Proto-Hobbits and Income Babies

Shortly into the new year, my wife and I picked up my oldest son, who is living in an apartment with friends, and went to the art museum (a place we all love). During the car ride, he was telling us about how he had been spending time until classes at NCSU started back up. Part of his time was spent watching the three Lord of the Rings movies.

Anecdotally, it seems watching the Peter Jackson adaptations of the J.R.R. Tolkien novels is a popular thing to do in downtime. Several people wrote about doing that in blogs that I follow.

My son was explaining how the ring was meant to be stewarded by the Hobbits, since they were the race least susceptible to corruption. Hobbits, by their nature, are so very content in their circumstances, appreciating the small pleasures of life, they are not prone to grandiosity (like men). Their thirst is slaked by good mead, their bones are warmed by a crackling fire in the hearth. They have no need of more than those things that provide comfort.

So why was Gollum so degraded by his attachment to the one ring? My son explained, Gollum was a Stoor, an early race of Hobbits. He was not a full-blooded Hobbit, and thus was subject to the same temptations as men.

Last weekend, a troupe of Buddhist monks came through the area in freezing weather to promote the cause of peace. It reminded me of reading books by Thich Nhat Hanh years ago when diving into the practice of mindfulness.

Thich Nhat Hanh wrote about how contentment was preferable to excitement. While I’m not sure that sentiment will ever totally satisfy the healthy human body and soul, things like chronic illness and even the natural course of aging make it more palatable. For most of us, the softer pleasures of the Hobbit become more and more compelling and fulfilling as time marches on.