degringolade

Memories of Spring

I have been pondering the nature of decline and the events and decisions of the past couple of decades. This is a subject that is fraught with contradictions and gradients. In a sense, the best description I have ever heard is:

“The future is already here – it’s just not very evenly distributed.“ (William Gibson)

I have read many folks out there who get all pissy-bitch about this quote, because, in their self-centered little minds, they feel that somehow thinking this way detracts from the fantasy that their personal agency means something to the big bad universe and by acknowledging that the conditions of the future aren’t a homogenous layer means that your desires are not the center of the universe.

I suppose that I look at it differently and there are a lot of folks out there who will pronounce anathema on my scribblings and go away, but be advised, that doesn’t bother me. The future that an individual sees is a summation of that person's personal belief system juxtaposed upon a world system that doesn’t care one damn bit about that personal belief system. It isn’t that the world is trying to bust your balls or anything, the world just doesn’t care.

As I am working through the process of Vanaprastha I am continually reminded about the differing circles of engagement and my effect on the other denizens of each circle compared to that circle's effect on me. When I was younger, I was of the opinion that the world as a whole could be made better, as I grew older I drifted toward the idea that the country could be made better, for the decade prior to this, I shrunk the circle down to the metropolitan area where I lived. Now the best I can do is be frugal, be nice to my neighbors, and love my family.

But to some folks, this kind of thought means that I am back to my old demi-survivalist mode, but really, nothing could be further from the truth. You see, being a survivalist seems sexy and noble below the age of fifty and you have a family you are responsible for. But when you are an old geezer like me who is on your last legs, it doesn’t make a damn bit of sense.

SO I am going to be working on a new catchphrase for us boomers in the decline and fall. By actually following vanaprastha you become “one who departs to the forest”. Which means that you are leaving behind the greater bulk of desires as well as your stuff. Which to me means that I need to spend more time calibrating the spectrum of needs and desires. I need to strip even more but to do that, I need to define what I need “in the forest”.

So to circle back to the quote that I started this piece with, I need to figure out my best guess on how to enter the uneven and uncaring future with the least amount of luggage.

Gotta travel light, everything that you own ends up owning you