Meditations # 35

 To refrain from imitation is the best revenge.

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book Six

I guess this seemed like the appropriate MA passage as I began to mentally and emotionally unpack the experience from my recent mad dash to Indiana. It sometimes amazes me how little I actually have in common with my father, especially since way too many people somehow think we are exact copies of one another. My Dad one time cracked that it was a good thing he existed because that allowed me to figure out what to do and think: that is, exactly the opposite of what he does and thinks. I guess all fathers think things like this, although it's especially true in regards to my father's solipsistic nature. It doesn't seem that I consciously made a decision to do and think exactly the opposite of my father, although I suppose I wouldn't recognize that even if it were true. Here's the thing, maybe if I had stayed in Lawrenceburg, Indiana I would have ended up thinking that way, as also seems to be the case of everyone I went to high school with who stayed there (if Facebook is any judge).