Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy

February 25, 2021

Midnight Hole 03 Oil Paint Rendered — Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Big Creek District, Waterville, North Carolina

In every situation,
there is a tipping point
where the responses 
of the people in the situation
can influence the outcome
of the situation
for better or for worse.

Our response in the present moment
has an influential impact upon
future moments,
both immediate and distant.

We wield the power for good or for evil
as surely as any super hero or villain
ever did.

Our present situation
is the result of our past situations.
Our future situations will be,
at least to some degree,
what they are because 
of our present situation.

The people for who things
always seem to work out
have a part to play in their outcomes.

The people for whom things
never seem to work out
have a part to play in their outcomes.

The present moment matters.
Our response to it matters.
We hold the future in our hands
in every moment.

We have to know that in our bones,
and live as though we do.

–0–

**Early Light 01 Oil Paint Rendered — Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Ocracoke Island, North Carolina**

"How could things be better?"

The question opens the way
for all the questions raised by the question.

Questions do that for us
when they aren't looking for The Right Answer,
or even The Answer.
Questions that are tied to answers
aren't questions at all,
but entrees to The Answer.
They are Answers' way of getting air time. 

Answers have us where we are,
which is wondering how things could be better.
Without Answers,
we would be in a lot better shape!

Or, better, with all of our Answers
properly understood
as nothing more than steps on the way
to better Questions,
we would be in a lot better shape!

Our hope is in the Questions!

Asking all of the Questions that beg to be asked,
without waiting around for Answers,
leads deeper and deeper into wonderment,
play,
imagination,
creativity,
thinking things that have never 
been thought before,
saying things that have never
been said before,
doing things that have never
been done before,
and a brand new world, Golda!

Questions are the path to a brand new world!

How could things be better?
Ask all of the questions this question
begs to be asked--
without stopping for Answers!

See where that takes you!

It will be a new way of looking at things,
and that will mean the utter transformation
of things,
and that will mean a brand new world.

We ask our way to brand new worlds--
and beyond!

–0–

Cullasaja River Falls 01 Oil Paint Rendered — Cullasaja River Gorge, Nantahala National Forest, Franklin, North Carolina

Think of the Force in Star Wars
as the Tao in the Tao te Ching.

The Force and the Tao are beyond morality,
good and evil,
right and wrong.

They are What The Situation Calls For.

But, here is the catch,
not for the good or bad of anyone/anything
in the situation!

Good and evil, right and wrong,
depend upon what side you are on.
If you don't have a side, what?

The Force and the Tao, don't have a side.
They have a Way.
What's the Way?
What needs to be done here and now--
in light of here and now!--
for the sake of here and now!

If the baby's diaper needs changing,
change the baby's diaper!
If the dog needs to go outside,
take the dog outside!

"Eat when hungry,
rest when tired!"

When we complicate the situation
by bringing in considerations
that have nothing to do with the situation,
like the long-term financial impact
eating when hungry has
on the gross national product
and the economic security
of the kingdom,
we tie things up in a
"Nothing can happen until something else does!"
kind of knot.

If the situation calls for 
eating when hungry,
eat when hungry!
And let everything else 
fall into place around that!

But, we can't do anything 
because of the effect it may have
on something else.
"Will she/he still love me?"
"Will I get a raise/be fired?"

We live with our own good in mind
and not the needs of the current situation.

We strive to connive,
contrive,
finagle,
manipulate,
control
a future of our liking
into existence.

We live here and now
in light of what we think 
it will take 
to bring wealth and glory
in abounding abundance
to us there and then.

Oops.
The Way is about
doing what is called for 
here and now,
and seeing where it goes.

Jesus said it best:
"The Spirit is like the wind
that blows where it will!"

The Spirit doesn't know
why it is doing what it is doing,
or what it will be doing next,
or where it is going,
or what the plan it,
or how any of that is important.

The Spirit's actions arise
out of the urgency--the impulse--
of the moment:
"THIS must be done here and now!
We will worry about then what later!"

Which falls nicely in line
with Jesus' little talk
about the lilies of the field,
"Which neither sew nor reap,
but are all decked out in 
the most beautiful array of colors imaginable!
So worry about what needs to be done today,
and let tomorrow's needs
be taken care of tomorrow!"

Let the Force, the Tao, the Spirit
be with you!
And you be with it/them,
here and now!

–0–

**Ox Bow Bend 02, Oil Paint Rendered — Grand Teton National Park, Jackson, Wyoming**

There are only two things--
make that four things--
that matter:

1&2 Finding your life to live
and living it,
3&4 Helping other people 
find their life to live
and living it.

Get those four things down
and everything falls into place
around that,
transformed for the good
forever.

To do it,
to find our life to live
and live it,
we have to follow the pattern
of all the heros
on all the journeys
throughout time.

Yes, Virginia, there is a recipe.

First, we have to put desire and fear
in their place.
Hint: They don't have a place.

We have to live beyond desire and fear,
that is to say,
without desire and fear,
in order to find our life and live it.

This means we have to do the things 
that need to be done
no matter what--
no matter what it means for us personally,
or for those we love.

Snaps us back to Jesus
and his declaration about austerity:
"Those who would follow me 
have to leave father and mother,
brothers and sisters,
and take up their cross daily
in (finding their life and living it).

Joseph Campbell said the same thing:
"Do you have what it takes
to stick with it?
To do what it requires of you?
Day in and day out?
Whether you want to or not?
Whether you feel like it or not?
Whether you are in the mood for it or not?
For no other reason
than because it is yours to do--
and go on doing--
throughout the time left for living,
no matter what?"

"No matter what?" means we have to 
find our life and anchor ourselves to it
with an adamantine declaration 
of allegiance and loyalty 
that puts liege and filial devotion to shame.

This is what all of those old love stories 
are about.
It isn't about boy and girl finding each other
and swearing their troth forever,
it is about men and women finding their life
and living it through all
of the situations and circumstances of life.

It is not about finding the man or the woman
meant for them,
but about finding the life they are meant for
and living it beyond all other
compelling considerations.

