Paris - Meditations While Waiting on the Train

So many people ... coming and going ... each with their own agenda, carrying or dragging their personal baggage ... physical(luggage) and non-physical(emotional)

Occured to me that mankind has done a pretty good job of maintaining order in most of the world ... maintaining conditions where people ... men and women and young adults feel safe to venture out ... to the train station ... vis a vis "the law of the a jungle" where each person is left to themselves ... the strong imposing their individual agenda and wishes on the weak ... etc etc

I am intrigued that I feel so positive about 'civilization' right now ... where did all the unfavourable thoughts and opinions go???

My sleepy eyes observed the faces of seemingly countless people today. I always find it interesting how most often our faces portray our 'state of being' in the moment ... particularly if we are executing our own agenda ... ie not involved in drama or theatrics to influence the outcome or opinion of other(s)

A happy face seems to stand out in a crowd - there are not so many of them!

A sad face likewise!

A face projecting a state of "carefree cheerfulness" ... an expression I learned from reading "Confession" by St Augustine.

Carefree ... a word that speaks volumes ... perhaps most evident in toddlers ... children at the age where they seem to be convinced that they need not worry about where their next meal will come from.

My memory won't open the drawers where my particular memories of this period in my life are stored ... those times in my life when 'carefree cheerfulness' of toddlerhood persisted ... now I can only imagine...

"State of Carefree Cheerfulness" ... the word 'state' infers a finite space ... a geography ... bound with outer limits beyond which is outside the 'state' and within which exists the 'state'

For example there are 51 states in the USA ... seems to me there are more than 51 'states of being' ... the sad state ... the sorry state ... the happy state etc etc

How do we migrate from state to state? ... how do we stay in a 'preferred' state ... what are the conditions, terms, influences etc that are the 'railway tracks' ... are all within our control ... why? ... why not?

How do we protect the boundaries ... who are the 'soldiers' on guard at the frontiers of our current 'state of being' ... preventing the entrance of 'contaminants' or 'enemies' into our current 'state of being'

How are these 'soldiers' nourished ... strengthened ... trained ?? How do we stop them from going Awall and allowing our 'state' to change??? for example form 'happy' to 'lethargic'