Joseph Campbell said the crux of the matter of our spiritual/psychological/emotional/human development hinges on which question we ask about our art. Are we primarily concerned with: “What can I do to make money with my art?” Or with: “How is my art enabling me to flower/bloom/come forth as a human being?” If we are pursuingContinue reading “December 11-C 2022”
Author Archives: jimwdollar
December 11-B, 2022
No one can hand you your adventure– you can’t even hand it to yourself. We fall into all our adventures. We turn a corner and there it is. Winking at us. Blowing us a kiss. Smiling. And the next step tells the tale. The next step depends upon the state of our heart at theContinue reading “December 11-B, 2022”
December 11-A, 2022
Joseph Campbell said, “Foster your virtues, don’t dwell on your sins.” The old (Classic) Taoists made nothing of sin, and everything of living in accord with our original/essential nature aligned with our innate virtues. Virtues here are to be understood, not as the opposite of vices, but as the peculiar characteristics, qualities and traits thatContinue reading “December 11-A, 2022”
December 10-C, 2022
I owe you all, and everyone I know and have known, a heartfelt apology, for I have short-changed everyone by being less than I might have been with you. I could have done better, just by being more awake, aware, alive to what was what and what needed to be done about it, and doingContinue reading “December 10-C, 2022”
December 10-B, 2022
We have to learn to live for something beyond our desire and fear (Joseph Campbell). But. We are sure there is nothing beyond our desire and fear. The First Death is letting go of our desire and fear. It is the first of many deaths all the way up to the Last Death, which isContinue reading “December 10-B, 2022”
December 10-A, 2022
When we live to be aligned with, in accord with, the way we are built to be, we know clearly what to say yes to and what to say no to. Being clear about yes and no is a super power guiding us through our life. What could tempt us off that path? What couldContinue reading “December 10-A, 2022”
December 09-B, 2022
“Transparent to transcendence” is a term Joseph Campbell passed along from Karlfried Graf Dürckheim as being the goal of seeing-beings. Enlightenment is realization leading to being transparent to transcendence. Reality consists of two levels, the conscious, apparent, logical, rational, analytic level which can be seen, tasted, touched, photographed, weighed, measured, fenced in, bought/sold, owned/stolen/given away…Continue reading “December 09-B, 2022”
December 09-A, 2022
What form does your protest take? I strive to see things as they are and keep going, keep looking– in an “Anyway, nevertheless, even so” kind of way. It is like this: If this is the best we can do as a species over time, we should be ashamed. And, if this is not theContinue reading “December 09-A, 2022”
December 08-C, 2022
Understanding the Bible metaphorically, symbolically, means finding where the metaphors, the symbols, come to life in our own life. For instance, the two gardens are metaphorically the same garden. The Garden of Eden and the Garden of Gethsemane. As Eden, Adam and Eve fail the test of who was in control of their lives, ofContinue reading “December 08-C, 2022”
December 08-B, 2022
My advice about what to do with Christianity is to keep the metaphors and symbols and throw away the theology. God, for instance, is a metaphor, not a fact. A metaphor for “More than words can say.” Like the Tao, in that “The Tao that can be said/told/defined/explained, is not the eternal Tao.” Or, perhapsContinue reading “December 08-B, 2022”
December 08-A, 2020
Being empty is the best way I know to find your way through whatever is in your way. Overwhelmed is the end of the way. Emptying ourselves of all that is overwhelming is the beginning of the way. No one ever found their way through overwhelmed by being overwhelmed. We find our way through overwhelmedContinue reading “December 08-A, 2020”
December 07-B, 2022
Freedom/Liberty, Truth, Justice, Equality are the Four Pillars of Democracy. And Freedom/Liberty is always being sacrificed in favor of the other three. We restrain, restrict, deny ourselves in serving Truth, Justice and Equality. We let our claims to what we want go in honor of everyone’s rights to Truth, Justice and Equality. We even sacrificeContinue reading “December 07-B, 2022”
Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 