Can they find the life partner
who will aid and assist them in their
dharma/duty to their own life?
That is the heart of the boy/girl 
(or boy/boy, girl/girl) thing:
"Can we be good for each other
in bringing the other forth
and helping the other live their life
to the fullest extent possible?"

Find the person who can create this kind
of environment with you,
and stick with them throughout eternity! 

We are here for the life that is ours to live!
And nothing can knock us off that!

The next thing is learning to read the signs,
to know what the symbols refer to--
the symbols that catch our eye,
that speak to us--
to know what they are saying.

We have to learn to live symbolically,
metaphorically!
The truth (the Truth) doesn't lend itself
to the language of logic, intellect and rationality.
The Truth comes to us in dreams
and impulses that make no sense
but speak directly to our heart.

We have to learn to read/understand/intuit
the language of Truth and Spirit
in order to find our life and live it.

What movies mean the most to you?
What books stir something within?
What moves you?
What objects, animals, places, scenes,
poems, stories, etc., 
bring you to life--
bring something within you to life?
Dig in there!
See what connections you can make there!
What is going on there?

It is as though we have been
born into a mystery,
and have to find the clues
that lead us to the life that is our to live.

And then, we have to have the courage,
grit, determination, heart, etc.
to live it.

It is the adventure we were born for.
And we just want to make a lot of money
and be the envy of our peers.

It's called selling out.

It is also called living out of desire and fear.

So. 

Are you up for finding your life
and living it,
or not?

February 24, 2021

Vermilion Lakes Sunrise Oil Paint Rendered — Banff National Park, Alberta

Our motives stem from
our desires and fears.
From what we want 
and don't want.

Look around.
We could do better 
with different reasons
for doing what we do,
and do not.

Reasons that have nothing to do
with our advantage,
gain,
advancement,
benefit,
pleasure
or profit.

There are two approaches
to take in finding new reasons
for doing what we do.
Here is the first:

Sit still and be quiet,
watching what goes through 
your mind.
You are waiting for something
to arise that you are not
responsible for.

You don't think it,
remember it,
imagine it.
It isn't logical 
or reasonable,
and comes out of nowhere.
Suddenly, it is just there.

You will know it when it happens.
Wait. 
Watching.

When it happens,
decide what to do about it.
What is it asking of you?
What is it calling for?
What are you going to do about it?

The other approach is to simply
observe each situation as it arises,
looking for what needs to happen there.
What is called for?

Do it.
To the best of your ability,
with what you have to offer
from the gifts, talents, traits,
virtues, skills, abilities,
interests, etc.
that come with you from the womb.

For no reason other than it needs to be done.

If you begin living from these two
approaches to doing what you do,
you will transform your relationship
to your life,
by seeking to serve something beyond
your own interests and advantage.

And it will improve the world.

–0–

**Glade Creek Mill 06 Oil Paint Rendered — Babcock State Park, Clifftop, West Virginia**

Being in the moment
is the most important place to be,
and we hardly ever
spend any time there.

We are forever thinking about
where we have been,
or where we would like to be,
or what we hate about our life,
and wishing things were different
somehow--
desiring,
fearing,
resenting,
dreading,
longing for
everything.

Jon Kabat-Zinn offers
the best practice regimen
I know of,
with his YouTube videos
(The shortest ones first)
about being here, now.

Since there is really
nowhere else to be,
why not actually 
do what it takes to be here,
now?

Seeing what is with us here, now,
and what is happening,
and what is trying to happen,
and what is called for,
and how we might help the process
by doing what needs to be done
right here, right now,
because it needs to be done
and not to achieve anything,
or acquire anything,
or accomplish anything
beyond being here, now
in ways beneficial
to here, now
because that is what we are for,
and exactly where we come in?

February 23, 2021

Grand Canyon South Rim 08 Oil Paint Rendered — Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

We take everything on faith.
Or close enough.
"Objective reality" is pretty much fabricated,
assumed, projected, inferred, made up,
and pretended to be what we say it is.

How do we know that what we say is so,
is so?
Who says so?
And, who says they know what
they are talking about?
And, we can take this question 
all the way out,
until we finally have to say, 
"I DO! I SAY SO! I SAY THEY 
KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT!
I TAKE THEIR WORD FOR IT!!!"

We are the final authority
declaring to be so
what we say is so.
Reality is what we say it is.
It all may as well be made right up
on the spot,
for all the good having someone who knows
tell us what's what,
which leaves us having to take on faith
that they know what
they are talking about!

And, when you consider that
for the first 14 or so years of our life,
we were told repetitively 
how things are,
and threatened handsomely,
and punished severely,
for not buying into
what we were being sold,
you have to wonder
how solid our foundation is
when it comes to knowing
and not knowing
what is so.

How many Qanoners have any
foundation at all?
Reality is on shaky grounds.

That being the case,
we would be doing well,
in my estimation,
to make things up
to provide the greatest good
for the greatest number of people--
and take it on faith
that this is how things are,
and how they should be,
and live as though that is the case.

How about Liberty! Justice! Equality! Truth!
for starters?

Live in ways which honor those values,
and let everything fall into place around that!

–0–

**Peyto Lake Panorama Oil Paint Rendered — Banff National Park, Alberta**

If you are going to die,
die with cookies in the oven
and crumbs on your plate.

Don't let the idea of your dying
stop you,
or even slow you down.

Do what the moment calls
to be done
every moment,
and let death take care of itself.

Die surprised that you would die at all.

The good thing about death
is that it keeps us focused
on living fully in every moment.

It is, "Here we are, now what?"
all the way.

As long as we are alive,
we live attuned to the moment,
absorbed in the moment,
open to the moment,
looking for what needs to happen
and how we can assist that
into being
with the gifts of our original nature
that come with us from the womb.

We bring what we have to bear
on every situation as it arises,
and let that be that,
as we step into the next situation
that is arising,
looking for "What here? What now?"
in every day.

