Getting the Gimmes

If we go down into ourselves we find that we possess exactly what we desire. - Simone Weil in the Zen Calendar (Mounted on my refrigerator for many years).

Day 141. Triple digit temperature. It was only a matter of time.

On the way home from dinner with a friend, I listened to a program on NPR discussing the budget crisis in New York and the partisan discord that was stagnating problem solving. "This is not news," I thought, "Budget crises are as pandemic as bipartisan agreement is rare." The quote from a New York budget official was equally impotent: "Year after year we spend more money than we take in." Ya think?

I was reminded of one of my son's favorite books from the time he was three to...uh, about now. It was titled "The Berenstein Bears Get the Gimmes." The Berenstein Bear books were very psychologically correct stories about a bear family grappling with common dilemmas and conflicts encountered within families. In this particular story, Brother Bear and Sister Bear get a bad case of "the gimmes" - the insatiable illness of "I-Want-Gotta-Have-Right-Now-itis that is the inevitable product of a capitalistic society combined with effective marketing to children combined with indulgent parents. It's a creative and accurate portrayal of themes of selfishness, lack of gratitude, acquiring things you don't need or even like, and the burdens of accumulation. The other titles to the trilogy are "The Entire Planet Gets the Gimmes" and "We are Really Screwed Now."

There is a subtle but growing trend, smack dab in the midst of our conspicuous consumption, toward buying less and having less. Obvious indicators are lagging retail sales and other "bad economy" indexes; I think the plethora of "Clear Your Clutter" and "Simplify" books is reliable evidence as well. When I listen to conversation around me, I usually hear the "gimmes" referencing the latest electronic thrill and whatever "_G Network" we are currently on. Interestingly, the other common "gimmes" I hear center on immaterial things. "Gimme time. Gimme relaxation. Gimme privacy. Gimme quiet. Gimme sleep. Gimme attention. Gimme love. Gimme safety." As a culture, I think we are awakening to the fact that, despite our incessant buying, products don't satisfy these needs - at least not for very long.

The longer I sit, the less I want to own. Though my gimme list isn't diminishing, the content is changing. Gimme emptiness. Gimme patience. Gimme clarity. Gimme understanding. Gimme endurance. Gimme compassionate. So that I may give it back.

Gassho,
CycleBuddhaDoc