I write in the midst of the “hazy lazy crazy days of summer”, still available here in the Northeast this year. I can more or less mindlessly sit in a chair on the beach, swimming occasionally, or walk through dense green woods without a care, or vegetate watching flowers and insects on the backyard patio. Give the worried brain a rest.
There are different degrees of being oblivious, of course, from the profound peace of deep sleep to the intense focus on something locally important. All cut out distant horizons, so we cease worry about the future, the other side of the planet, fevered imagination. We are reminded, if we care to make an analytical effort, that anything beyond our immediate perceptions is an illusion. The more distant _ the more irrelevant.
There are also differing ways to achieve such a state. Alcohol, drugs, meditation, concentration, sex _ a myriad of methods. All of them can deliver for a short time a release from the too present modern world.
I do not proclaim that such willful abandonment of the toils of planning should be a life goal. There are other joys besides a hedonistic mindlessness. But like any cool refreshment, a sip of obliviousness now and then can refresh and even add depth and perspective to who we are and how we manage our lives.
Once upon a time,leisure was thought to help us forget cares. Alas, for many, leisure and even play have become work oriented. A struggle to meditate seems a true Zen oxymoron.
HuntingtonHarborThoughts 