When we wake up at night,
and there is nothing going on,
we review what has gone before,
and anticipate what is coming up,
always reflecting on what has happened,
and what will likely happen,
searching for new realizations
and better ways of dealing with
our circumstances--
observing, observing, observing--
observing ourselves observing...
looking, looking, looking
in order to see more than we have seen,
and do better than we have done,
up to our final breath--
living as long as life lasts
with cookies in the oven
and crumbs on our plate,
sorry that we don't have more time left
to do what needs to be done.

February 22, 2021

**The Relic 02 Oil Paint Rendered — Down East North Carolina**

Getting what we want
and having our way
take us straight to the heart
of the Wasteland.

Everybody knows what they want:
Their Way!
And everybody thinks it is all
someone else's fault
that things never work out for them.

Things never work out
because they want the wrong things,
and try to acquire them 
in the wrong ways.

Things take an immediate turn
toward better
when we want the right things
and work toward them
in the right ways.

The surest way to get what you want
is to change what you want.

But--nobody wants to change what they want.

Everybody has to get to the end of their rope
before they will change their minds
about what they want.

Why wait?
Other than because we are slow on the uptake
and hard-headed as well.

What's the solution?
Intervention sometimes works.
AA talks of "Raising the bottom,"
and giving an alcoholic
an inescapable dose of reality,
in hopes of bringing truth to the rescue.

If that doesn't work,
there is no way quicker to realization,
illumination,
enlightenment,
and awakening,
than allowing our life to play itself out
and bring us to the point of
no place left to turn.

There, the choice
between life and death.
Life is on the basis of 
something other than
"I know what I'm doing
and I want what I want!"
Death is generally
the last wanted thing.

We could make it easier on ourselves
by seeing the emptiness
of our wants and desires
from the start.
That is no more difficult
that looking with eyes that see.
But it is amazing
how difficult that is.

–0–

**The Relic 01 Oil Paint Rendered — Down East North Carolina**

It is all grist for the mill.

What are we milling is the question.

How consciously are we milling it
is the other question.

How much do we interfere 
with the milling process
is the third question.

Answer those questions correctly,
and we have it made.

If we are milling maturity
and compassion,
kindness,
generosity,
goodness
and grace,
we will have an outcome different
than the one we will have
if we are milling self-advancement,
animosity,
resentment,
revenge,
anger,
hatred,
rutlessness
and greed.

What we are milling
depends upon 
how we look at what we see.
And that depends upon
how we evaluate
what we look at.

Interpretation is everything.
We translate all that happens to us
in ways that are meaningful to us.
Our place is to evaluate
the value/worth of what is meaningful.
How well we do that
tells the tale.

In light of what 
do we evaluate the value
of what is valuable?

What is our primary value
around which everything else
coalesces?
How free are we to call that value
into question?
To probe, inquire, examine, investigate,
evaluate, authenticate or reject
the value at the heart of our life?
How good is the good we call good?
Who is to say?

Who is in charge of saying
what is worth our time 
on the earth?

Ask around.
See what people have to say
in the matter.
Find out how they know
that the value around which
their life revolves
is worth anything at all.

–0–

Little River at the Sinks Oil Paint Rendered — Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg, Tennessee

Jesus and the Buddha agreed on 
the most important things.
They said,
"You people care too much
about the wrong things!"
And, "You people don't have a clue
about what is important!"
And, "You people care about things
that don't matter at all!"
And, "You people have to wake up,
see what is important
and care about that--
with all your heart, 
and soul,
and mind,
and strength!"

And the people crucified Jesus
and assassinated the Buddha
by poisoning his pork.
And, if they didn't,
both Jesus and the Buddha
made enough enemies
among "the people"
for it to be a possibility,
no matter how remote.

You make enemies
by telling people
they shouldn't care about
what they care about,
and should care about 
something else instead.

But that remains,
to this day,
the only thing wrong
with people
and the way the world works.

Everybody cares about the wrong things.
Get everybody caring
about the right things,
and the world is transformed
overnight.

Start with yourself.

Examine carefully the things 
you care about.
Decide for yourself
which ones are not important.
Stop caring about them.

Do this exercise once a week,
say on Saturday or Sunday,
for the rest of your life.

That day will be unto you 
as a Holy Day,
a day of reckoning
about what is important
and what is not--
a day of remorse and repentance,
a day of atonement and redemption,
a day of reorientation and re-dedication
away from what doesn't matter,
and toward what does matter most of all.

February 21, 2021

**Glade Creek Mill 02 Oil Paint Rendered — Babcock State Park, Clifftop, West Virginia**

We like to think George Bailey and Jefferson Smith
(The Mr. Smith who goes to Washington)
are Everyman,
and that Donald Trump and his people
are not.

The assumption is not valid.

The people who profit handsomely
at someone else's expense
are legion. 
Beyond counting.
And they never stop with the conniving, 
contriving,
plotting,
scheming,
coming up with new ways
to make money at our expense.

Jimmie Stewart did us no favors.

We have to be alert
and at the ready
at all times.
We cannot assume everything is fine,
or that we can trust people
to be who they say they are,
or to have our best interest at heart.

They have their best interest at heart.

If you think that is cynical,
pay attention to the news.
My position is ratified,
verified,
affirmed 
and confirmed
every day.

Beware.
They are everywhere.

And so, we have to stay tuned into
what is going on.
Congressional inspectors have their place.
Local newspapers were good sources for 
investigative reporting,
but they are nearly gone.

The Lobbyists who write the bills
that Congress passes,
write in loop-holes that effectively
neutralize the bills that pass.

Cheating, lying, stealing is
a big time business.
The George Baileys and Mr. Smiths
are swamped,
in "The Swamp is alive and well"
sense of the term.

–0–

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Oil Paint Rendered — Before the Move, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Hatteras Island, North Carolina

We have to bear the pain
of our own development.

We grow up against our will.

We draw our own lines,
establish our own boundaries,
assume the duties that are rightfully ours,
and live within the limits
we set for ourselves.

We determine the Thou Shalts,
and the Thou Shalt Nots,
that are ours to honor and serve.

