Go Outside and Play; Bring the Bottle if You Must

Such as are thy habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of thy mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts.
            —Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 5.

I long for the days before we all became political pundits, that golden era in which people prattled on with talk of sports teams and television shows I had no interest in, a far more pleasant diversion than the boorishness we enjoy today, what with everyone an aspiring Tucker Carlson, Rachel Maddow, or Alex Jones. Do you remember when you had hobbies and sought out knowledge and experiences? Can you recall having dreams of your own? There was a time when your every waking moment wasn't spent anxious and angry at strangers you'll never meet.

Or maybe there wasn't; what do I know?