Haircut

Yesterday afternoon I went out to buy Winter gloves and the sun was out and it was 64 degrees, which felt really warm. Funny how much difference a few degrees can make after you start getting used to cold.

This morning I went to the grocery store early. I finished my shopping and was coming around the aisle towards the check stands and there was a checker standing there looking for the next customer. We were both singing along to the piped in music, City of New Orleans sung by Arlo Guthrie had just started. What is it about that song that makes you want to sing along?

My haircut is a success, which is a great relief, I feel 5 pounds lighter and I can see again.

It was nice to get out yesterday, but I am behind in job applying, which is super boring, so I will go on to the next enlightenment topic, Soul Center with a passage from Moby Dick by Herman Melville,

"For as this appalling ocean surrounds the verdant land, so in the soul of man there lies one insular Tahiti, full of peace and joy, but encompassed by all of the horrors of the half-lived life."

It is somewhat reassuring that "the half-lived life" or a life held back by fear and practical needs was as much of a concern to Melville in the 19th century as it is to me. I always imagine the 19th century as more free with less of the limitations of society and more unexplored territory, but maybe this is idealistic. The author encourages me to "start living your life with the courage to step ashore and experience your insular Tahiti." I think I am here in Idaho to get closer to being able to experience my soul center and live a life, but it is pretty hard. No matter how full of peace and joy I am, singing to Arlo Guthrie in the grocery store, that financial fear is always hanging around.