"We are the marble
and we are the sculptor"
(Alex Carrel).
We are the chisel 
and we are the stone.

We are who we become over time.
With luck,
we become who we are over time.

"We shall not cease from exploration,
and the end of all of our exploring,
will be to arrive where we started,
and know the place for the first time"
(T. S. Eliot).

If it goes well, 
after all that work,
we will be us at last.
"The shortest way through
is the long way around."

It takes a lot of looking
to be able to see.
We learn as we go--
that is what going is for.

Live so that each day
brings us closer to who we are,
or at least doesn't take us
farther away.

–0–

**Blue Ridge Fall 01 Oil Paint Rendered — Blue Ridge Parkway, Big View, Virginia**

If you have an agenda,
you have an idea for the situation
that is not organic to the situation.
You are bringing something 
to the situation
that is foreign to the situation.
You are willing an outcome
upon the situation
that doesn't take the needs of the situation
into account.
You are imposing your idea
of the good of the situation
upon the situation.
You are saying,
"NO! Not this! THAT!"
What needs to happen, here and now,
is the question.
Not what do you want to happen.

Our duty--
our dharma--
is to be true to ourselves
within the circumstances
of the time and place
of our living.

What is it time for, here and now,
is the question.
We have to bear the pain of the answer,
and do what needs to be done,
regardless of what we want done.

How objective can we be,
is the question.

I have left situations
that needed something
I could not give them
without betraying myself.
It would have been wrong
to impose my idea for the situation
upon the situation.
And, it would have been wrong
to turn away from myself
and my need for self-expression
and self-determination.

I have also remained in situations
and changed the situation
to reflect my understanding
of what the situation needed,
and other people have left,
unable to embrace and participate in
what I was doing.

How do you know when to do what?
There is no formula that says,
"Here is where you do this,
and there is where you do that."
There is only being still and quiet
and seeing what arises in the silence
as an impulse from your nature,
and living out of that knowing.

We wait for the mud to settle
and the water to clear
in order to know what it is time for
here and now.

Our agenda is to see what we look at,
to hear what is called for,
and to do what needs to be done
in light of what we see and hear.

–0–

**At the Dock, Too Oil Paint Rendered — Silver Lake, Ocracoke Island, Cape Hatteras National Seashore**

Be what the moment 
needs you to be!
Be what is called for,
moment by moment!

Sometimes that means taking a nap.
"Eat when hungry,
rest when tired."

Read the moment,
moment by moment.
Go where you are being asked to go.
Do what you are being asked to do.

Our moments carry us along
to where we are going.
If we ignore what the moment
is calling for,
and follow our dreams,
whatever they might be,
they will bring us back
to where we started,
having learned, perhaps,
to listen to the moment,
and be what it is calling us to be.
And do what it is calling us to do.

It may be that following our dreams
was it to begin with.
And it may be that was the moment's way
of waking us up 
to the importance 
of the moment.

Our moments add up to a life.
Do enough moments well
and we do a life well--
and that is the most
that can be asked of anyone.

We cannot do more 
than to live moment by moment well.
Start with any moment,
this one, say,
and it will lead to the next moment.
Before you know it,
you will have lived an entire life well,
one moment at a time.
Just by doing what was called for.

The art of life.

February 20, 2021

**John Deere Sunset Oil Paint Rendered — Concordia Parish, Louisiana, ca 1977**

It comes down to doing this thing well.
Whatever it is.
Do the present moment well.

To do that,
we have to be all there,
collected,
attentive,
focused,
aware of the moment
and what is being called for there.

We cannot do the moment well
in an absent-minded kind of way.

In each moment,
there are the needs of the moment
to take into account
along with spontaneous impulse
of our nature.
Our place is to realize consciously
that we are allowing our natural
response to the situation before us
to arise within
and direct us in meeting the situation
without our being rationally/logically
in charge of our actions.

We do not think our way through
our situations as they develop
any more than we think our way
through the movements as we dance,
or the decisions we make returning
the ball in a game of tennis.

We trust ourselves to respond
appropriately as the occasion requires,
and follow the impulse of our nature
throughout life's course,
building a body of work
by doing the present moment well,
one moment at a time.

–0–

Cut and Staked Oil Paint Rendered — Tobacco in the Field, Western North Carolina, ca. 2005

Just do what needs to be done.
Moment by moment.
Situation by situation,
Day by day.

Liberty!
Justice!
Equality!
Truth!
Always need doing,
always need someone doing them,
always languish due to neglect
and violent opposition.

The Four Noble Truths 
of Democracy
are always under attack.
People hate them 
from half-a-world away,
in all directions
at the same time.

If I were God,
I wouldn't know what to do first.
But high on the list
would be requiring everyone
to meditate daily on
Liberty!
Justice!
Equality!
Truth!
And recommit themselves daily
to their service
in a world adverse 
to their cause.

Until my coronation 
as God of the Realm,
I will content myself
with establishing and maintaining
a small oasis of
Liberty!
Justice!
Equality!
Truth!
Tending it daily,
and recommending it highly
to everyone who comes my way.

It needs to be done,
and it needs to be done every day.

February 19, 2021

El Capitan Reflection — Yosemite National Park

We must talk to the world,
and the world must talk to us.
Though "commune" is more to the point
than "talk,"
for with "commune,"
the emphasis is on listening
and not on what is to be said.

How do we position ourselves--
intentionally/deliberately--
to commune with the world?

Sit quietly.
Tune in.
Wait for the shift to happen.
The shift in perspective
that lends itself
to seeing/hearing/understanding/
comprehending
what is being said to us 
in the silence,
and what is being called for
within the circumstances of our life.

Meditation 
is a way of opening ourselves
to the world,
not of shutting ourselves off
from the world.
Contemplation and reflection
are required for realization
and discernment.

When we do this,
what happens?
And what happens next?

If our life were a book
what would the title be?

What movie or myth
best represents our life?

What song or poem
best expresses how it is
to be who we are?

It helps to be fluent in metaphor,
and to be able to grasp
what the symbols are referencing
in order to turn the world
and the events of the day
into a mirror reflecting
the inner depths of ourselves.

