02
"But my FREEDOOM!!!" The people who protest mask wearing for the good of the whole cannot get beyond the idea of masks being imposed on them against their will by the domineering authority of those in power over them. Sacrificing their idea of freedom for the common good is beyond the pale of reasonable and compassionate. "That's asking too much!" they say. And here we are. How good is the good they call good? It is not good at all for anyone but themselves and those like them. How wide is our circle of compassion and concern? What limits it? Restricts it? Expands it? How low, or high, is our kindness and consideration threshold? How easily do we feel "put upon" and "taken advantage of"? What can we do about that in terms of becoming more giving and less resentful? These are questions never asked by those who protest "But my FREEDOM!!!" And there is no way to force it upon them. This is the log jam in the flow of human development. We cannot be made to grow up against our will-- and yet, and yet... EVERYBODY grows up against their will!!! No one volunteers for the experience. We all go bucking and snorting into the process, with stiff necks and hard hearts and stout resistance at the very idea! And some of us change our minds. What is that about? Why do some of us change our minds and some remain "arrested" in their development throughout time? Some of us have the capacity to grow up in spite of ourselves, and some of us have nothing whatsoever to do with what is being asked of us ever. And here we are. Those of us who have the capacity to be big about it have to be big enough to take the pettiness and brutality of those who will be small and angry forever into consideration, tell ourselves, "I'm sure they would do better if they could," and try to find some way to work with their stern refusal to be helpful as best we can. We have to grow up about their failure to grow up and grieve the fact of things staying as they are long past their need to change.
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01
Believe in your Work. Believe in The Way. Allow them to become the grounding, guiding, forces in your life. Our Work is The Way! The Way is our Work! There is no separation, no distinction! But. We have to understand our Work is not necessarily what we are paid to do. What we are paid to do pays the bills. Our Work is what we pay the bills to do. Paying the bills enables us to live. Our Work enables us to be alive. Our Work is what we live to do. Chances are we have no conception of what our Work is. There is nothing in our background that is specifically geared to help us comprehend the importance of knowing/finding our Work, and if we find it, it is because we stumble upon it. The concept of The Way is in a similar state. No one talks about The Way in our experience. Everyone talks about finding Jesus and going to heaven when we die. No one says anything about finding The Way and being Alive until we die. We are on our own with regard to our Work and The Way. But we come well-equipped for the task. All it takes is being still and quiet, and knowing what we know-- allowing what we know to guide us away from all that is Not our Work and Not The Way, and toward what IS our Work and Is The Way. Knowing what it is not is a very helpful thing to know. Knowing what it is is a matter of knowing what attracts us, resonates with us, calms us, centers us, grounds us and brings us to life. Determining the "Life Quotient" of the things in our life-- the degree to which they spark something within us and cause us to smile for no reason-- will help guide us to IT and away from NOT IT. There is also a "felt sense"-- a physical sensation-- within our stomach or chest (A bit like being in love)-- that clues us in on what's what when we are in the presence of IT. The rule is always in play: "Look closer at the things that catch your eye!" And let those things lead you to your Work and The Way!
Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 