Musings 2024

Yesterday, upon arrival at the “old folks home” in Waikiki, an encounter and subsequent conversation ensued with neighbor Ignacio. He was heading to the International Marketplace. Apparently, he was scheduled for some kind of heart procedure (this afternoon actually), and he did not want to sit in his mausoleum and ruminate about the outcome. He believes that the issue stems from blood clots. “Keep me in your prayers,” he said.

Last night, sleep seemed to be decent. The Apple® Watch Sleep “app” concurred. HRV was up to 72ms, which is well above the senior citizen range. By late afternoon HRV was down to 54ms, which was expected. Sleep appears to affect HRV, which then affects mood and temperament. Stress and anxiety had also abated.

Incidentally, fitness tracking on the Watch Series 9 has not been enabled. There is no easy way to track the weight workout. Cardio workouts are much easier to track. There’s no sense in tracking just half of the workouts.

There have been no evening outings to the International Marketplace or Ala Moana Center since last reported. The Sunday morning coffee time at Ala Moana Center will continue as necessary. Evening time in the mausoleum at the “old folks home” is not conducive to elation by any means. However, many household chores and grooming tasks are being facilitated.

What about FOMO? Well, that’s probably going to require some kind of “mindfulness” intervention. Benign activities (e.g., loitering at the International Marketplace or shopping at Ala Moana Center) do not suppress FOMO. Well, shopping for new “shiny objects” like the Apple® Watch may reduce FOMO temporarily, but it’s not a cure.

FOMO is a function of death (or denial of same). FOMO increases with age because the lifespan shortens. The whole issue of death has been covered by the Great Prophet, Ernest Becker. The links to download PDF files of his works are provided in the Notes post appropriately titled, “Death.”

Thus, the recent bouts of anxiety (and associated “panic” attacks) are centered on death … death anxiety. What is even more dreadful is the thought of physical decrepitude, which will come within a few short years. There is almost no way to reconcile the latter. It’s actually a fate worse than death.