the choice

                          

I’m in the constant state of adjusting my attitude, and it is a very willing act. This being only my second late autumn back in a northern climate ,

It dawned on me that I should feel different, that everything is different, I’m not even the same person I was in the summer . Summer is one thing, in a northern climate, and fall is another thing entirely, and winter another thing entirely on top of that. And then will come the totalitarian adventure of spring; leaving in its melted wake six month accumulation moraines comprised of dog feces and pastel, formerly hot soup vomit, the ghosts of middle class  chocolate lab poops under early cover of endless night, and private pukes of drunks past.

There are seasons, each being entirely one thing, and our moods should adjust.

-I’ve heard much on directing attention and countless memes of ‘where your thoughts go, so do you’ (ahem,..Aegean Sea, please) . I’ve found my only true countermeasure as to how to treat those runaway, aimless carnival of thoughts. Since dabbling in neuroscience and learning intimately how neurons fire and connect and create superhighways in the brain, I’ve played little mental walkabouts with myself.

Let’s just play binary meme thinking and say there are two camps of people :

Those in the Happy/Joy camp, and those in the Angry/Cynical camp.

I believe there is a lot more cross pollination than either would have us think, but for now let’s examine these simple monikers and what they could represent.

Happy/Joy has a good marketing campaign; Easter hues, golden beams filtering through virile tree boughs, laconic directives in cursive writing over beach scenes, a chestnut haired, hazel eyed woman with Incan cheek bones fingering the top fronds of wild oats as she walks boldly into the sunset. ( it is bold to not look down, not even at all, as you are walking over gopher and snake hole studded ground). And one word : Vibes.

Angry/Cynical is the flip side of ‘oNe lOve’ , and as they ascribe to not one political party; A/C can seem less unified, more interesting and varied. There’s the angry Libertarian ( pro-drugs, works hard, hates everyone) the angry Conservative ( secretive about ‘prescribed’ drug use, works hard, hates infidels) the angry Liberal ( doesn’t have to take drugs as self-righteous rage is adrenaline fuel, works the patience of their liberal, less angry friends, hates absolutely everyone). What distinguishes the angry liberal from their angry conservative brethren is that there is less unification within the liberal philosophy, resulting in a ‘The Whole World Is Against Me’ mentality.

In all seriousness, it is hard to negotiate these waters. Those who can’t reconcile the constant, seemingly merciless barrage of ‘happy’ imagery ( the right eco face cream, the right yoga pose) interposed against images of drowned child refugees, or mouthpiece liberal hypocrites slamming a sacred institution, or just, whatever it is, that stuff that you don’t like that makes you angry,.. assume, from the first two sentences of this paragraph, that the person writing this is on your side, or not on your side, and follow that reasoning. Those two options provided you are limiting. 

Onward.