things we

To Be Carefree

Artwork by Lisette Van Hoogenhuyze via AXS ART

In the Style of Susan Sontag’s Notes on “Camp.”

 

1. Carefreeness is defined by a lack of something: of worry, of troubled thoughts, of deliberate action.

2. It is also defined by the conscious presence of something. To be carefree, one must be in possession of abandon, in the extreme opposite of absence. It is wildly present, to be carefree.

3. It is both within and without time. To be carefree is the state of existing in the present, without regard for the imperfect past or uncertain future, but it is also the separation from the elements of the present that ground and focus. Moments are both contained and unconstrained, in the act of carefreeness.

4. To be carefree is not to be careless, the latter of which has the negative connotation of harm for oneself or others. To be carefree one must correctly apply the absence of overthought to some but not other areas of life; to be too carefree is to carefree incorrectly, and venture into carelessness.

5. Overthinking is incompatible with being carefree. Overthinking is also the product of under-communicating, so is communicating, with the necessary precision to prevent later rumination, the foundation of carefreeness? Even when to communicate is to care?

6. To care and to be carefree are both considered valuable. Is it about context or principle or personal preference?

7. Carefree people don’t agonize over mistakes, and so are both more likely to make them because they are not constrained by fear, and less likely to suffer for having made them. With poorer external outcomes they cultivate superior interior environments.

8. Examples of times I should have been more carefree:

  • `Every time I have gone to the beach and thought about the unpleasant combination of sunscreen and sand
  • when writing
  • when talking to people who make me happy
  • when making lists

9. To decide to be carefree is empowering. To be told to care less is an assault.

10. Carefree people are more attractive.

11. As grounded in time as carefreeness is, it is never too late to be carefree.

12. To be carefree is a solitary experience. It needs no company, but it attracts it.

13. Carefreeness is both an approach and a reaction.

14. Because carefreeness is subjective, and determined by factors of intensely personal weight, it does not serve to be carefree in dealing with people who love us; it can come across as careless.

15. Carefree people have a lot of care to give others.

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Francesca von Krauland is a Miami-born Cuban and Austrian writer. She is a lover of cappuccinos, cats, and conversations that go on for hours.

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