We see ourselves looking at us--
for us--
when we take the time to listen
to what is going on.

We are speaking to ourselves all the time,
but no one is listening.
The world is speaking to us all the time,
but no one is listening.

We have to know how to read the signs,
to interpret our nighttime dreams
(They all are saying:
"This is how it is with you right now!"
How is it with us right now?)

We have to relate ourselves properly--
appropriately and authentically--
to the environment in which we are living
day-to-day.

Religion that does not connect us 
to the here-and-now
is worse than worthless.
Religion that talks to us of the then and there,
or of the not yet but one day,
separates us from the only time that matters:
the present moment of our knowing,
or knowing-not,
what is called for
and what is to be done about it.

This what our communion with the world
will do for us,
open us to the time and place of our living
and provide us with the awareness
and the wherewithal
to trust ourselves to the impulse of our nature
in responding to the need of the moment,
moment-by-moment
all our life long.

And that is all that is ever needed
in any time and place.

–0–

**Bow Lake Oil Paint Rendered — Canadian Rockies, Banff National Park, Alberta**

Seeing each situation as it is
and responding to it
out of the spontaneous
impulse of our nature
is the foundation
of balance,
harmony
and flow, 
and evidence
of a heart 
that is noble,
gentle
and kind.

If we allow our concern
for the thoughts/opinions 
of others,
or the Thou Shalts
of parents or culture,
or the zeal for personal gain
or financial reward
to inhibit our following
the spontaneous act of compassion
and grace,
we will "leave the path,
turn aside from the way,"
and wander through the wilderness
of malcontent
and dissatisfaction
all our days.

To serve the moment,
we abandon thoughts of gain,
and seek only to know
how we might be of help
to the time and place of our living
with the gifts that come with us
from the womb--
the spirit,
vitality,
life
and virtues/character
which are ours to incarnate,
integrate,
and share.

Meeting the situation as it is
as one "Thus Come,"
offering what we have to give
to what is being called for,
is all anyone need do
through all the time 
that is ours upon the earth.

No one could do more.

–0–

Big Creek 01 Oil Paint Rendered — Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Waterville, North Carolina

Everybody is looking for something.
Ask them what,
and it comes down to,
"MY WAY NOW!"

The maturity level of the species
hovers around 2.5 years of age.

From the beginning to right here right now,
no one has ever been able
to grow someone else up.

Growing up is our responsibility.

And we all grow up--
those of us who do--
against our will!

We grow up--
those of us who do--
against our will
by accommodation,
adjustment
and acquiescence.

It is called 
"Coming to terms 
with how things are."

It is also known as
"Taking 'NO!' for an answer."

How well do you do that?
On a scale of ten,
with ten being great
and one being not at all?

Ask three friends
you can trust to be honest
to rank you as well.

Make it your goal
to grow toward
accommodation,
adjustment
and acquiescence
throughout the time
left for living.

Rank yourself
at the end of the day
every day.

Ask your friends to rank you
every three months.

Starting today.

February 18, 2021

**Aspens 06 Oil Paint Rendered — Jasper National Park, Alberta**

My beef with Buddhism is its 
not-caring solution to suffering.
The Buddha's big idea
was to not-care.
To call suffering an illusion,
and have nothing to do with it.

I much prefer Jesus' solution to suffering,
which is to suffer!
To bear the pain of caring
and to care even if it kills you.
That's more like it, I say.

Both Jesus and the Buddha
would be quick to say
that it is easy to care too much
about the wrong things,
and that it is easy to care
about the right things
in the wrong way.

Caring is tricky,
and that's what I like best about it.
Life is tricky.
I love that about life.
There is no formula for living.
No recipe for getting it right.
Now we have it,
now we don't.

We keep getting up
and going back at it,
hoping to do better this time
than last time,
or the time before last.

I love that about us.

The thing I love best about us
is completely out of our control.
It is an unconscious,
spiritual, thing:
Our ability to resonate with some things.
We can fall in love.
We can see eye-to-eye with others.
We can sing in tune and on key.
We can harmonize.
We can vocalize.
It is magical.
We are magical.
I love it!

And I can't get the Buddha's 
not-caring about any of this!
If you are not going to love deeply
what is to be loved about life,
WHAT???

You are wasting your life!

We have to embrace life totally!
The wins and the losses,
the suffering and the celebrations,
shouting YES! to it all!
Bearing the pain of it joyfully!
Relishing the honor of being able
to love something with all our heart
and soul,
and mind,
and strength--
to love it enough to die for it!
To go to hell for it!
That's living!
Why hold yourself back?
Why hold anything back?
This is our one chance at living life
the way it needs to be lived!

Get in there and do your thing,
and don't let anything stop you,
or even slow you down!
"If you meet the Buddha on the road,
kill him!"

–0–

The Relic 03 Oil Paint Rendered — Down East North Carolina

Where does your fear thrive?

Where are you forcing things to be
what you want them to be?

Where are you willing your way
through your life?

Where are you meeting opposition?

Where is there conflict?

Where are the contradictions
most apparent?

What are your symptoms?

What are your dreams telling you?

How long has it been
since balance, harmony and flow
were companions in the journey
through your days?

What is more important:
Having your way,
or finding your way,
or taking the way 
that opens before you,
calling your name?

How long has it been
since you gave up your way
and followed the impulse
of your nature?

February 17, 2021

**Bass Harbor Light House 01 Oil Paint Rendered — Bass Harbor, Mt. Desert Island, Maine**

Wes Nesker said,
"Nature, like play,
has no purpose or consequence
other than itself."

What do we do that is like that?

Eating and sex might be it
for most of us.

Watching birds.
And clouds.
And sunrises and sets.

How long is your list?

How often do you do
something on it?

Work to increase the length
of the list,
and to work more things on it
into each day

Things you do for no reason
beyond the simple joy 
of doing them.

–0–

**At the Dock Too Oil Paint Rendered — Silver Lake, Ocracoke Island, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, North Carolina**

Wait for the mud to settle
and the water to clear.

