Do you need some stimulation?

We react. I’m beginning to think that is the bottom line. We are simply reactionaries. Last night I was using Google Earth. If you have a high speed connection it is quite a program. It’s free. Unfortunately, some of the aerial photos aren’t that up to date. I was in luck. I wanted to look at a railroad museum near Quainton in the UK. The photos are good.

As I scanned around the Buckingham Railway Centre I began to notice other features. As I said, we react. I saw something that looked suspiciously like a stone circle. When we were there last summer, I don’t remember a sign about that. Reacting I started researching on the web. One thing led to another. Soon I had Google Earth open, a site with the “British Ordinance Maps” open and a site about the history of the area. I was reacting to new information. I looked at abandon railway grades, very large estates, places with moats, and even a “civil war batter” whatever that is. I probably went through an hour of my time. I was not only reacting to stimuli I was getting new stimuli. I think I’m addicted to curiosities.

That started me thinking. Aren’t we all addicted to stimulation of one sort or another? Food, sex, money, color, sound, words, taste, smell, touch?
If we isolate ourselves from stimulation we even “invent” it. I suspect that is what sesshins are all about- trying to distance ourselves from stimulation but we simply replace it with something else.

Maybe I’ll go outside and scream. I still don't know what that darn circle is!

G