Three Losses and a Find

Shadow is buried alongside Rocky, two barn owls, a kit fox, and many birds and rabbits. The new e-friendship, so promising, is accidentally killed in friendly fire. Plus, the entire contents of a four-year-old hard-drive were erased, all in the span of five days. And along comes Happiness!

The full title is Happiness: a Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill. Yes yes, you get to be almost-always happy by learning a skill, and anybody can do it! The author, Matthieu Ricard, was a high-living aristocrat who hung out with the stars of the theatre, music and the arts as a young man, seeking his destiny. His mother was a famous French actress and his father a celebrated philosopher and author. But not until Matthieu met an old sage in Tibet did he fall in love. This was the soul-quality that would reflect what his own soul sought, and he made the decision to establish his life among certain wise men, his teachers, in the Far East. Even as a monk, he still enjoys the pleasures of life, and success as a first-rate photographer and author.

Despite my allergies to "ists" and "isms" I can make an exception for the ism of Buddha, or at least certain aspects of Buddhism. The most erudite adherents within the Buddhist philosophy have studied the human mind deeply, extensively, relentlessly for many centuries. So when they say that there is no happiness without training the wayward mind, I believe them. I have proof!

I am not Buddhist, I don't even meditate. It doesn't prevent me from agreeing with Buddhist precepts on suffering, and happiness. "The mind and the emotions are like two dobermans left alone in the house while the Master is away." Shattered glass everywhere, bleeding souls (or soles, if you prefer), all the mess of canine chaos in an enclosed space. My mental interior exactly, when the Mistress is out to lunch. The Mistress of the house is my will, my ability to discern and to decide. She who determines chaos or contentment, suffering or happiness.

What does this have to do with vitiligo? Everything! the mind has everything to do with embracing vitiligo and happiness at the same time.