Everything becomes clear in time.

Wait. 
Watching.
Looking.
Listening.
Trusting
the impulse of your nature
to know what action to take
when the time is right.

What's the hurry?
Why the rush?
Where are you going?
How do you know?

Master the art of not-doing.
Wu-wei is the Taoist term.
"Not forcing."
Waiting for the appropriate time
to do the appropriate thing.

I carry the camera
and wait for the picture
to appear before me.

I look 
and wait to see.
I listen
and wait to hear.
I cannot hurry seeing/hearing.
Neither can you.

No one can
"hurry up and be there,"
or even know where "there" is.

Is it better to win or to lose?
To be first or to be last,
or somewhere in between?

"Divinely superfluous beauty"
is Robinson Jeffers' phrase
for the wonder upholding the world.
It is everywhere,
all around.
It only takes looking to see.
It only takes listening to hear.
It only takes time to tell
what is essential to know.
Wu-wei.
Take the time to tell
what is called for,
where and when and how.

Wake up!
Be amazed!
By the wonder
of "divinely superfluous beauty"
everywhere.

February 16, 2021

**Along Roaring Fork Creek Oil Paint Rendered — Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Roaring Fork Auto Tour, Gatlinburg, Tennessee**

For me, the pathos of "the human condition"
comes down to the choices we have.

Doing the best that can be done with them
still leaves us bound by them
limited to them,
and to the choices made by those
whose choosing impacted us and our choices.

We all could have done better--
could still do better--
with better choices.
But.
The choices we have 
are the only choices we have.

Choosing to do the best we can
with the choices we have to work with
is the best choice we can make
under the circumstances.

So.

Sit quietly. 
Breathe slowly and deeply.
Listen.
Look.
For what arises within.

This is called taking stock,
seeking the center,
and waiting for the mud to settle
and the water to clear.

This is the second-best choice we can make
under the circumstances.

It is the choice for mindful awareness
and self-transparency.

We can enhance this choice
by watching all of the Jon Kabat-Zinn
YouTube videos
on Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction
(The shortest ones first).

These videos will help us become
a student of the here and now.
There is much to learn 
by learning to be present
with what is present with us.

Being present in the present
is the way of learning to see the present,
to be aware of it,
to know what is happening,
to sense what needs to happen in response,
and to "get out of the way"
in allowing the impulse of our nature
to lead the way in responding
to what is being called for in the moment
with what we have to offer to the moment--
and that is the gate to the next moment,
where being present with that present
will lead to the next moment,
and so on
to all that will flow from
this present moment, 
right here,
right now,
one choice at a time.

–0–

Water Rock Knob Sunset Oil Paint Rendered — Blue Ridge Parkway, Maggie Valley, North Carolina

Good and evil are not absolutes.
They are relative,
and change with the shift 
in perspective which depends upon
what side we are on.

Which depends upon the stake we have
in the outcome.
Any outcome.

Which depends upon how we feel
about the outcome.
Any outcome.

Which depends on what we like
and don't like.

I can be either the angel of the lord,
or the embodiment of Satin himself,
according to how you think about
what I do.

We can transform the way we relate
to the world
by modifying the views
and opinions
we have regarding 
what happens in the world.

Joseph Campbell said,
"The formula for the attainment of peace
is to act as one must,
but without attachment--
to abandon absolutely all concern
for the fruits of action,
whether in this world or the next,
but to enter fully into the action required
as action for its own sake,
without thought of gain or loss,
praise or blame."

Campbell fully comprehended
how difficult it is to participate fully
in life without being invested in the outcome.
He was a world-class distance runner 
in college,
and could not attend athletic events
later in life
because, as he said, 
"It aroused in me more emotion
than I wanted to have to control."

The emotion flowed from having
something at stake in the outcome.

To live as though something matters
without it actually mattering
is a trick for yoga masters,
who might be accused of cheating
because they don't actually live 
in the service of much that matters.
It is easy to be peaceful
with nothing on the line!

Having nothing on the line is the key.
We live as though we have everything
always on the line.
We need to examine that,
and see what we really stand
to gain or to lose
with the things we become embroiled over.

How important really are they?

Peace is to be found in backing off.
In caring less about all things,
and only about the things 
that are truly important.

The degree of our attachment to things,
the quality of our caring about them,
are reflected in our judgment and opinions
about them--
and we are responsible for determining
to what extent our investment 
is justified by the value of our commitments.

How important are the things
we declare to be important?

What will we go to hell for?
What business do we have 
in going to hell for that?

–0–

Zabriskie Point at Sunrise 03 02/15/2006 Oil Paint Rendered — Death Valley National Park, California

Sin is being wrong about what's important.

Sin is being wrong about what needs to be done.

Redemption and atonement are about
seeing things as they are,
knowing what is important
and needs to be done,
and doing it
in each situation as it arises
all our life long.

Anything else is a distraction
and a diversion
designed to provide us with excuses
and justifications
for failing/refusing
to see what we look at,
know what needs to be done in response to it,
and doing it
in each situation as it arises,
all our life long.

–0–

**The Pier at Sunset Oil Paint Rendered — Intracoastal Waterway, Sunset Beach, North Carolina**

We have to come to terms with The Terms
of The Deal
our entire life long.

The Terms of The Deal
are always changing.

How things work today
may not be quite the way
they worked yesterday,
or will work tomorrow.

Adjustment, accommodation and acquiescence, Kid.
Adjustment, accommodation and acquiescence.

It helps to understand this 
as part of The Terms of the Deal,
with little in the way of opinion
and a lot in the way of compassion
and acceptance,
becoming like water 
in finding--not forcing--our way,
and making do as best we can
with what we have to work with
in doing what needs to be done
in each situation as it arises
our entire life long.

–0–

**The Pier at Moonset — Intracoastal Waterway, Sunset Beach, North Carolina Oil Paint Rendered**

Everybody should be in good hands.
Adults should have the right to live 
as they choose--
without interfering with other adults
living as they choose.

Children are stuck
with living as their parents choose
until they reach "the age of accountability."

