Look, I realize that's profane.
But I am feeling rather profane at this moment.
The other day, I finally responded to one of Bubba's persistent invitations to attend a meeting of her Buddhist sect. I'm not a religious person in the least. Because of my upbringing, spirituality is something I stuggle with on a large scale. ... But I was feeling rather open-minded the other day, so I agreed to go.
It was a pleasant enough experience. And there was food when it was over. And a little bit later, beer.
But right now, I am REGRETTING that move.
See, I want to sleep because I've been up all night working a graveyard shift. (Very quiet. Only one interpersonal problem among the residents to remedy at 5:30 this a.m. Otherwise, I did some chores around the place, got caught up in a text book and watched the movie "Thumbsucker.")
So my brain is tired. The old grey matter is not functioning very well. And under these conditions, it has a particularly nasty habit. I get "ear worms," those repetitions of one line from a song or a few strange words ("Robinson Caruso" and "Lee Iacoca" come to mind).
I was taking the pup on a stroll and got to thinking about that Buddhist meeting and Bubba asking me later what I thought of it. I'm not to keen on devotion to slogans, I had replied, in reference to their chanting and to the profuse discussion about the four words they chant repeatedly.
Walking down the street, I thought, What were those words, anyway?
And as I recalled them -- GODDAMNIT! -- they got stuck in my head. Now, all I want to do is go to sleep, and I've got this funky chant repeating itself endlessly. (I won't repeat those words here because I don't want to reinforce anything.)
Point of irony: It seems this particular chant is pretty much the essence of this Buddhist practice. You're supposed to say these four words a whole bunch in the morning and in the evening, and that is supposed to bring you enlightenment.
Well, you know what? This is not especially enlightening.
What I wouldn't do for a little bit of the theme song to "Rocky" right now.
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2 comments:
Ear worm! I had no idea there was a name for it.
I one time had "Mesopotamia" stuck in my head for an entire week and only managed to eradicate it by saying the word over and over while I was in the shower.
Fortunately for me, venting my frustrations in the blog seemed to help the ear worm move on its way, and I was able to sleep for a few hours without the damn chanting in my head.
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