No Longer Pleasant
For no particular reason, here's a photo from a concert I went to last year.
Head Cold Day Three is a lot less fun. My sinuses feel like they're on fire, and I'm tired and mopey.
One recent pleasure: I've been watching a series of topics presented by a young-ish Catholic priest (younger than me, anyway) who's so enthusiastic and ADHD and hopeful. A recent one: Someone asked him the purpose of marriage, and he said "to procreate and raise the children." Very few of my friends would answer it that way. Most would roll their eyes. But I kinda like it. It's simple. There's a tangible goal with real meaning. Can't make your own? Adopt. Not really interested in that? Contribute to their raising in some other way.
It dove-tails with another topic I've been thinking about, the Filipino idea of kapwa, or togetherness. It really means something like you have a duty to each other. American culture is so individualistic that both the Catholic and Filipino ideas (let alone the Filipino Catholic ideas) ring hollow. This is echoed in our mutual politics. Sure, the Philippines has had major issues with governance (Marcos, Duterte, now another Marcos), but their culture isn't falling apart because of it. Half the country doesn't hate the other half. There's no looming civil war or "troubles." We're the ones freaking out.
Anyway, I'm sick so if this is stupid, so be it. I'm shooting for daily effort here, not daily genius.
p.s. Kapwa has its own problems. Passive-aggressiveness due to conflict-avoidance is the main one I've noticed, but I'll take that over what we've got.