All of this seems simple enough,
but.
It doesn't work.

Adults refuse to be accountable
long after the age of accountability.

Adults refuse to allow other adults
the right to their own life.

Money and power get in the way.

If you have enough money and power,
no rules apply to you,
and you can get by with doing 
whatever you want.

People with money and power
exist to perpetuate their ideals
and vision of the good
at the expense of everyone else.

Equality and Justice
Truth and Freedom
become words without referents,
with everything favoring money and power
to the detriment of everything else.

When hasn't money and power had the last word?
Where have we been free 
from the controlling influence
of money and power?

As R. D. Laing might have said,
we are playing a game 
of not playing a game,
and nothing is what we say it is,
but we don't talk about it
because everyone knows that
money and power run the game,
and nobody can do anything about it
beyond pretending it isn't so,
and that is what we do.

February 15, 2021

**Big Creek Fall Oil Paint Rendered — Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina**

It is important to know the difference
between trusting your luck
and pushing your luck.

It has been my experience
that I can count on 
"invisible means of support"
(Bill Moyers)
whenever I venture forth
in the service of what needs to be done.
But to try to use that support
to serve my own purposes,
benefit,
gain,
advantage
would be to betray the foundational alliance
between me and the transcendent reality
that keeps shining through
in unexpected ways 
to nurture my faith in its existence
and in my own work in this dimension.

I am here to say what is so
in word and deed,
and keep saying it until I die.
And I take to what is mine to do
as well as anyone I have ever known.

It is an absolute joy and delight
to take up my Sisyphean task 
of rolling the rock up the hill
and follow it down the hill
to roll it back up the hill.
It is my life and I love it so.

I did it for forty and a half years
in the ministry "of word and sacrament,"
with people asking me,
"Why don't you talk to us 
about things we can understand?"
Sisyphus would be proud of me.
I was faithful to the rock all the way,
and even after.

This is testimony to my continued labor
at the work of rolling the rock.
As I remain faithful to the task
that is my dharma to perform,
I can trust myself to the transcendent
function of the work
to energize me with enthusiasm
for what is mine to do
by breaking into my life
to astound and amaze me 
from time to time--
but to push my luck
in trying to further my own cause
in any way
would be a violation of the sacred ties that bind
me to the transcendent
and the transcendent to me.

My place is to be true to my work,
and to be content with doing what is mine to do.
And I am beyond contented.
I relish my relationship with the rock,
and delight in what I get to do every day.

Anyone who thinks that 
there has to be more to it
than that
doesn't comprehend the wonder
of doing what is theirs to do--
or somehow won't let the wonder of it
be enough.

I wouldn't abandon my rock for anything
they would find to be more valuable
than rolling a rock through time.

Find your rock and roll it, I say.
That's all the luck anyone needs!

–0–

Roadside Cascade Oil Paint Rendered — Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg, Tennessee

So What? Who cares? Why Try? 
What difference will it make? 
What good will it do?
Are questions that never occur
to those 
who are engrossed
in doing what needs to be done,
when it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done
because it needs to be done
in each situation as it arises.

Doing what needs to be done
whether it does any good or not
is the most that can be done
in any situation,
and there is no reason 
to not do that much ever.

Doing what needs to be done,
moment-by-moment,
in each situation as it arises--
anyway,
nevertheless,
even so--
is an existential pledge
to life and being.

It is our essential commitment 
to one another 
and all sentient beings.

It's the least we can do--
and high time we did it.

–0–

Price Lake and Grandfather Mountain Oil Paint Rendered — Blue Ridge Parkway, Julian Price Memorial Park, Blowing Rock, North Carolina

The cup of suffering is the cup of salvation,
the bread of affliction is the bread of life.

We have to take the Eucharist into ourselves.
We become the bread.
We become the cup.
We sacrifice ourselves on the cross
of our own opposites, 
dying to all that we have
held to be important--
to our idea of God 
and the doctrines
and theology of the church
(Any church, any religion),
to our ideas of how things are
and ought to be--
and rising to new life
in the service of our original nature,
incarnating/integrating
the transcendent realities
of balance, harmony and flow
with the immanent realities
of here and now circumstances
and situations of life in the world.

Doing what needs to be done
when it needs to be done
where it needs to be done
the way it needs to be done
because it needs to be done
with no attachment to the outcome
and nothing in it for us
and nothing to gain or lose,
just being what is called for
for the sake of being what is called for,
moment-by-moment
in each situation as it arises
eternally and forever
in an Eternal Now that never ends.

–0–

Moraine Lake Oil Paint Rendered — Banff National Park, Canadian Rockies, Alberta

Joseph Campbell said, "If you're not interested
in making things well,
then you are not--
even in the most elementary sense--
an artist."

"Making things well"
does not mean
making them perfect.
Perfection is a steady state
incapable of being made better.

Making things well leaves the door open
to future improvements,
alterations,
transformations,
growth
and development.

The artists themselves are changing!
We work on ourselves
every time we sit still,
wondering,
imagining,
reflecting...

We, ourselves, are never finished!
We are continuing to improve,
evolve,
expand,
deepen...

But doing each day well,
each thing in each day well,
is part of that evolution,
that growth,
that development
involved with meeting the day
and being who we are in it
as best we can
moment-by-moment
every day.

–0–

Hatteras Sunset Oil Paint Rendered — Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Ocracoke Island, North Carolina

No one can help you with your perspective,
with your attitude,
with your outlook,
with your point of view,
with the way you think,
with the way you see things,
with the way you evaluate things,
with the way you interpret things,
with the way you respond to things...

You are on your own with all of this.
Which makes you responsible for all of it.
Which means you need to be more consciously
aware of it than you are--
thinking about your thinking,
seeing your seeing,
attending your responses,
evaluating your reactions,
and your assumptions,
your presumptions,
your inferences
and conclusions--
and asking all of the questions
that beg to be asked
in light of all that you are aware of
being generated internally
in response to the external world.

