What Is It You Want Out Of Life?

I had a really interesting chat with my dear friend, Michael, just before retiring for bed last night. Now, you gotta know Michael. He is so...so...so philosophical. In my neck of the woods, the best conversation you're going to get is, "Hey, did you see the truck that went down in the ditch a few minutes ago? You didn't? Well, you don't get out much, do ya?" sort of thing.

It's not that I surround myself with non-philosphical people, it's just that I just don't get much of a chance to talk to people about things that are out of their normal, everyday thinking because simply, there is no one around to get into deep stuff. You start talking about the meaning of life and they change the subject and think you're some kind of New Age-type person and completely leave you to go over and talk to someone else about chickens, crab pots or that same truck that went down in the ditch two weeks ago.

The point I'm trying to make is that I love deep talk and when I started talking to Michael, all of that deep talk comes out.

We were talking about taking off and visiting the Cayce Institute in Virginia Beach, a stone's throw away from here, and exploring all that "deep stuff" as soon as we can find the time. He delivers sawmills and often his trips takes him to my neck of the woods, so we're planning on doing that when our schedule meshes.

Anyway, the talk last night was about the meaning of life. Now, that's deep.

His question was, "What is it you want out of life?"

Loaded question but being the philosophical deep thinker that I was, I took a few minutes to contemplate this and replied, "I believe I have accomplished it so there is nothing more I want."

Oh, there were a million things I "need" but "want"?

I believe that needing and wanting are two separate entities. I "want" to get a NY publisher to sign me on. As for "needing" it, well, it would be nice, but it's not going to make my life any different because I'm basically happy with the way things are now. I do have a book published, well, two actually, and that was one of my goals - to become a published author so that I could have the word "Author" on my headstone for when I go to that big bookstore in the sky (I know, I'm demented.)

As for other goals, a healthy life is all I really "need" or "want" to make me happy. I'm basically a down-to-earth person and I don't need material things to make me happy.

So goes the conversation on through the night about different philosophical things.

Like bacon.

I was cooking it and he said he didn't eat bacon.

I asked why and he said because a pig is a ground feeder.

As in...ych.

I love conversations with Michael. He really makes you think and sometimes you need that philosophical fix once in awhile, while learning a few things besides why that truck went off the road or how many crab pots got pulled in today. Gets those brain cells going so that you can finish those #@&^# revisions.

Okay, back to work....groan....