Welcome back dear readers. Due to a combination of disorganization and unfamiliarity with how German utilities work, I managed to get the electricity turned off in my apartment here in Berlin for two days. No heat, hot water, lights or internet. I ate in restaurants and worked during the day in a cafe. When it got dark however, I came back to my apartment and basically went to sleep. My kids were with me and so we took some night walks and bought flashlights and did shadow puppets. Luckily for me the lights were not off due to a lack of funds but just garden variety incompetence. I got them turned back on this morning.
This minor inconvenience felt surprisingly disruptive! I am reminded how much of our life is repetitive and on-rails, coasting from one moment to the next. When the life support systems are disrupted suddenly we wake up to the possibilities of reality. I am reminded that I am grateful to have electricity heat and internet and the ability to pay for it. This brings to mind the stoic philosopher Seneca’s practice of negative visualization and voluntary discomfort. Seneca writes:
‘Remember that all we have is “on loan” from Fortune, which can reclaim it without our permission—indeed, without even advance notice. Thus, we should love all our dear ones, but always with the thought that we have no promise that we may keep them forever—nay, no promise even that we may keep them for long.’
– Seneca
There is a very a great deal in common between the Buddhist embrace of impermanence and the stoic philosophy. All of current reality is conditional and arising only under certain dependencies. Conditions inevitably will change and we may not have a say in the matter. There is something about our minds which tends or wants to believe that the current conditions, vividly real and in front of us as they are, are more likely to persist then not. Of course if we understand probability we know that flipping a coin 49 times heads in a row does not make the 50th flip any more or less likely. Being prepared to embrace change when it happens may make us less likely to be paralyzed or traumatized when it occurs. For myself, I feel a renewed sense of gratitude to be able to do basics like laundry, dishes, and write this blog post.
