01
Imbalance and disharmony are the signs of the times. When it is all useless, pointless, hopeless, meaningless, futile and absurd, what do you do? The next thing! As it needs to be done! When it needs to be done! And then, the thing after that! And, care about the things you care about-- anyway, nevertheless, even so! Doing the next thing well and caring about what you care about center us, ground us, anchor us, guide and direct us through all of the turmoil and chaos the clashing rocks and heaving waves can bring to life in our life. And, if you are too demoralized and dejected to care about anything, simply act as though you do. Pretend you care about something, anything-- and act like you do. Fake it until you make it-- so that you can't tell the difference between caring and pretending to care. And do what you (pretend to) care about really well-- with careful attention to detail, the way it ought to be done. Moment by moment, day by day. Bringing balance and harmony back into your life, around living the way life needs to be lived, anyway, nevertheless, even so. Because that is the way life needs to be lived in all times and places! And we do not have to have everything just so in our life, or in our world, in order to do it. We only need to do the next thing well. And watch how all things begin to coalesce around that. When we live from the center, we create a still point in the turning world, and become "a strange attractor," bringing light to life in the darkness, and making things more like they ought to be than they have been in a while. Balance and harmony create balance and harmony. An oasis forms. Comfort stirs. Consolation revives. Hope comes to life. Goodness and mercy appear out of nowhere. Kindness finds a place to rest. Community is born, and the trend gains momentum. All because we started doing the next thing well.
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02
What kind of business are you in? What is your business and what is none of your business? What defines you, identifies you, sets you apart, and lets everyone know this is who you are, and that is who you are not? Where do your lines lie? What landmarks announce where you start and stop? What interests, competency and abilities coalesce around you, to reflect your essence and shape your life? How do you go about being who you are in the world? What orients you and directs you toward the life that is yours to live-- and away from where you have no business being? What guides your boat on its path through the sea? Who are you? What are you about?
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03
Reduce complexity, avoid noise, invite the silence and the stillness into your life. I understand that it cannot be done, but. Move relentlessly in its direction. There are places in your life where you can reduce complexity-- and refuse to encourage its proliferation. There are places in your life where you can avoid noise. The remote even has an "off" button. There are ways to invite the silence and the stillness into your daily routine. You can begin to reclaim the time that is yours on the earth-- to redeem the lost opportunities to recognize and embrace the wonder and radiance of life and being, simply by being aware of the moment as it is being lived by "being here, now." Throughout the day. Encounters with the ineffable, with the numinous, with the That Which Has Always Been Called "God," are everywhere, waiting to be seen/felt/welcomed/received. It only takes being alive to the moment and open to what meets us there to startle, amaze, arrest, and invite us into reflection and reverie, on the way to realization and new life, amid the same old same old of the everyday.
