Happy Feet - Jan 31 2022

 

Happy Feet

Jan 31 2022

I suppose the ideal way to be in this world

is to want nothing.

But we are ruled by desire.

We are attached to things

outcomes

lies,

those we tell to others

as well as those we tell ourselves.

But we not only want for nothing

we have too much.

And when there is no such luxury?

What basic needs remain

when all the fat has been cut,

the illusions

that offered comfort

no longer serve?

The mystics and poets

and sensitive souls

might say purpose

love

belonging.

A more practical sort would settle

for food and warmth.

But I think of the homeless man

who hungers for sleep,

impossible

on cold hard streets

or the mean cacophony of shelters.

Who's in desperate need

of new socks,

instead of thin soup

and earnest prayers.

So, is the secret to happiness

warm dry feet?

Not Lamborghinis

or fancy clothes.

Not status or celebrity.

Just gratitude

for a good night's sleep,

and happy feet

waking up tomorrow.

Not an original notion, of course. The Buddha understood that want and attachment created unhappiness. What modern prosperity has taught us is that having too much can create even more unhappiness: the disillusion, purposelessness, and guilt it brings.

I read this about the plight of homeless (or, as the euphemism has it these days, the "unhoused"). How hard sleep is, yet such an essential thing for mental and physical health. And how there is a great unmet need for the simplest thing: warm dry socks. So there are legitimate wants: the foundational necessities that make life possible. And absolutely no reason for most of us to want for gratitude.

And perhaps a good lesson for us all: that we should always carry with us a new pair of thick cozy socks to give to the next homeless person we meet.