June 06, 2022

01

I spend a lot of time looking out the window,
though sitting in a canoe,
or walking in the woods,
or driving along the back roads
are all equivalent ways of being occupied,
allowing my thoughts to carry me 
wherever they go.

It isn't thinking.
It is wandering among realizations
and possibilities.

Listening,
looking,
seeing,
hearing,
supposing,
imagining,
are all as much a part of what I do
as thinking is.

Thinking gives it form,
writes it down,
finds the right words,
or receives them,
and knows they are right
when they appear.

It is who I am.
What I do.
Which can be expressed,
but not explained,
justified,
excused,
defended.

I much prefer it 
to dinner parties
or cocktail hour.

Just give me a porch
and a rocking chair,
or a swing,
or a hammock...

I'll be fine.

–0–

02

There is balance/harmony.
And, there is noise/complexity.

Our life is a movement
between the two/four.

Stabilization,
homeostasis,
equilibrium, 
equanimity...
are always finely tuned affairs,
a quick blink away from
disorder,
disarray,
mayhem,
bedlam,
chaos...

Which states are more prevalent
in our life?
What might we do to increase
AAUUUMMM
and decrease
the shrieking Furies?

What choices do we make 
in favor of one
at the expense of the other?

How do we create the world
we live in?

–0–

03

Qi, or vital energy, 
diminishes over time,
according to the old Taoists,
and the new ones, as well.

If we want it to last,
we have to expend it in the right ways.

Using it in the service
of those things 
that offer an immediate return
on our investment
is the optimal arrangement.

All creative endeavors are this way.
Putting in a flower bed,
and reworking the old ones,
restore our energy
(IF that is our thing),
and extend our life.

Life lived in filial devotion
and liege loyalty
with fealty to what we love
is life well-lived.

How are you doing with that?

Does your life--the life you are living--
flow from you,
or is it required of you?

If you need to get your life back,
what do you need to do to do that?

The indigenous people of the southwest U.S.
would tell their sons and daughters
as they left home to seek their life
in the world beyond,
"As you go along your way,
you will come to a great chasm.
When you do, JUMP!
It is not as far as it seems."

–0–