The culture/the world is in hot pursuit
of the perfect means
With no idea of an end worthy of it.

I wish I remembered the name 
of the photographer
who said,
"The more equipment you have,
the fewer pictures you take."

Fine clothes and tattered lives.

We draw the wrong lines
in the wrong places.

Native Americans would go on vision quests,
which amounted to days
of emptiness, stillness and silence--
time spent waiting for things to become clear.

How much time in a week 
do we devote to clarity?

We think we are clear enough 
about what is important,
we just need better means (more money)
to get what we want.

It is what we want that is lacking.
We need better wants!
We are confused, conflicted and unclear
about what matters most.

First, we have to be right
about what we need.

Then, we can worry about the wherewithal
to acquire it.

–0–

Meeting the day
without expectations,
agendas,
opinions,
intentions,
demands,
attitudes,
judgments,
plans,
designs,
programs,
and ideas for the way things should be,
is to be ready for anything,
except, perhaps, a test
on any of the above.

To walk unprepared into the day,
just as we are,
as ones thus come,
waiting to see what the day asks of us
and how we respond,
is to drop like Jesus
or the Buddha,
or Lao Tzu
into the day.

And the day will not know 
what to do with us.
It will likely look at us with side eyes,
walk around us,
suspicious of our intent,
of which we have none,
and sit down,
waiting to see what we do.

I suggest that we sit down as well,
and wait to see what the day does.

We could practice our breathing:
Inhale for a count of five, remember.
Exhale for a count of five,
pause for a count of five between breaths,
repeat for as many rounds
as it takes for the day to get bored
and start pestering us
just to see if we are alive.

And we can swing into action,
watching what is happening,
looking for what needs to be done
in response,
and we are off!
"The game is afoot!"

Matching wits with the day
is the greatest sport there is--
and the best thing about it is
no keeping score!

Just doing what is called for
in each situation as it arises,
through lunchtime,
dinner,
shower and bed,
dreaming of what tomorrow might hold.

What a life that would be, 
eh, Gibbs?
And quite the life for me!

–0–

We make it up as we go,
dancing with what the day brings,
maintaining our balance and harmony
as best we can,
looking for what needs to be done
and doing it
using the gifts of our original nature
and our innate virtues/specialties/things we do best
and enjoy doing most,
guided by what resonates with us,
catches our eye,
sparks our interest,
calls our name.

Like a cinnamon roll
and a cup of coffee.

This is not hard,
and there are not enough days.

–0–

The fascists among us hate us
because we are not fascists.

The fascists feel safe 
only among other fascists.
Everybody else exists to serve them.
If they can be of no service,
they are fit for nothing other than death.
That is how fascists think.

The fascists are arranging things politically
so that they win every election.
Gerrymandering works that way.
It is a slick trick
for defeating democracy using the tools of democracy.

When the fascists own the polling places
and own the courts
they will own the country.

Our only hope is to vote in large numbers
in every election,
and to not vote for the fascists
in any of them.

Fascists call themselves "Republicans,"
thinking the rest of us
are too stupid to know the difference. 

–0–

Balance and harmony,
peace and tranquility
are the grounding qualities 
enabling the kind of reflection
that leads to realization
and right-action.

They are countered 
by noise and complexity
drama and trauma--
the destabilizing aspects
of our environment
our life too often encounters.

Thus requiring regular recurring retreats
to emptiness, stillness and silence
in order to return to the anchor stone
and avail ourselves of reflection
and realization.

Our life is a rhythmical flow
from stabilization to destabilization
back to stabilization.

From balance and harmony
to noise and complexity,
back to balance and harmony.

Practice recognizing your present state
and the routine required to maintain or 
return to the state required
for seeing/knowing/doing/being
in sync with the movement of vitality and life
through each situation as it arises.

A structuring practice smooths the flow
and leads the way through the heaving waves
and clashing rocks of the daily round.  

–0–