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“… and even I’m getting tired of useless desires…” – Patty Griffin, Impossible Dreams CD

The idea of desire jumps to the top of my attention again this morning when I heard this line Patty sings (in the eponymous song). Whether it’s age or winter or Sunday morning, the ah-ha comes to me. When isn’t desire useless? Desire is only an idea or self-created notion stemming from the inability to keep my attention on being here now.

I’ve used the idea of desire to justify many actions (good and bad), but what’s the difference in the adjective, when the noun is the root of the problem?

I realize now that most of my hormones have tapered down to a random drip, what I thought was inherently me, was only the physical drive fueled by youth’s hormones and a misplaced desire for attention [love]. How interesting from this vantage point. Isn’t that called a parallax view?

Sexual desire is the obvious “useless desire,” but a new rug for the foyer or crown molding in the living room or even no rheumatic joint pain are equally useless. The point may be only to watch where my attention goes and if it’s more on the desire than the moment.

Thanks, Patty.