Pondering du jour

I'm not sure what day it is, only that I'm not going up to the school today, work deferred for life maintenance and a 3 hour round trip to the nearest town of any size. The world doth seem to be spinning at a high rate of speed lately, and my humor is in need of repair. Yes, I know I'm not the only one in that particular boat, but I'm feeling a bit selfish and self-centered for the moment, after yet another insomniac night. My head is a noisy static of endless lists, which for some reason grow more pointless by the day. All work and no play (plus loggers working early and late) makes the Ponderer a quite disagreeable person to be around.

But, whatcha gonna do? Cest la vie and all that...

To mull: What is contentment, what does it take, how does one maintain it, is it reasonable to expect it as a consistent feeling? This line of questioning can be expanded to include self-satisfaction or even more all encompassing, inner peace. Are some people more or less prone to contentment than others?

My first responses are that the beginnings are appreciation and gratitude for what one has at the moment, after all, it could always be worse. I even make lists every morning (again with the lists!) as a reminder. But in this type of mood I say to myself "well, that's all very fine BUT..." Maybe I should eliminate "but" from my vocabulary.

I am about to embark on a twisty turny path of nonsense, and will spare you that detour. I feel an extended period of reading oriental philosophy coming on too so try as I might it may crop up here and there.

I just looked at a calendar and see that it is in fact a weekend approaching. So I hope you all have a good one. Me, maybe I'll go walking up in the mountains, looking for some peace and quiet, and see if I can find some contentment hidden among the stones in the woods. Or maybe just sit still on a stump and see if it benevolently finds me.

Have a great day!