Disease of the Rich
Ennui is a disease of the rich.
I heard, or read, sometime, somewhere, that the poor are too busy to feel ennui. If that’s true, then I must be quite wealthy indeed. I don’t know what’s going on, but I just feel a general lack of passion for, well, for pretty much anything right now. Just sort of empty, hollow and disconnected from everything that means anything. I suppose, if I were more concerned about day-to-day living, I’d have less time to be bored with, as the French say, the pain that is life.
The funny thing is, like the French, when I get this way, I crave cigarettes.
Should I feel sad that I haven’t indulged in a smoke while still suffering the disease of the rich?
Or, should I be happy that life is going so well that this is my biggest problem?
Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for subtlety."
--Issac Asimov
I vote happy that life is going so well that this is your biggest problem. If you are really concerned about it shake up your routine. Go to a park you normally don’t, join an interest group at Meetup.com, find a new area of Houston and take some pictures (always my answer…), do something different. At first you will just feel like you are going through the motions as before, but eventually you will find something that reawakens your interest.
I had coffee with a friend tonight and we talked about this, among other things. My life just seems devoid of passion right now. Just a little empty and hollow and, well, passionless. I speculated out loud that I wondered if that lack of passion was because I was single, with no real prospects, or if I was single because I seemed a bit drab without that passion. I had no answer to that.
Neither did he.
Like all things in life, I believe it’s a cycle… eventually you will find your muse, and passion will return.
Ha! Muses are a dime a dozen, I’m afraid. Every idea comes with a muse. But, ideas are easy. The hard part is working them into a publishable story. That takes a little bit more work. And dedication. And practice. And… Well, if I keep making the attempts, sooner or later, the gears will catch and the wheel will indeed turn.