Feed the Soul, Starve the Beast

Some thoughts about Gratitude, Joy and Trolling

AS I watch the Clown World being led, apparently from the joyless halls of Davos, I take a moment smile and thank God impressing those mediocre minds is not one of my top priorities. Or even tertiary priorities. They don’t enter my radar mostly, except when I read their gossip. Gossip is one of my weaknesses, having pursued a performing career for most of my early life, at first it was research, and when I walked away? Gossip was a constant reminder of how lucky I was never to have crossed THAT Rubicon. That world is far uglier than it appears, and NOTHING is decided on merit. So gossip is one of my “Guilty Pleasures”.

Today I taught my kids how to deconstruct a chicken. You can save 4 or 5 dollars a pound on organic chicken if you DIY. And there is a pot of chicken stock on the back burner, a pot of chicken paprikash on the front burner, and it’s snowing. Simple pleasures. And I smile, contented enough for the moment. Making sure I enjoy my half full glass before someone comes along and drinks it for me.

I read a lot, in a lot of different areas, because everything interests me. And several times, I have read the idea that “the hand behind the power” feeds on our pain. Our fear. Our hungers and desires of an uglier nature. And that got me thinking. Because as counter intuitive as it feels at first, it makes a weird kind of sense if you apply a little physics. And some out of the box thinking.

Because at our core we are energy beings dressed in a meat suit, we radiate our own field of energy. This can be captured by certain kinds of cameras. We can feel it when someone enters our energy field uninvited, we call it “invading our space”. And sometimes it can be ok, but we know when someone makes us uncomfortable. Our energy gets erratic. We may get cranky, nervous, or anxious.

The West doesn’t talk a lot about this but Ayurvedic medicine does, because they maintain that before dis-ease manifests at a physical level it has disrupted two or three layers of the energetic self. Ayurveda diagnoses illness from the perspective of a multilayered human. Their theory of doshas has been applied to healing in the east for 1000s of years, and I must say anecdotally, it works for me. I may do a deeper dive on the doshas in the future, but what is relevant here is their concept of Vata dosha, which is the airy, intellectual self, more energy than anything else. And the easiest of the doshas to throw out of whack. Long flights can do it. Sustained arguing, and mental abuse. And a sustained atmosphere of fear, and lack of control can do it. And all of a sudden, we feel as if everything is overwhelming. And nothing is possible. We are on the way to getting physically sick and don’t even know it. My term for this is “Vata derangement”, and I am very conscious these days, of words, and phrases, and themes which are working very hard to try to put me there. Deliberately, it feels. With malice aforethought. You see, being in a constant state of stress weakens your gut, which is the centerpiece of your immune system. And I treat my gut like I treat my heart and brain, like it’s golden.

So, in addition to meditating at least twice a day, I go out of my way to laugh. Every day. Robin Williams. George Carlin. Dave Chappelle. Joe Rogan. There will ALWAYS be someone pointing out humanity’s absurdities, you just have to make time for them. Hint: It’s GREAT for your blood pressure too. You can feel the difference the first day you try it.

Figure out that little thing which gives you pleasure, and give it to yourself once a week. For me that is flowers. Thank goodness for Trader Joe’s. When we lived in Europe I could spend $15 and fill every room of our apartment with flowers. Trader Joe’s comes close. But change it up. And don’t necessarily match seasons and colors, let your Self tell you what to bring home. Use this to break out of thought boxes. Or find them.

This was a big one for me. And it cracks me up. Because I watched “White Christmas” the first time it was on tv and at least once a year every year after that. But I never really connected to Counting My Blessings until my mid 50s, and now I do it daily as a practice. Because when you focus on them, with all your attention, there are always more than you thought there were. Or at least that is extremely true for me. Both my kids are healthy and grown up, living with me because the economics makes sense, and they love me. After everything we have been through…still. We have a roof, each other, a diva dog who smiles, a loving cat and enough. Gratitude is a powerful mood shifter.

Put down the box. You know what I mean, your habitual internet usage. Commit to a book at bedtime. Something challenging maybe, that will engage your brain. Disconnect from the stuff trying to rattle you cage. Especially the stuff that you, personally can’t change right now. What is kind of interesting for me, is one of the things I have started doing is playing a video game. I play two. Super Mario and Yoshi. Totally cartoons and I never really hurt anybody, plus I find them fun. Genuinely fun.

Have a cup of tea and get out a notebook. Let go, and write it down, (I know this can be a hard one for moms, it “gets the crazy” out harmlessly). We all have those moments, days, weeks. But they end. And if we put a little thought into how we pass our days, we don’t have to get caught in nets that feel like despair.

If the very wildest of the theories out there is true, and all this perceptible misery is being caused to harvest our “negative energy”? What better way to fight them? Making a deliberate effort every single day to create a little joy. Spread a little sunshine. Choose to be happy.

They STILL lose. And maybe you won a round or two.