We owe ourselves intrinsic loyalty,
filial devotion,
love and duty.
How do we think of our foundation,
of our core,
of our source
and the ground of our being?
Our life is the testimony
of our allegiance
to our original nature
and the innate virtuosities
(The things we do best
and love/enjoy doing most).
To betray them is to leave the path,
to depart from the way,
to wander from the course
into the wasteland of our discontent.
The way back
is the way of emptiness,
stillness and silence,
and waiting there
for the mud to settle
and the water to clear
allowing a guide to appear
in the darkness
to bring us back to life.
How these metaphors appear
in our own case,
what shape they take
and what form our life takes
under their tutelage
will be different for us all.
Our place is to intuit guidance
when it beckons
and to follow where we are led--
seeing with hindsight
what progress we have made.
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Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 