Adonis Diaries

The Most Glorious Year: A Modern Hermit (May 14, 2009)

I wrote in my diary a couple of days ago the following:

“It is the most glorious year in my life since I started publishing on wordpress.com in mid September of 2008.  This year is associated with the most abject financial condition I ever experienced.”

As I stated in my post “Beyond why we write”:

My reading purpose has undergone a qualitative shift:  I read for themes that excite my personal reflection.  There are days I vow not to write anything but my diary.  Then, as I read a chapter in a book or a report in a magazine” I am noting down a theme in my “article file” with a catchy title.

Regardless of the analysis or style of the theme in the chapter that I am reading, my article is fundamentally different and bears my signature style and opinions.

This year is glorious because I learned to live with the bare necessities that permit me to read, write, and publish.

My old car is no longer that necessary and is barely salvageable.  I don’t have to ride any farther than three kilometers to the public library.

I spend wonderful mornings amid new book arrivals and the available internet for posting what I have edited yesterday.  (You may read my post “The Maitre Phares’ Library“).

I go to bed early, no later than 10 p.m., and get up early to the chants of birds.

I managed to nail down a productive and enjoyable routine since I removed from my worry the nasty and ridiculous process of applying for ridiculous jobs and be interviewed by non interesting specimen.

Around 8 a.m. I exercise for 45 minutes, leisurely and happily, and then I work in the garden and gather what I sawed, leisurely and happily; a kind of silent prayer.

I make sure to take siesta or a nap and value all the dreams that get attached to sleeping and I am up fresh for another round of eight hours of productive and enjoyable work in my study. (You may read my post “A Typical Day“)

I have been forgotten for years as if I live in Mars.

I don’t receive visitors since I am not in any business of selling and buying.  I refused to return to cellular phones or anything that may keep beeping: I cannot afford monthly payments for anything anyway.  Thus, I don’t need to deal with banks that always find excuses to penalize me and extort money as I willingly deposited with them for “safe keep!”

(Banks re-invest your safely net money in secured government bonds with outrageous interest loans, extended to other customers who patronize the same bank.  Banks are the perfect financial sawing machine to extract whatever benefit it can rob you clean, with other people’s money. Banks are such icons that governments feel obligated to save banks, even investment banks from bankruptcy, by shamelessly propagating the myth of a most ridiculous excuse:  Banks are the “ideal oil” or lubricating medium to keeping society functioning for the capitalist system!)

I didn’t earn money this year but I was not robbed or had to shed blood for any blood suckers.  I have no money and I am no longer at the mercy of anyone to be lured into temptations for investment in far-fetched business ventures or keeping abreast of new gizmos.

It is a new experience that is teaching me that what is necessary for survival keeps saving me from sickness, and bad moods. My money is stashed in the safest boxes of all: my health and positive hope are intact for another glorious fresh morning.

It is a new experience that teaches you that what is superfluous consumes your nervous energy and your precious time: it ends up reminding you that financial success is all vanity, that power generated from money is the worst of vanities.  Many died this year in my hometown and in varying ages and they are practically forgotten.

I reverted to a childhood condition with a mind that can read, write, and re-appreciate the moments of happiness for the little gifts and grace that I receive.  As a modern hermit I don’t miss occasions when I am invited for an outing of trekking or visiting a remote area that I am not familiar with, or sharing an occasional “surprise party”.

“Surprise parties” for birthdays and other excuses are becoming countless among youth, and wages vanish on gifts and going to movies and preparing for the party in decorations and purchasing the cakes and buying new outfits.

I try hard not to be lured by modern facilities to vanquish nature: seasons have rights that I respect. Day cycle has rights that I respect.  In winter I keep warm and dress accordingly; I avoid unnecessary trips under a thunderstorm rainy days.  I avoid long distance trips just to pay my respect to an immigrant visiting his homeland.

In April and early May I dust off my suits and wear them everyday with a flower fastened in my lapel hole, “a movable feast” for the eyes and my morale.  In summer, I am very casual, in shorts, jeans, and occasionally I dress Hawaiian.  I thus kept the recurring flu at bay this year, even the pork/pig flu so far.

It is the most glorious year because I effectively worked the hardest with the best time investment on my mental and physical capabilities, with no money transactions involved.

This is the year I felt the most powerful: master of my time, my well-being, and acquiring genuine compassion for my neighbors and relatives.

If conditions change, I’ll change and adapt.

I will refrain from altering in any drastic way this great experience.