How different can we be? If self-help books could do it, they would have done it by now. If we were capable of the kind of change it would take to make the world even a little more like it ought to be than it is, we would have done it by now. For allContinue reading “December 14-A, 2022”
Author Archives: jimwdollar
December 13-B, 2022
How we see things creates what we see. Changing how we see things changes everything. Seeing is also not-seeing, keeping us from seeing what we do not see. What we see is how we see what we are looking at. A shift in perspective transforms the world. Control how we see what we look atContinue reading “December 13-B, 2022”
December 13-A, 2022
Joseph Campbell said, “I think anyone who pays attention to their inner life knows when they are living in harmony, and when they are out of harmony, with their own center.” And when we are “on the beam,” it is as though we are living a charmed life, and doors open where there were noContinue reading “December 13-A, 2022”
December 12-B, 2022
I like the quote, “Faith is an opinion that takes itself too seriously.” What is the difference between “having faith,” and having an opinion? Is weak faith better than a strong opinion? We say faith is necessary to get us into heaven, but we take that statement on faith. The whole thing is grounded onContinue reading “December 12-B, 2022”
December 12-A, 2022
The Fentanyl epidemic is fueled by a culture that has to have more/better/faster/Now! Commercial TV (Etc.) is grounded on the premise that we don’t have everything (anything) we desperately need NOW! Commercials sell us everything we don’t have yet, or have enough of yet, and don’t know what (All) we need NOW! The commercial cultureContinue reading “December 12-A, 2022”
December 11-C 2022
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”
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”
Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 