Seek pleasure, avoid pain

Friday, September 12, 2008

Damp again today but warmer. Amber sent me several text messages today and seems interested in getting to know me. Other days, she doesn’t seem very interested. She wants to talk more this weekend. I’m not going to get my hopes up. Like I always say in the end, I’m probably better off alone. Watched “Malcolm in the Middle,” Hal’s father died and he didn’t know how to grieve since he wasn’t close to his father. Sarah Palin gave her first interview to the national media tonight, with Charlie Gibson. She’s more conservative than I am but I find her to be a very likeable person. I think many Americans feel the same way. If the media continues to vilify her, it will backfire. She seems down to earth, like she could be anyone’s mom, and she is really cute! Watched coverage of hurricane Ike that will hit Galveston, Texas.

Went to Springfield with Gabby, hit Lowe’s to get a jack for the porch, then went to Wal-Mart and later got Groceries. We ate at Burger King because I like their veggie burgers and absolutely love, I mean love, their plain black cup of joe coffee. I saw my doctor back on August 28th and during the visit I advised that my meds would run out in about 2 weeks. My doctor said he would call refills in for me and made a note to make the calls right there in front of me. So, tonight I go to pickup my meds and I’m told nothing has been called in for me! Great. I have enough meds to last a couple days and I left a message for my Dr. to call the refill in but it is still annoying. I did get an iron supplement at Wal-Mart tonight to try since I’m borderline anemic.

Before bed, I let the Chow in and then watched “The Dog Whisperer.” Tonight’s episode really hit home because the woman was in her mid fifties and disabled, she said all of her family has passed away and she doesn’t have any friends. All she had was her specially trained dog and a rabbit she later picked out. Cesar even said she doesn’t have any family so she is making the animals her family, and added, “This is why animals are important.” This really struck me because I fear I will be the same when I am 50 (or younger), all alone, no family, and only a dog to keep me company. Therefore, the episode wasn’t exactly uplifting. However, as always, Cesar was incredibly positive and inspirational. He is a very motivational person with a great attitude on life. I’m sure I could learn a lot from him.

I applied to a new human resources job at Pactiv. I probably won’t hear back but it is worth a try and it is a job I would enjoy. I just need someone to give me a chance in the HR field.

Who is the philosopher I most relate to? I mentioned this in a prior journal entry and I’ve been looking for an existentialist philosopher I can closely relate to. While I most closely relate to existentialism as a philosophy or set of ideas, the more I read about Epicurus, the more I lean towards nominating him as my all-time favorite philosopher. While there have been more complex philosophers than Epicurus, especially in the 20^th century, what good is philosophy if the public at large cannot understand it? As Socrates famously stated, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Isn’t that what philosophy is about? To me it sure is. Epicurus stated the purpose of philosophy is to live a happy life full of pleasure and absent of pain. It is so simple but so true. He emphasized that friendship (which I lack) is important to obtain happiness. He never married and probably did not have any children. He embraced egalitarianism and allowed women and slaves into his schools. He emphasized the importance of science and observation and disregarded religion and the idea of divine intervention. It is hard to imagine embracing that point of view during a time in which the gods were believed to have such an enormous influence on everyday life. He taught we should live a simple life, avoid the desire for wealth and earthly possessions, live in seclusion and not draw attention to ourselves, promote life absent of pain and suffering, rejected superstition and belief in the afterlife, and advised to not fear death. His followers were also vegetarians! That is the work and ideas of a truly brilliant man! We should live a simple life, seek simple pleasures, avoid pain, suffering and belief in superstition, and not fear death. Like many, I fear dying, specifically how one dies, because here again, I want to avoid pain. But don’t fear death, for it is the end of pain. Yes, I am an Epicurist. I know I already wrote about this man recently but I will go out on a limb here and state, in my humble opinion, Epicurus probably had the greatest mind in all of philosophy!