Looking for that Laid Back Dudeist Lee

Lee Glazier doesn’t care about appearances. Beauty standards are cultural and generational. Displays of wealth and power are also cultural and impermanent. Lee doesn’t care about money. Study after study shows that wealth and power don’t buy long term happiness. Happiness comes from character development, like cultivating a free and easy attitude.

By Lee Glazier

Hello, I am Lee Glazier’s author. I regret to inform you that Lee has been missing for quite some time.

His last known whereabouts were in a small, Illinoisan city. The kind of place where you can buy narcotics and corn from the same dealer. I can only assume that Lee got lost in a cornfield while looking for a patch of gorilla grass. 

It’s been too long since we’ve seen the laid back nihilist, so we’re going to find him together. 

For those not in the loop, Lee Glazier is the pen name of a TTB writer. Lee was as a creative outlet for the writer’s more free spirited side. The articles aren’t just for the readers, but for the author as well, as a way to return to that easy going mindset. 

Because whatever, man. Oh, I think we just stumbled on a Glazier trail. Yes. Yes, I can smell someone smoking a joint in the distance. 

I’ve gotta be Lee to write as Lee, and it can be hard being Lee. There is no shortage of buzzkillers in daily life. Sometimes we kill our own buzzes, seemingly for no reason. How do we keep the good times going? 

Lee is a response to a fast paced, nihilistic world. He’s the realization that stress comes from thinking that something matters. So, if you want to ditch stress, stop giving a fuck. 

Not in general, but about certain things. Significance is in the eye of the beholder. We get to choose the things that affect us. 

Lee is a prototype. An ideal self-concept to use as a measuring stick. To find Lee, we’ve got to be Lee. 

Lee Glazier doesn’t care about appearances. Beauty standards are cultural and generational. Displays of wealth and power are also cultural and impermanent. Lee doesn’t care about money. Study after study shows that wealth and power don’t buy long term happiness. Happiness comes from character development, like cultivating a free and easy attitude. 

Lee doesn’t care about religion or humanism. You’ve got to build your own temple, man. I mean, if you were, ya know, a God, and one of your, uh. Um. Ope.

Oh yeah. We’re getting closer alright. 

Lee cares about nature, equality and everyday spirituality. He cares about letting go, and holding on. 

Glazier came into being as a Dudeist Priest. Dudeism is a religion based on the Dude in The Big Lebowski. Its laid-back, humorous nature and Daoist flavor made it seem like a good fit. But all -isms have confines, and Lee eventually drifted out on his own. 

What he slowly uncovered was a minimalist virtue philosophy inspired by scientific discoveries. Reason is his main, ya know, practice. There’s nothing like smoking a bowl and figuring out the nature of spacetime. 

But Lee is fictional. It’s easy to be happy when you don’t exist. I’m not fictional, and time has put a wedge between me and Lee’s values. 

Oh hey, look. It’s the Buddha. How’s it going, B-Man? “Be a light unto yourself; may the Dharma be your light.” Cool. Are you gonna—never mind, he just levitated away. Freakin’ guy always does that. 

Oh, and who’s this wild little fella? “I am Mara! The destroyer of worlds!” Cool, cool. So, Mara, what’s the secret to a happy life? “You should eat a lot of Cake, have anonymous sex and drink heavily.” Really? It’s that simple? “Don’t be fooled! It can be exhausting. Self-destruction takes dedication.”

Alright, that’s enough out of you. Well, dudes. We’re at the end, and we still haven’t found Lee. “Haven’t you heard, dude? I went through some shit.” Hey! Lee! How’s it going, buddy? Where’d you come from? 

“I was sleepin’ in a log.” Oh. Well. Alright. “Yeah, dude. It was refreshing as fuck.” I… bet. So, what’s new? 

“Ya know what I didn’t realize? We’ve all gotta have something greater than us to look up to. Could even be a person, ya know? Without that, sometimes stuff gets too hard for even a laid back fictional character who has no responsibilities.  Life got pretty sad for your old pal, here. Things got, uh, complicated. I’m still reeling from it, dudes. I got sad. I’m still sad, but I’m trying. You’ve gotta get some passion or curiosity. Hell man, even stubbornness will do. Whatever gets ya through, ya know? 

“Life lost its magic. Now I’ve gotta get it back.”

“Dude” Lee Glazier is a Dudeist Priest, Zen adherent and Taoist enthusiast. He likes reading, writing, hiking, taking baths, listening to classic rock, drinking White Russians, smoking, and having the occasional acid flashback. The only thing he truly believes is that everyone needs to slow down, mellow out, and unwad their underpants. He feels that that would solve all the world’s problems in a heartbeat. “Do you have the patience to let the mud settle and the water clear?” 

Photo: Pixabay

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