Do not assume you know what you are doing.
Make inquiries.
Launch investigations.
Find the line between what you know
and what you do not know.
Stop living like you know
what you do not know.
People will notice the difference
that makes in your life
immediately.
So will you.

–0–

**Hammock Creek Oil Pant Rendered — Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Ocracoke Island, North Carolina**

Calculation, orchestration, 
choreography, contrivance
and control
replace the spontaneous expression
of the impulse of our nature
in responding to the situation
as it unfolds before us.

Then, we act with something other 
than what is called for
by the need of the moment in mind,
and follow a path of ulterior motives
in forcing things on the moment
that are not of the moment,
by creating artificial "concerns,"
and generating inorganic responses
in the service of illegitimate ends--
disrupting the balance,
harmony
and flow of life,
and making an irredeemable mess of things,
pouring over,
spilling out,
wreaking havoc for years
in all directions,
because we imposed our will
for the situation upon the situation
at hand.

–0–

Grape Window Abstract Oil Paint Rendered — Presbyterian Church of the Covenant, Greensboro, North Carolina

Follow the impulse of your nature
in seeing what is happening,
knowing what is called for in response
and answering the six questions of life
moment-to-moment
in each situation as it arises,
one situation after another,
day-by-day
your entire life long.

WHO? -- That would be you.
WHAT? -- Needs to be done?
WHERE? -- Here!
WHEN? -- Now!
WHY? -- Because it needs to be done!
HOW? -- The way it needs to be done!

Do what needs to be done
without attachment to the outcome,
without purpose beyond 
doing what needs to be done,
without seeking, expecting,
even thinking about
personal gain/benefit/advantage,
and when it is done,
leave it behind
and step into the next moment
where you repeat the entire process,
following the flow of life
from moment to moment,
situation to situation,
doing what needs to be done
all the way.

Eating,
naps,
and time for reflection
and contemplation,
etc.
need to be done in their time
throughout each day.

Your personal needs get equal time
with all other needs.

But the drama
and the glory,
the tragedy
and the fascination
of the 10,000 things
have no place in the day,
any day.

Off you go!
The day awaits!

February 14, 2021

El Capitan Oil Paint Rendered — Yosemite National Park, California

The greatest mystery all-time
without a close competitor
is the Psyche that forms the nucleus 
around which we revolve.

The old definition of God
being a circle whose center is everywhere
and whose circumference is nowhere
is as close as we are likely to ever get
in talking/thinking about the Psyche.

Words make no sense
because words are only references
to things that make sense,
and can't say things
about things that are beyond
our ability to comprehend
without sounding like nonsense. 

We are left with word-pictures,
or poetry,
that circumambulates the Psyche
without pretending to explain it,
or describe it,
in any meaningful way.

What controls/determines
how we see things?
How we think about things?
What we call important?
What we consider to be insignificant?
Useful?
Useless?
Good?
Bad?
Right?
Wrong?

What governs our perspective?
Our perception?
Our designations of "meaningful"
and "meaningless"?

How good is the good we call good?
How do we know?
What makes us think so?
On what basis do we evaluate our values?

Why do we think the way we think
and not some other way instead?
How many different ways of thinking are there?
Why do we think some are right
and others are wrong?
Right in terms of what?
Wrong in terms of what?

What guides our boat 
on its path through the sea?

What directs our life?

Toward what are we living?

When something resonates with us,
what is happening,
where,
how?

When something repels us,
horrifies,
appalls us,
what is happening,
where,
how?

What determines what we say "Yes" to
and "No" to?
How do we know we are right
about what we say "Yes" and "No" to?

What is the central source 
of direction and guidance in our life?
What is in control of our "Yeses" and "Nos"?

Around what do we revolve?
Toward what do we live?

What makes us think
we know what we are doing?

How do we change our minds?
How does our mind change?

What is the most incontestable,
most unshakable, most constant,
most certain, most dependable,
most reliable, most true 
thing about us?

How many of us are there?

What are the contradictions
that shape our life?

How do we integrate our opposites?

How do we draw lines among
us
and not us
and also us
and no longer us
and not yet us?

What governs the relationships
among all of these "uses"?

Who's on first?

–0–

**Sourwood 04 11/04/2020 Oil Paint Rendered — The 22-acre Woods, Indian Land, South Carolina**

All seeing is interpretation.
It is saying what we see.
It is saying what is meaningful
about what we see.

If we cannot interpret it,
we can only look at it,
we cannot see it.

All looking is a search for meaning,
is looking for what is meaningful to us.

Modern art is meaningless
because we do not know
what we are looking at,
and we cannot see it,
and say it makes no sense.

We can only see what we look at
in light of what we have seen
up to that point.

Babies fresh from the womb
cannot see anything
though they look at everything
but nothing makes sense.
It is all meaningless.
A meaningless swirl of colors,
out of focus
with something saying
"I'm your Mommy!" 

How does meaning happen 
with newborns?
Where in our life 
are we all like newborns?

A modern art museum might be 
one of those places.
A book on inorganic chemistry
might be another.
A lecture on advanced calculus
might be another.

The hero comes back to the Wasteland
from her journey to realization,
awareness and understanding
with the message of truth.
What chance does she have?
The one who sees in the land of the blind
is crucified.
Or ignored.
or locked away.

We cannot comprehend 
what we cannot relate to,
what we cannot interpret,
what we cannot make sense of.

We are babies fresh from the womb!
Calling the One Who Sees blind!

How does meaning come about
with newborns?
That is how meaning comes about 
with us!

Sit before the meaningless,
looking,
looking,
until something shifts.
Until, somehow,
we can relate this to that.
Make connections.
Separate foreground from background.
See our Mommy for the first time.
And watch as everything falls into place
around that.

Not-knowing what just happened.
Not-realizing how many more times
it will have to happen
throughout our life.

Maybe, hopefully, remembering
that we are blind to all we cannot see,
and that there is much we cannot see,
because we have no experience with it,
and no way of making sense of it,
so we have to sit, 
looking,
waiting for the mud to settle
and the water to clear,
for Mommy to become apparent
and real.

Thinking that now, at last, we see.