Just feeling empty...

boldsailor32 said:Perhaps something along the lines of... a traveling Juggler?

Are there any jugglers out there—I mean professionals making a living, not just hobbyists—who aren't constantly on the road?

I was simply trying to determine, and I still am, how one actually sustains a life through this craft.

My response to the first post!
The guy is just miserable and hurting, so his emotions have gone numb. He’s looking at everything through this pessimistic lens, but deep down, he actually wants the best for himself.
Maybe he finally realized that wanting things comes with the price of suffering because you don't have them... I mean, a person without any desires is a happy, humble person. Wanting stuff is a hell of a job 😈:

What I find fascinating is how people stop thinking logically once their emotions take over... they become purely emotional. The reality is that the brain is just a series of chemical processes, and what you perceive as "thought" is really just chemistry at work. He’s concluded that since he doesn't need anything, he's happy. He's in this state of ecstasy, feeling fulfilled... but he wouldn't feel that way if he had to worry about putting food on the table or dealing with kids running around, or having a family to look after... you can live for others, too... maybe the guy is just an egoist, haha.
It reminds me of Mark Twain... towards the end of his life, after he lost his son and his wife (I can't quite recall the exact details), he lost his will to live... and then he wrote his final novel, "The Mysterious Stranger"... he wanted to show how life is nothing more than a dream and how small humans truly are... our desires, our wars, our acts of kindness—it's all insignificant. But we know life isn't just that! Life brings good things, too.
So, the dialogue between "him and her" is pessimistic and egoistic, but then it shifts to being humble and noble, depending on how you view it. At the end of the day, one person is a pessimist, and the other is an ego... hmm, I guess you could call them an optimist, heh

Maybe this is appropriate, or maybe it isn't... but I think in these times of crisis, we really need to take a step back and question our desires—what it is we actually want out of life.
Right now, everyone seems hyper-focused on health, but looking ahead to an uncertain future that none of us can truly predict... perhaps the focus will shift back to the basics. There are three primary needs: a roof over your head, food in your stomach, and something to keep you warm. It’s incredible how much people today just take these things for granted; nobody seems to know how to truly appreciate what they already have.
Maybe it’s not even about our desires so much as it is about gratitude—or rather, our lack of it for what we possess. They say humans are constantly chasing more than they have, trapped in this endless loop, stuck in the gap between their current reality and their ambitions. That's where the frustration kicks in (the "I don't have it" or "I can't get what I want" feeling) or the envy starts to creep in (seeing someone else hold what you crave). When we view this through the lens of impermanence—and let's face it, everything is fleeting!—we realize how empty these desires can be. We aren't just fighting desire; we are fighting something far more dangerous to the TRUTH, which is craving—that exaggerated, obsessive longing.
When our consciousness becomes totally consumed by something we want, it morphs into craving. And that craving is the true enemy of realizing the TRUTH, which is the only thing that holds the power to liberate us; as they say, "and the truth will set you free."
Honestly, when a person's consciousness is truly grounded at that level of realization, they become free. They accept everything life throws at them—the good and the bad—with total peace, because at the end of the day, it's all temporary. Whether it's the deepest suffering or the greatest joy, it passes. In that state, you are close to the TRUTH, and all that remains is pure devotion to that TRUTH (which is beautiful!). A person becomes completely free, stripped of both desire and fear. Even our greatest, most primordial fear—the fear of death, of non-existence—fades away, and once that is gone, every other fear follows suit.
What emerges is a sense of pure service to the TRUTH—not driven by a desire to gain something from it, but born out of genuine love and devotion!
That's my take on it, anyway... those who understand, understand, and those who don't will eventually catch up. After all, the TRUTH grants us all exactly as much time as we need, because the TRUTH is merciful and full of understanding.