zhivkov wrote:Thanks very much 8bitagent! I did not find anything cliche about your advice at all. For one had I not quit drinking awhile back I think I would be dead by now -if nothing else because of an accidental O.D. from pain meds combined with large doses of vodka. The diet advice is also very good-I quit eating meat about 6 months ago and started eating much healthier. I have to have blood work done every 2 months and my Dr has been surprised at the changes in liver function and cholesterol etc. much better than it used to be and also at the amount of weight I have lost. I think the absolute key to everything as you also mentioned is very healthy doses of humor and keeping things in perspective. My normal thinking tends towards the doomsterish ( i made my first prediction of apocalypse in 1983 when I was around 18 yrs old.)Needless to say that did not happen and I should have learned something about making predictions then! You would think having lost so much healthwise and possession wise I would be extra doomy. But what I am slowly learning is that each day here in this infinite, mysterious, creative and with all its faults-beautiful world and universe is a true blessing. I don't think humanity and other sentient beings will ever understand everything about the reality we inhabit and maybe that is the biggest blessing of all!
It absolutely is the biggest blessing. I am grateful to be able to pursue all my creative endeavors and enjoy the small things in life. Yesterday I was walking, and these two little butterflies landed together on my shorts. One was kind of yellow green, the other orange. They musta been best friends or lovers, I lifted them with my hand and they seemed so happy...their little fuzzy faces. They flew off together, and it reminded me that no matter how messed up life gets, there will always be beauty. As they say a lot of times it's the journey to somewhere, not the destination that makes it all worthwhile.
I suffer from diabetes, but heredity or not...I used to drink a lot, had the worst diet. So like you I went vegetarian, quit drinking and am trying to eat healthy. It's a whole lifestyle/mindset change.
Aw, 1983...I believe our worldview was much different, but perhaps partially the same.
I was in kindergarten in 1983, 5 years old...but looking back, I was quite the little Alex Jones. I was frightened to death after seeing E.T. that the US military was going to descend upon cities and set up internment camps(being asian and knowing about the Japanese internment camps didnt help) I refused to salute the flag, and was frightened by the back of the one dollar bill. I was a weird, imaginative kid.
Three years later in 1986, at 8, I stood in front of the World Trade Towers on Vessey and Church. I looked up and coulda sworn they were a mile high. It was June 4th, I remember as I wrote the date on a leaf I found. I remember hearing Beastie Boys, seeing graffiti everywhere, Hasidic Jewish neighborhoods and having the best egg roll at 2 in the morning.
Sometimes I wonder if all life really is, is downloading a series of memories upon which to reflect like a dvd collection at the last stages of life.
