I’m out of clever shit to say.

Except for this exchange with my main man Randy Hillier.  He’s the best.

Doug Ford is set to announce a four-week lockdown at 130 pm today.  It will begin Saturday at 12:01 and is being called a circuit breaker pause.

What we are all thinking Saturday at 12:01 @fordnation pic.twitter.com/2WUu6F6ciA

— DeanBlundell.com (@DBlundellNet) April 1, 2021

NOW, you might be asking, “Why the fuck did we ease targeted restrictions a month ago only to go back to a full provincial lockdown a month later”?  That’s because the Ontario Government tried to appease small businesses and lockdown haters by willingly ignoring science and expert opinion on the explosion of variant strains, specifically the B1.1.7 strain from the UK.

So now we’re just flipping the lockdown switch like it’s attached to the wall and I’m good with it because I don’t need a lockdown to do the right thing.

You see, I apply common sense issues, including lockdowns, so it makes each one a little easier.

During the first lockdown, I  focused on creating as much content as possible while exiting an abusive relationship.

Check.

During the winter lockdown, I started to study Stoicism and Buddhism with the intent of separating my emotions from negative experiences.

I highly recommend ‘Ego Is The Enemy’ by Ruan Holiday and ‘The Meditations’ by Marcus Aurelius.   “The Moral Animal’ by Arthur Wright and ‘The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy’ are also terrific guides to a much healthier perspective of negative influence from day to day life.  I want the ability to be emotionally indifferent to negativity while accepting any reality.

I also perfected the art of making soup.  Fish and shrimp gumbo to split pea and ham, I made soup every weeke”Why the fuck did we ease targeted restrictions a month ago only to go back to a full provincial lockdown a month later”?nd for 3 months and gave them to folks who liked soup.  Now my kids are tired of dinner you can eat with a spoon, but fuck, can I make soup!

I’ve learned about guided meditation, incorporating it into my stress plan.

My kids and I invented Netflix Friday which is Pandemic Proof.

We made a list of other friends and families who agreed to be bubble buddies during both lockdowns because it’s wholly fucking unreasonable to expect a 14-year-old to rot in his house for 90 days straight.

In short, I never looked at what lockdowns took away from me, I looked to leverage an opportunity to live responsibly and become a happier person free of anyone else’s influence because who seriously gives a fuck what Extremists with Twitter accounts think.

“Ambition means tying your well-being to what other people say or do. Self-indulgence means tying it to the things that happen to you. Sanity means tying it to your own actions.”

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.51

Have we not always overcome obstacles with education and common sense helping us leverage our way to peace of mind and victory?

Aren’t we supposed to continue to learn and evolve because of these obstacles?

It’s kind of the only real question left for us to answer.

“How will I use life’s greatest trials?  Will I give in to irrational emotions to satisfy the irrational parts of my selfishness, or will I get busy living, by accepting the reality of life, finding ways to live objectively”.

“Throughout the day, practise bringing your attention back to the present moment, rather than allowing it to wander off into daydreams, rumination about the past, or worry about the future. ✽ If you have to think about something else, that’s okay, but try to keep one eye on the present moment, by noticing how you’re using your body and mind – try to be aware of each second that passes. ✽ If it helps, imagine that you’re seeing the world for the first time, or that this is your last day of life, and concentrate your attention on how you actually think and act, from moment to moment. ✽ Remind yourself that the past and future are ‘indifferent’ to you, and that the supreme good, and eudaimonia, can only exist within you, right now, in the present moment.”
― Donald J. Robertson, Stoicism and the Art of Happiness: Ancient Tips for Modern Challenges

I’ve had bad days and good days but the good days look way more sustainable with an accurate perception of reality and the development of a healthy life philosophy/standard of living.  Anger and confusion are not sustainable feelings.  Future worry is nothing more than your brain going into hyperbolic overdrive and the shit that has already happened is done and means nothing today.

Vaccines are here and they are 100% effective.

The rollout has sucked but you can still do your part for your family while acquiring tools to achieve sustainable happiness.

Everything is transitory.  Or as the magic bible says ‘this to shall pass’.  It’s an immutable fact.

“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.”
― Seneca

Come up with a plan that works for you and your family.

Be responsible, not a militant asshole.

Give up trying to figure everything out and spend time investing in yourself and your peace of mind.

Who knows, you might get some soup out of it.

Dean