From Pete, a blog reader, thanks:

Jon: “I came across this from Franz Kafka, of all people, and I thought you might appreciate it: “Youth is happy because it can see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.”   – Pete.

I do appreciate it, very much.

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Fighting worry.  Worry is different from fear in my mind. Fear is sometimes helpful for fending off danger and sounding an alarm. Worry seems almost entirely useless and pointless to me, especially worrying about a future that is never really predictable. It is suitable for sleeplessness if anyone is looking for it.

To eliminate worry, which is necessary to eliminate fear, its sister, I began a series of meditations that have been almost shockingly effective.

Meditations always seem too woo-woo for me, and I could rarely be still enough to focus on a thought. I was worrying too much. I meditate in different places at varying times.

I didn’t realize that worrying is a choice, not a necessary part of life. The birds are helping me do it this week. Nature is an astonishing thing.

My meditations vary, depending on my mood. Lately, I’ve been pulling up a chair to look out the window on cold days and watch the birds stop by for breakfast. They are beautiful to watch and perfect for meditation. They also have more energy than teenagers.

They are almost hypnotic to look at. Kafka is correct; you are not old if you can see beauty in the world.

I’ve discovered that birds are, like flowers, worry-killers. Like flowers, most people see birds so often that they don’t see them. It’s too bad; looking at them for too long without smiling and/or feeling good about life is impossible.

It was just too cold this morning to go outside with my camera, and yesterday’s Shingle vaccine left me tired and sore in my arm. I know people who had shingles, and I don’t care what people who miss the Dark Ages have to say; I don’t intend to get them.

The birds seem to be worry killers; who would have thought it? Come along on my bird meditation, pay attention, and see if it doesn’t work for you these days when worrying is a disease of its own. Come along to an anti-worrying meditation. I hardly ever worry any longer.

My birds are a theater of the morning. In warmer weather, their colors seem to come up.