I will be completely "offline" for the next 11 days. I'm going on a meditation retreat.
No, I haven't become a buddhist. Or anything like that. And, actually, I've felt somewhat embarrassed telling some of the people who know me that I'm doing this, but in fact it's something I've wanted to do, and have been planning, on and off, for not just years, but decades. I guess I feel embarrassed because it doesn't really match the cynical, anti-spiritual persona I present of myself. Well, anyway…
I will be off the internet, off cellphones, not even taking reading material, for this next week and a half. If I come out a weird cultist, I'm counting on everyone to do some kind of "intervention" quickly. But as my friend Bob said, earlier today, I came out still myself from the Army, and lots of other crazy things… no reason why this should affect me any differently, right?
"I will always retain my inner core of pure cynicism," I retorted. But it's been shading toward a weird, optimistic sort of cynicism for some years now, I would add. The positive-thinking cynic?