Rising to the occasion is a simple matter of having nothing at stake in the occasion, so that there is no pressure of any kind, because you aren’t trying to win the the prize, or gain prestige, or make a sale. This Zen observation applies: “The ability of the archer to hit the bullseye variesContinue reading “August 23-C, 2022”
Author Archives: jimwdollar
August 23-B, 2022
A bad recollection of one of Issa’s verses goes: “The child, lost in a field at dark, chases after fireflies, crying.” This is an image of us at our best. Lost. Distracted. Crying. It is not wise to make life-altering decisions after 50. Maybe after 40. I’m talking specifically about selling a house and buyingContinue reading “August 23-B, 2022”
August 23-A, 2022
Climate change changes everything. And Fie! Fie! on all the politicians who were bought by the fossil fuel industry to oppose all legislation that would have made the difference for the good over the last 50 years, or so, worldwide. Given a choice between the long term good and an immediate profit, politicians will goContinue reading “August 23-A, 2022”
August 22-B, 2022
Whenever I think I need more noise and complexity in my life, I read some Buddhist texts on monastic methods and procedures for doing Buddhism right. Talk about nit-picking, legalistic, no slacking off allowed rules to live by! You dare not even think about emptying yourself of the lengthy list of do’s and don’t’s regardingContinue reading “August 22-B, 2022”
August 22-A, 2022
Impartiality cannot be a steady state of being. There are no steady states of being. And so, it is said, “It is easier to be a saint than to live with one.” Because not even a saint is a steady beam of kindness and light. As soon as we care about something we are partialContinue reading “August 22-A, 2022”
August 21-B, 2022
There is a way of assessing a person’s degree of health referred to as “ease of functioning” by two Canadian researchers working on the questions, “What is health?” and “What is the difference between good health and bad health?” “Ease of functioning” is a helpful way of thinking about what we are doing and howContinue reading “August 21-B, 2022”
August 21-A, 2022
We spend much of our life waiting. The Green Heron is waiting for an afternoon snack to swim, or fly, by. I was waiting for a Green Heron to alight on the log and pose for a photo. The secret of bird photography is to walk with a camera into the vicinity of birds andContinue reading “August 21-A, 2022”
August 20-C, 2022
To those who say, “Have no aversion of any kind to anything ever!”, I say, “Oh, I see you have an aversion to aversion!” To those who say, “Do not DO anything at all!”, I say, “Now, that would really be doing something!” We cannot say anything without producing the antithesis of what we intend.Continue reading “August 20-C, 2022”
August 20-B, 2022
We are all looking for where we belong, for what we belong to. For where we fit in, for what fits us. For what we do well/best, for what we have no business doing at all. For what our shtick is, and what it isn’t. For the good places to be, and the good placesContinue reading “August 20-B, 2022”
August 20-A, 2022
Finding joy in what we are doing, in what is available to do, is a matter of changing our mind about what is important, in order to see what is being offered to us, instead of seeing what is not being offered to us. The simple pleasures require us to see them and avail ourselvesContinue reading “August 20-A, 2022”
August 19-E, 2022
People are always misreading their attractions, thinking love and sex, when the first read should always be self-reflection/examination/exploration/inspection… Whenever we find ourselves knocking ourselves off track, we have to dig then and there into what is going on. Everything is a doorway/portkey/invitation to self-transparency/awareness, with the potential to strengthen, or weaken, our affiliation with theContinue reading “August 19-E, 2022”
August 19-D, 2022
Sex can be a lot of fun, but it can also get in the way. Sex has no necessary connection with intimacy– though it is often referred to as “an intimate relationship.” Too often, it is a way of avoiding intimacy. We go to sex to keep from being known. Being known in the BiblicalContinue reading “August 19-D, 2022”
Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 