💾 Archived View for altesq.net › ~evenfire › posts › 2022-07-10-4.gmi captured on 2023-01-29 at 03:55:27. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
People seek retreats for themselves in the country, by the sea, or in the mountains. You are very much in the habit of yearning for those same things. But this is entirely the trait of a base person, when you can, at any moment, find such a retreat in yourself. For nowhere can you find a more peaceful and less busy retreat than in your own soul - especially if on close inspection it is filled with ease, which I say is nothing more than being well-ordered. Treat yourself often to this retreat and be rewarded.
The quote above is by Marcus Aurelius, and has inspired this post, and hopefully you too. He warns of always thinking "after X I'll be happy" or "when I get to Y I'll finally be at peace" etc. We can see the same issues present in our current society, especially with all the consumerism going on. "You need X product to be happy!" or "You need to go to Y vacation to be relaxed! Escape your workplace/school/family/environment now!" They've sold us fake desires and lies from a young age and this resulted in a materialist and consumerist society, and, of course, their financial benefit.
The same technique of advertising is virtually every industry at the moment. We can see this especially with technology and the notion that "progress is always good!" Every year, new products, more cores, bigger screen, +100 to any number in the specification sheet etc. and you buy it again and again, being promised illusory "improvements". The "can't live without the newest thing" mentality sets in, and voila, you're a consumer that benefits the world's largest corporations, all due to clever advertising.
We don't need new products to be content with ourselves. We can truly be content with ourselves if we don't buy new products, if we don't bite into misleading advertising, if we remove the shackles and lies we've been constrained to believe since a young age. Wishing your life away for the weekend or that sweet sweet vacation, isn't the way to live. Most people nowadays only live 2 days per week, and usually that time is spent for instant gratification, to make them forget about their lives.
We don't need islands in the middle of nowhere to be in a retreat. The retreat can be our mind, but we have to protect it and not let it be destroyed and manipulated by today's external factors. If we live according to nature, nothing can disturb us, especially if we're in the right mindset.