May 18, 2021

01

The end of civilization 
is a lack of self-restraint.

We have to know where "good enough"
becomes "over the top,"
or, "too much of a good thing,"
and stop before we go that far.

Knowing when to quit
is the hallmark of success
on every level.

"The balance of nature"
is maintained by the food supply.
Successful species run out of food,
die out, or die down, 
giving "the food" an opportunity
to restock the shelves,
so to speak,
and start another round
of nature's way:
supply and demand.

We save ourselves the experience
of "the death spiral"
by checking our excesses,
and preventing the demand
from disappearing the supply.

Self-discipline is the heart
of self-advancement
and personal growth.
Knowing where to stop
is the essence of wisdom.

And all of this is readily apparent
to those who know how to be quiet
in the right way,
fostering awareness,
reflection
and realization,
drawing lines
and setting limits
at the right time,
in the right place,
and in the right way.

The hallmark of a life well-lived.

–0–

02

Aspiration, ambition, dreams and desire
can prevent us from maintaining the momentum
necessary to achieve balance and harmony
in the service of ends truly worthy of us.

We can want the wrong things
and spend ourselves in the pursuit
of imaginary wonders
and empty delights.

Wanting to be a writer
can keep us from writing
if what we want 
is the glory of Best-Seller-Hood
and not the quiet joy
of finding the right word
to say what we need to say
without anyone ever reading
what we have written.

Writers write
to say what they have to say.
And only writers do that,
day in and day out,
all their life long.

If you want to be a writer,
start writing.
And don't stop.
Write like a dog wags its tail
(Alan Stacell said that about artists
needing to "paint like a dog wags its tail").

Find what you must do,
and do that,
"rain or shine."

If you die without ever doing your thing,
it will be like,
"What was that all about?"

Why drag that around through all eternity?

–0–

03

What is your art?
What is your life?

Those who know and have known
know/knew
that living in the service
of art and our life
is the core, foundation, source
and goal
of a life well-lived.

This does not mean
that their art/life paid the bills.

Their art/life 
is/was what they paid the bills
to do.

What they did to pay the bills
is/was whatever it took,
but their real work
is/was their art/life.

Find your art/life,
and let everything fall into place
around that.

Hint:
Being quiet in the right kind of way
is the best way
to find the way,
to know what is important,
to understand what it means
to "live truthfully,"
and to have it made
in the best sense of the term.

Second hint:
We are here to know ourselves
and express ourselves,
and to help others do the same things--
and to live in the service
of those three things
all our life long.

Anything that distracts us
from these three things
is getting in the way.