01
What needs to happen now? Is our guide for life. What needs to happen now in light of what? Narrows our options down to a final few choices. In light of what do we live? The Democratic quadrangle enclosing democracy works for me: Liberty! Justice! Equality! Truth! These four cornerstone values give rise to the rest of the guides: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Compassion, Generosity, Gratitude, Graciousness, Mercy, Noble, Right, Pure, Lovely, Decent, Admirable, Excellent, Praiseworthy... Living in the service of these guiding lights leads the way through the dilemmas, quandaries, and predicaments of the day. And when any of these values are clouded by circumstances to the point where doing good here results in bad there in a damned if we do and damned if we don't kind of way, we wait in stillness to intuit the choice which creates another situation in which we have to decide what needs to happen then, there. One choice leads to another, with "What needs to happen now?" leading us all the way. It is the only important question, and we answer it all of the time. Being aware of it being asked and of how we are responding makes all the difference. If we are going to be right about anything, let it be that question, always (Knowing that what is right in one moment may be wrong in the next, and vice versa)!
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02
We do what we determine needs to be done and see how it plays out, doing what we determine needs to be done at each stage of each situation as it arises all along the way. "Do your work," said Lao Tse, "and step back. Let nature take its course." "Let the outcome be the outcome." "See how it plays out." Vaxers and anti-vaxers face off, reading the facts and the evidence in light of different evaluations of the validity of the other side's view of what is a reliable fact, what is reliable evidence, and step back to see how it plays out. Time will tell. Truth will out. It is only a matter of waiting and seeing who is right and who is wrong. Answer the core question, "What needs to be done now?" as only you can, and see how it plays out.
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03
Nurturing/nourishing our relationship with Heart/Soul/Mind-- with our Psyche Self-- with The Invisible World, the Spirit World, the Spiritual World-- with The Other Within Carl Jung spoke of when he said, "There is within each of us another whom we do not know"-- provides us with ready access to an Inner Guide, with whom collaboration and respect provide us with all we need to find what we need in living aligned with our original nature through all of the circumstances of life. Our original nature and The Other Within are our contact points with spiritual reality-- the source of instinct, intuition, imagination, insight, awareness, vision, creativity, inspiration, realization and all those "sixth-sense" functions that are the essential aspects of Mythos that are required to balance the input of Logos, reason, logic, rationality, intellect, analytics... and enable us to live as a fully integrated whole person, with Psyche and Soma combining to guide and direct us through the choices and decisions and responses of life within the here and now context and circumstances of day-to-day life throughout our physical existence. Bringing Psyche/Mythos to life in our life as a full partner with Soma/Logos is the work of the Hero's Journey in the time left for living.
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04
The Tao is like this: It took everywhere I’ve been to be where I am. I regret that but. There is no other way. It is so with all of us, and is an allegory of the way life is throughout the Cosmos. There is no plan. Everything is working its way to where it will be on a path that stops but never ends. The Tao is like this:An Irish pub serves the public with a staff of six servers and a bartender, two cooks and a host/hostess. There is no manager, and the staff is trusted by the owner to do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, the way it needs to be done, in each situation as it arises, daily. The servers take care of their own tables, and keep an eye on each other. If one server has a party of 6 or 8, other servers help out with drink refills. If the bartender needs a restroom break, the server with the fewest customers takes over the bar. During lulls in the action, a cook may tend the bar. The flow of food and drink is steady and everybody assumes their role, and helps others as needed with their role. The floor is concrete and hard on the feet and legs of everyone who works there. The pay is reasonable and the tips are what might be expected, and turnover is low but regular. New hires fit into the system, or not--depending on their personality, their maturity, grace, generosity and awareness, and people who do not belong there do not stay around long. The pub is an example of the Tao at work in the world, as is an emergency room, or an intensive care ward, or a hospital, or an elementary (etc.) school, an airliner, an airport... Any place where needs are served in a particular way toward a particular end in a particular manner and within a particular time-- the what, when, where and how that have to be right according to custom and expectation, is a place where Tao can be experienced in each situation as it arises on a daily basis. Applying this kind of attitude and presence within our life throughout our life transforms the world.
Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 