who do things wrong, or any other crutches people use for blaming their lazy ways. These are not only keeping you from yourself, but they are killing you. If you try to let these resentments go and they won’t go away, then get to therapy because these are making you a stupid, weak piece of shit. Ohm and move on.
Stop worrying.
Maybe spend a little less time drafting doomsday scenarios and a little more time being grateful for what you have right now. It really is okay to be okay. I know that social media, traditional media, the people in your life, and just your plain old overthinking head are letting you know that nothing is okay and inflating your feelings of worthlessness, but things are actually okay. I promise. Even if you have cancer and are going to chemo (personal experience), things are okay. Pain does not mean that you are not okay. Not having pain does not mean that you are not okay. Batting zero on dates on dating apps does not mean you are not okay. It just means you will have some obstacles, and the rest of us know that life is hard work and sometimes shitty, but we do what we do. Sometimes it is simpler to say that everything will be okay, and that it is actually okay right now.
Prayer
Lord Jesus of Nazareth – the place, not the gnarly 70s band
What if I don’t wake up tomorrow morning?
What if I get fired tomorrow?
What if my significant other breaks up with me?
What if you are one of us?
What if I’m late to work?
What if something went wrong yesterday accidentally?
What if I accidentally wear my grey sweatshirt with my grey pants?
What if I wake up tomorrow and think that tucking a white t-shirt into my jeans with no belt is okay?
What if I hadn’t moved and stayed in school that one time?
What if I am standing at work and I shit myself?
What if my family actually hates me?
What if no one thinks I’m weird?
What if there were an asteroid the size of Texas, but not as religiously motivated, and it were heading straight for Earth?
What if there are spiders in my bed?
What if ninjas have a contract on my head?
What if people realize who I really am and stop liking me?
What if I never feel okay?
What if I have to move somewhere far away?
What if I die by being beheaded by a chain linked to a lock that a cytheirdes takes their rage out on me with?
What if I forget how to drive the next time I’m in the driver’s seat?
What if my significant other is sleeping with someone else?
What if my s/o isn’t attracted to me anymore?
What if my s/o wants to have a long-term relationship with a close friend of mine?
What if Cruz becomes president because I voted for Bernie instead of Hillary?
What if Trump becomes president because I voted for Hillary instead of Bernie?
Craft
Let’s look at minimizing your life, shall we?
See that shit in your closet? Throw it away.
See the shirts that you never wear in the shirt drawer? themar those up and use ’em as rags.
See those pants that don’t fit anymore because I’ve gotten too fat? Give’emm away!
See the cool guy button-downs you don’t wear because you ain’t going to the discotheques anymore? Burn them!
You never play guitar anymore? Sell them! Have you already read those books? Burn them at the next Bernie rally! You just bought those records so people would think you were cool when they came to your place? Give them to actual cool people. Do you really need all those hats? Even the fedoras? Get rid of them!
Live like a monk. Only have what you need. Stop collecting things. What is the good of a collection if you’re dead? Huh? Dead. You don’t need the things if you are dead. D-E-A-D dead. Six feet under, a pile of ashes, or at the bottom of a reservoir somewhere; it doesn’t matter if you have all the comics or all the records because you are dead. You are not having. The living now has to decide what to do with all this shit. You are mean and selfish if you think it’s okay to leave a bunch of lamps or vintage jackets you never wore for your family and friends to go through when you have died and cease to exist.
Goal
Try to be here right now instead of there or there. Stop having stuff. You’ll be happy. Thank me by giving me money. I just solved all your problems.