Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy

We can imagine a better world than the world we live in. And we can endeavor to live in ways that reflect our imagination. We can imagine and exhibit perfection with a little intention, determination and practice. Actors on the screen and on Broadway act the part they portray all the time. We can act the role we imagine for us to play in our own life. We can make the world better by being better ourselves. One day at a time, improvising as we need to.

What would it take to turn the world around? Not THE world. YOUR world and MY world. What would it take? For me it will be dropping into the silence and being open to what is called for here, now, and simply doing that when, where, and how it is called for in each situation as it arises for the rest of my life. This shifts my attention away from what I want and to what needs me to do it, when, where and how it needs me to do it with the gifts/tools I have had to work with from birth: My original nature, my interests, talents, abilities. My inherent intuition. The things I do best and enjoy doing most. My knack for listening to what is being said and knowing what that means so that people feel honored and understood who talk to me. My patience and compassion. My joy in the wonders of THE world, and the goodness of its many natural gifts and blessings. And my need to spend more time in silent reverie for nature and the goodness tucked into the times and places of the days that are mine to live. This kind of shift in attention is exactly what I need several times a day, while recalling the Buddha’s recipe for the good life: “Peaceful abiding, here, now.”

Taking everything with no more seriousness than it deserves will soften your life and increase your joy in living.

The Human Experience is beyond imagining. How we deal with our lives is actually super-human. Ordinary people dealing with the trauma and tragedy of daily experience, and then thrown into war? What is that? PSTD from WWII and Vietnam haunts how many this far away from the impact of that horror? And we are all expected to take what life hands us and just carry on. That is an absurd insanity. And then there are school shootings and politicians who deserve institutionalization for allowing kids to get guns and shoot up their world because money buys votes. And we call ourselves civilized. I don’t know how normal people, that would be me and you, carry on with our daily lives. We need someone to hear us out on a regular basis, to help with the load we carry, what we have seen and cannot forget throughout our life in this place, this world.

The Tao has a way, and we have a way. Whose way will be THE way? Following the Tao, living aligned with the Tao, is as simple as ignoring our way and allowing the Tao to become our new way. And that is as simple as dropping into the silence and discerning what is called for here, now, and what needs to be done, when, where and how, to do what is called for here, now. And doing it. In each situation as it arises for the rest of our life. That’s what Buddha did. And it is what Jesus did. And it is what all those who have known what the Tao knows have done throughout history. As Maya Angelo said, “There’s nothing to it but to do it.”

When I was in my photography phase, which ended when my knees gave out, I made every necessary sacrifice to be where the photograph was. Up before sunrise, out after moonset all over the country and into Canada. I met the requirements. Paid the price. And have the portfolio to prove it. The natural world is a fascinating, amazing place and I loved my time spent there. Nature trumps (That word again) everything else about the planet that humans have produced, created. Just give me a marsh road at sunset. And do what you will with the rest.

Letting things be what they are and knowing when intervention is required and when it would only make thing worse is an art to living well upon the earth. Too much the savior is intrusion. Too little the savor is aiding and abetting. When are we being nosy and when do we need to be minding our own business? Where do we draw the lines. The simple path to living life as it needs to be lived is knowing where to draw the lines and drawing them.

This is my home sanctum looking toward my Wailing Wall replica. My office is a memento of me with my prayer beads, my books, my photographs, my rocking chairs and, of course, two windows to look out. This is my retreat, my hangout, my get-a-way, my sanctuary, my creation, and is just like me, who I am.

Liberty, Justice, Equality, Truth are the four foundational values. All of the others, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Gentleness, Generosity, Loyalty, Troth and however many more there may be all depend upon and flow from the four pillars of Democracy. We should all stand together every Fourth of July and swear our plight and our united allegiance to the four foundations to our life and liberty now and forever, knowing that we have to mean it for it to mean anything.

We need contrasts to see anything. Without contrast everything would be invisible. Where does good end and bad begin? We might draw the line in different places at different times of the day, or of our life. “It all depends,” sometimes. Sometimes “It doesn’t matter.” Who is to say? We are. Each of us is our own authority in the matter of line drawing, of saying what’s what. Of deciding what to do. When. Where. How. Our life is our life. Our tastes are our tastes. Our preferences are our preferences. Who barges into our space, telling us how to live our life? Knowing when, where and how to draw the line, and doing it is crucial to being able to live our own life. Living without the bullies should be a right to life for everyone. It would be my gift to everyone if only I had the power.

Silence itself is a natural wonder. Just being quiet. Looking out the window. Open to the astounding experience of being alive and knowing it. How often do we do that in a day?

Darkness as the gateway to mystery and understanding–understanding that darkness and mystery are just that–darkness and mystery! And some things can be experienced but not understood and some things can be understood but not explained. The proper response to such things is, “Oh, I see!” while not seeing at all. See?