February 07-B, 2023

**Letting the Air Catch Me Again! Oil Paint Rendered — Tri-Colored Heron, The Bog Garden 09/09/2013, Greensboro, North Carolina**

How do you strive to live your life?
How do you think your life should be lived?
What guides you through each day?

My fundamental orientation flows from 
my original/essential nature.

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator dependably
places me as an INF/TP,
which favors Introversion,
Intuition,
Feeling,
Thinking,
Perceiving.

Creativity/adventure/innovation/inquiry/
exploration/curiosity/asking/seeking/
searching... also play a big part
in making me who I am.

I live in the service of these things
within the terms/conditions/context/
circumstances of each day--
working toward balance and harmony
amid the various leanings/interests/
requirements of my life.

I do not like rigid order,
and prefer flexible/intuitive/of-the-moment
openness to "What now? What next?"
throughout the day.

I think of living as a hermit,
a recluse, an iconoclast, an artist/poet 
might live.

And respond favorably to the idea
expressed by the lyric, "don't fence me in,"
while fencing myself into the life required
by not fencing myself in.

Balancing opposites,
living within the tension created
by contradiction/dichotomy/opposites/polarity...
bearing the pain of contraries
and working toward "the middle way,"
characterizes my path each day.

And, you?

Published by jimwdollar

I'm retired, and still finding my way--but now, I don't have to pretend that I know what I'm doing. I retired after 40.5 years as a minister in the Presbyterian Church USA, serving churches in Louisiana, Mississippi and North Carolina. I graduated from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, in Austin, Texas, and Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. My wife, Judy, and I have three daughters and five granddaughters within about twenty minutes from where we live--and are enjoying our retirement as much as we have ever enjoyed anything. View more posts