The Choice of Joy: Day 22, Gems, Baubles and Beads

Sometimes I just have to step back from my disgust with politics, with the dismal outlook for middle class prosperity, abortion rights, environmental degradation, and the many other issues in the headlines which rile my blood and send me to sign internet petitions, call and/or write my congressmen and offer my opinion in the comment section of online news articles.  My efforts at correcting others who in their stupidity do not share my views sometimes exhausts even me. 

So today I floated the internet for sites dedicated to fine jewelry.  (I don’t “surf” the internet.  I float.)  It is my updated version of “window shopping.”  I have no serious intentions of making a purchase unless I decide to do without electrical power to my home or food on my table.

Still it was worth the trip to the viewing.  Some of the stones, I could almost taste in my mouth, the fire, the sparkle, the depth.  And it such a delight to view the designs in precious stones and metals, the way artisans have put them together for decorations of rings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings. 

I ignored the contrary voices in my head that kept trying to remind me of the human rights inequities and environmental concerns sometimes associated with the extraction of the precious from our earth.  Damn it!  Today I just wanted to look at objects of beauty.

There was an additional benefit to my internet search for precious gems.  Maybe my popup ads and those little tickler ads that I get from Google or Firefox or Yahoo or whatever engine it is that selects the ads will now shift from Medicare supplement and car leasing to ads for jewels.  I had done research on car leasing for an article, and since, I have been deluged with enticements.  I wish I could explain to that mysterious engine that I am perfectly happy with my ten-year-old Volvo and am not the least interested in changing vehicles.  My search for Medicare supplement insurance policies was successful, a decision made, and I have no use whatsoever for further information.

I look forward to seeing ads for beautiful baubles, and I hope the spying engine that tracks my internet activity responds accordingly. 

My internet floating today has brought me joy, superficial though it is.

One of the demons in my living room?  A shopping demon?  Maybe.  Still it is one I will try to make friends with and allow to serve me when I need a few minutes of vacation from the seriousness of the greater headlines about our lives.