Location: ///pops.papers.agenda

A trip out to Mosman on the ferry to catch up with some friends at Burnt Orange cafe.

Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life

Mark Twain

Reflected on how blessed we all are to have led the majority of our lives in a historical and geographical sweet spot.

We are not wealthy by any means. But we are rich. No debt. We own our houses. Live in a country not at war in a (somewhat relatively) free society. We have done meaningful work, and we were able to retire with time still on our side.

And besides….

….you begin to see that as confused and shitty as our civilization is, we’re still living in an amazingly beautiful world, whose beauty is so much vaster and more ancient than all the conceptual bullshit we’ve heaped upon the human experience. You start to find joy in real things. The thundering majesty of nature. That spark of authenticity in people’s eyes. The crackle of magic at the train station. Something as simple as a piece of garbage catching the light just right can make you coo and giggle with delight like an infant. And you learn to live from there. You settle into an understanding that while the suffering and abuses of our world are very real and of immense consequence, the fact that there is anything at all is immensely more significant than any of our tiny human problems. The fact that we get to live in these bodies and inhabit these brains and move around on this amazing planet and perceive it and think thoughts about it is a much, much bigger deal than any of our difficulties.

Caitlin Johnstone