A moment, please

 I'm not a very woo-woo guy. Despite my 46 years of residency in California. The crunchiest thing about me are the raw red peppers I put in my salads. And I'm at my most philosophical when I'm swimming endless laps at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center. And even submerged in water it is not very easy. Not when there are a hundred screaming kids in the Pee Pool on the other side of the Competitive Pool which I prefer. I have nothing against Marco Polo, the discoverer but I'm betting he'd be seething to see what these inordinately loud brats have done with his name.

I digress. 

And as you can see, the old man grumpiness has still not been soothed.

Per my doctor's recommendation months ago, I am making the effort to tune down the noise of the world and unearth the peaceful being that lives inside me, albeit jacketed by years of stress, anger and growling Gotham genes that go to 11. 

I have just finished the book pictured above. And doing my best not to order the new Maggie Haberman book Regime Change, "inside the imperial presidency of Donald Trump." Which frankly could undo month's of calming labor. I'm still very much a work in progress.

In addition to reading about mindfulness, I've started meditating. Not in the very active sense, but with guided meditations that are part and parcel of my Peloton membership. And with the aid of low dose Petra THC mints. 

Mmmmm, minty.

Despite my NYC predisposition towards cynicism, I'm actually seeing progress. And learned to be an observer of my emotions and thoughts and resist instantaneous reaction to the them. As the woo woo people, and the Stoics, say, "this too shall pass."

Towards the end of his book, Kabat-Zinn warns of the inclination to talk about personal progress. Indeed, he eschews the notion of progress or setting of goals. And suggests this all be done in silence and solitude for it's own good. I get that. But the truth is, he writes book on the matter and does speaking engagements hoping to teach others what he has learned. He probably makes a fair penny on top of that.

In other words, I gave consideration to his advice and thought about not sharing my newfound zeal. And then I remembered the impermanence of it all.  And that thought did pass.