In my life synchronicity is a great player and as I should have expected, this morning when I was musing about how to go about writing this week’s LBC post, I came across this piece of wisdom, thanks to Nick who posted this on his facebook page.
I want to use this forum to list all the serious stuff that either have been eliminated or which I have eliminated from my life.
Right on top of the list will be matrimony. I did not eliminate this. This was eliminated for me by life which took my spouse of forty years away from me five years ago. I however do not for a moment doubt that the state of matrimony is a very serious matter. It was not always so for us in the first 33 years of our life together but it did become so the last seven when Urmeela was incapacitated and I cared for her. I tried to make it as unserious as possible during those days but for her too many important things kept cropping up that made life very serious.
The next big item that was eliminated for me from my list of serious stuff was the death of my father two years ago, which after some serious set backs, released me from psychological scars that I had carried for a life time. That baggage was right royally eliminated with that resolution.
Believe it or not, all the other items in the list are things that not big in terms of impact on my life but the elimination of which has made for a rather unserious life style. In no particular order of priority and not exhaustive, they are:
Shaving.
Formal Western style clothes and footwear.
Attending religious ceremonies/rites except under exceptional circumstances.
Watching television.
Obligatory attendance of meetings, reunions etc.
Serious people.
Frustrating relationships.
Whatsapp and similar Instant Messaging applications on my mobile phone and computer.
Guilt when saying no to things and situations not to my liking.
Dinner.
A number of subscriptions to magazines/periodicals that do not appeal to me any more.
You do get a sense of how I am moving my lifestyle to one of being totally unserious don’t you?
I hope that you enjoyed reading my take on this subject which was chosen by Maria the gaelikaa, for the weekly Friday Loose Bloggers Consortium where five of us write on the same topic. The four other bloggers who write regularly are, in alphabetical order, Ashok gaelikaa, Maxi, Shackman. Do drop in on their blogs and see what their take is on this week’s topic. Since some of them may post late, do give some allowance for that too! Ashok too is having prohlems with his blog being down and may or not participate this week.
I’ve managed to eliminate most of the things I don’t like to do. I’m too busy playing to be bothered.
Cheerful Monk recently posted..A Start
Yes, eliminating the unnecessary gives time for enjoying ourselves with other pursuits.
And there I was, reading your subject line, thinking you’d go into the intricacies of your bowl movements. Which I may be forgiven for since I learnt, last night, that a friend’s digestive system is so violently compromised his doctors (plural) advise him to NOT have the operation. Because it won’t make any difference. No shit. Am gutted.
Why do you shed ‘serious’ people, Ramana? We need variety in life. We are rainbows within ourselves. Sometimes funny, sometimes not so funny, sometimes downright serious, sometimes all sorts of things.
And if Cheerful Monk mentions one more times that she is busy “playing” I shall die a small death.
U
Ursula recently posted..A la minute
ursula you are ruthless!
kylie recently posted..enforced insomnia
Perhaps I used the wrong word. I meant toxic people rather than serious people.
i think you are deeply serious, aren’t the serious people the ones who make efforts to lose the irrelevant?
kylie recently posted..enforced insomnia
Kylie, that’s a good definition of seriousness.
nick recently posted..The jury’s out
Stroke of genius there, Kylie, you mentioning the “irrelevant”. Let’s just say the rot has set in. If I keep shedding the “irrelevant” at the rate I do there won’t be much left in about twenty years’ time. Other than gardening, watering the Angel with affection and hoping that not everyone will keep dropping around me. Yes, Kylie, insert sigh, what a future. By the time I am 120 I will have perfected minimalism of material and mind. “Vacant possession” in estate agents’ lingo.
U
Ursula recently posted..A la minute
Yes, they are serious about becoming flippant.
Ramana, I gave up most of those things some time ago, except shaving (as I don’t like beards), watching TV (for the one or two worthwhile programmes), and serious people (who may be pompous but can be interesting). Also I’ve never had a smartphone, never joined Twitter and never gone in for karaoke.
nick recently posted..The jury’s out
That is nice. I however think that you will look grand if you did grow a beard. You will look like a film star!
That was the second attempt at a comment. The first attempt vanished into the ether.
nick recently posted..The jury’s out
Careful Nick. Maybe you are being eliminated! 😉
Grannymar recently posted..Thursday Special ~ Letter Of Recommendation
May be you were pressing the wrong button the first time Nick!
I’ve seemed to have reached the age where ‘eliminations’ have become a serious issue because the eliminations I refer to are “forced” eliminations. Whereas your chosen eliminations for the most part enhance your life and well-being, the ones I speak of slowly drain the pleasures of one’s life. The eliminations I elude to of course are those we face due to health issues as we age. We can no longer run; no longer ride a bike on a sunny afternoon; go for a long walk in the evening; go out to a restaurant for a meal; work in our gardens or mow our lawns. These are the eliminations that many of us will face in our later years. And those that don’t have to endure these eliminations of life’s simplest pleasure should count themselves as very fortunate.
Alan G recently posted..The Man Who Saved the Children….
I agree entirely. One of the things I resent is not being able to go for long motorbike rides or long walks on rough terrain. I know that such forced eliminations can be demoralising.
Don’t sweat the small stuff. Oh – and it’s all small stuff. 🙂
Absolutely. It all is just a matter of definition.
“Dinner” ? .. I don’t believe you ! … 🙂
I stopped eating dinner in 2002. I do however have some salad or fruit if I am particularly hungry but in any case not later than 7.30 pm. Incidentally, I eat only one freshly cooked meal, my lunch every day.