220925 What I learned in my studies this morning 2

Whether it's rock and or old soul, 

It don' matter. 

Disco, calypso, 

It don' matter. 

Suit and tie or tie-dye, 

It is don' matter. 

Snakeskins or Timberlands, 

It don' matter. 

Tight fade or long braid, 

It don' matter. 

Red head or brunette, 

It don' matter. 

Breakdance, slamdance

It don' matter. 

Do the jerk until it hurts. 

Ain't nothin' wrong wi' that! 

Daily Stoic:

I'm a slave to.... What? 

Caffeine. I drink way too much. I can live without it, but rarely do. 

Facebook. I spent too much time on there. Stopped about a week ago. Checked a few things (because FB was the only place to find the info I needed), but nowhere near the hours I'd spend on it before.

And other things I'll keep to myself....

The question is "How much time / how much effort / how many resources do I waste chasing these personal vices?" 

Another question, "What am I going to do about it?"

And another, "What am I missing, what else am I not thinking of that I give myself to, my time and attention to, that I shouldn't?"

Today's Meditation: 

Today's Meditation II:

Today's Meditation III:

“It is manifestly a wiser course to aim at the maintenance of our health and the cultivation of our faculties, than at the amassing of wealth; but this must not be mistaken as meaning that we should neglect to acquire an adequate supply of the necessaries of life.

“Wealth, in the strict sense of the word, that is, great superfluity, can do little for our happiness; and many rich people feel unhappy just because they are without any true mental culture or knowledge, and consequently have no objective interests which would qualify them for intellectual occupations. 

“For beyond the satisfaction of some real and natural necessities, all that the possession of wealth can achieve has a very small influence upon our happiness, in the proper sense of the word; indeed, wealth rather disturbs it, because the preservation of property entails a great many unavoidable anxieties. 

“And still men are a thousand times more intent on becoming rich than on acquiring culture, though it is quite certain that what a man is contributes much more to his happiness than what he has. 

“So you may see many a man, as industrious as an ant, ceaselessly occupied from morning to night in the endeavor to increase his heap of gold. Beyond the narrow horizon of means to this end, he knows nothing; his mind is a blank, and consequently unsusceptible to any other influence.

“The highest pleasures, those of the intellect, are to him inaccessible, and he tries in vain to replace them by the fleeting pleasures of sense in which he indulges, lasting but a brief hour and at tremendous cost. 

“And if he is lucky, his struggles result in his having a really great pile of gold, which he leaves to his heir, either to make it still larger, or to squander it in extravagance. A life like this, though pursued with a sense of earnestness and an air of importance, is just as silly as many another which has a fool’s cap for its symbol.” ~ Arthur Schopenhauer, The Wisdom of Life (1851)

H/T: Philosophy Break newsletter

Today's Music:

Les Boréades Act 4, scene 4: Entry of the muses, zephyrs, seasons, hours and arts by Jean-Philippe Rameau