January 08, 2022

01

Dedication to the task
is the foundational requirement
for a life well-lived.

The task being what needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
when and where it needs to be done
in each situation as it arises,
no matter what,
for the joy of doing it
and the satisfaction/delight in having done it,
all our life long--
regardless of what we want
of whether we feel like it.

That is all there is to it.

(PS. Find the Pied-billed Grebe in the photo)

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02

Here we are. 
Now what?

We need a reset.
A Do-Over.
Things have gotten out of hand.

"The center cannot hold,
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world...
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity...
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?"
(William Butler Yeats, "The Second Coming").

Find/create/return to your Inner Circle
of people who have proven themselves to be
a safe place,
and settle in with them--
though you may not be physically present
with any--
to ride out these times
which weigh heavy upon us all.

Where do you find warmth
and light
and life?
In what do you draw comfort?
Take refuge?
Where do you turn in times of trouble?

I dreamed last night of soup
and Mexican cornbread.
I'm going to start there,
and see what comes after that.

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03

Be Jesus the way only you can be Jesus.
Live from your center,
from your heart,
grounded in your own authority,
expressing/exhibiting/bringing forth
your original nature
to meet the moment that is at hand
in each situation as it arises,
doing what you know needs to be done
because you know it needs to be done,
the way only you can do it.

Let your actions guide your acting,
direct your living,
change your mind.

Learn how to do what needs to be done
by doing what you think needs to be done
and allowing your experience
to shape your life.

The trick to making good soup
is making a lot of bad soup
with your eyes open.

Adjustment and alteration, Kid.
Adjustment and alteration.

That's how Jesus did it.
Living out of his own sense of direction,
and going where he felt he needed to be,
never-minding the instructions
of parents,
peers,
culture and tradition.

You do you the way Jesus did Jesus.
And let the outcome be the outcome.
The way Jesus did.
In an "Okay, this," kind of way.

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