Montaigne

Reading a biography/commentary on Michel de Montaigne by Donald Frame with a goodly dollop of M’s own words: that this life is natural, that pleasure is natural, including the delight when a pain is over (a kidney stone passes in his case). I am eager for the balance of my life to be full of the kind of pleasure Montaigne writes about-- not sitting on a beach sipping piña colladas, although if I could get over my airplane-o-phobia that would be a possible part of it. I want a change of attitude: I want less of the sense of standing on promontory with dark clouds around me and a sense of doom on all sides. I want to feel I’ve done good things each day, and to recognize the things I’ve not done so well, accept them, try to do better, but not to focus on my failures and my jerkiness.