Author Archives: jimwdollar

01 If you wonder what I believe, and what I believe you ought to believe, it’s simple: I believe, and believe we all ought to believe, that it matters how we live. That’s almost it as far as believing goes. It has a corollary: I believe we all ought to find what is ours toContinue reading “July 26, 2021”

01 My mule and my cow go with me wherever I go. I thought it would be cute to call my mule “Bessy,” and my cow, “Jake,” but they would have none of it. “I will be Bessy,” said the cow. “And make mine Jake,” said the mule. And that’s how I got Bessy andContinue reading “July 25, 2021”

01 Disturbance takes countless forms. The churning chaos of the clashing rocks, and the heaving waves of the wine dark sea are the providential prerogatives of the gods of disturbance, disorder and instability. Theirs is the province of the 10,000 things, which they wield with relish and complete abandon to the dismay and appall ofContinue reading “July 23, 2021”

01 Reducing complexity, removing distractions, and cutting down the volume of the Noise Blaster are the best ways I know of to assist the recognition of what is happening and what needs to be done about it, in order to respond to it in ways appropriate to the occasion. When my wife was diagnosed withContinue reading “July 22, 2021”

01 Be right about what needs to be done in each situation as it arises, and do it. Situation by situation. Moment by moment. Day by day. That is all there is to it. But, being right about what needs to be done is no snap. We all look at the same situation, and assessContinue reading “July 21, 2021”

01 What needs you to do it with the gifts that are yours to serve and share– in each moment as it arises, here and now? You don’t have to go big with it. Go small. What needs you to do it out of your original nature, knowing what you know, being who you areContinue reading “July 20, 2021”

01 My wife and I have an attentive, respectful relationship with everything in our house. We treat it all with reverence, awareness, appreciation and gratitude– not for the thing in question, but TO the thing. We do not take anything for granted, or mistreat anything. We honor it for what it is and for itsContinue reading “July 19, 2021”

01 I love what I do, and where I’ve been, and where I am, and I have deep sadness/melancholy over how few people understand that what we do, where we have been and where we are are the most important things, and that how we are with that is how we are. It doesn’t matterContinue reading “July 18, 2021”

01 Honor the Mystery! That is the essential orientation, and we spend our entire life learning what it requires– and prohibits. It means abandoning the idea of God, for one thing. Treating the Mystery as though it is God is to fail to honor the Mystery. God has those Ten Commandments, and his (sic) ChosenContinue reading “July 17, 2021”

01 Sit quietly and observe what happens in the silence. Just watch, listen. Without engagement– without being hooked, kidnapped, shanghaied, carried off, with emotions aroused and looking for a fight, or a pizza, or anything in between, or beyond. If you find yourself responding to something arising, reflect on that. Ask the questions that begContinue reading “July 16, 2021”

01 Suffering and sex, money and power are the four most over-rated things in culture and civilization. All are good/necessary in their time and place. Not one warrants the emphasis it receives. Living in the service of any of them disrupts balance and harmony and introduces chaos and discord in the lives of their servant-victims.Continue reading “July 15, 2021”