Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy

Dear hearts and gentle people,
My tardiness with the day's posting 
is due to my wife and I doing our best
to royally entertain the Norovirus
as it likes to be entertained.
You will be proud of us to know
that we have not slacked off one bit,
but have done everything that could possibly 
be asked of us in carrying through on our end
of the bargain.

It is too early yet to tell
whether we have been such good hosts
that Noro (As we are calling our happy guest)
will want to stay tomorrow as well,
and I trust that will be apparent to you all
in good time.

Until we are back on the road again, 
Good night and good luck! 

–0–

Consistency, 
stability,
balance and harmony
enable us to meet the day
on track
and in tune,
and provide us with 
what we need 
to find what we need
to deal with deliveries
that rock our world.

And, if there is nothing
about the day to upset
our regular order,
we can devote our attention
to probing the mystery
at the heart 
of being here/now
and honoring the wonder
of it all.

Time spent observing
the splendid features
of the day
is time well spent.

Time spent being aware
of the energies at work in our life,
knowing the things
that have energy for us,
energy of attraction,
enthusiasm,
joy,
life...
and seeking why that
and not something else,
is time well spent.

Time spent like this
is time spent in meditation,
in rumination,
in being aware of being aware,
and that is time well spent.

And sets the day apart 
from the same old same old,
bringing the day to life
in ways that are good for us,
good for our soul,
and call us to do it often.

–0–

No child has to deserve
their parents' love.

That is basic, 
fundamental,
natural,
original,
obvious,
undeniable
TRUTH!

To deny that is to be an idiot.
Or worse.

Which is to say 
the Doctrine of Original Sin
is utter heresy,
and blasphemy,
and disgusting,
and obnoxious,
and detestable,
and worthy of complete,
utter,
absolute,
instantaneous
rejection
by every living human being everywhere.

Beginning right here,
right now.

So what if it upsets
cherished applecarts,
rocks sacred boats
and destroys the foundation
of Christian Doctrine worldwide?

–0–

What we seek
is who we are
in our fullest potentiality,
in our best form,
as completely as we are capable of being.

We live to become ourselves
on the field of action.

To bring ourselves forth
in the realm of time.
Holding nothing back
in order to behold
the mystery we contain,
inhabit,
are.

We do not achieve that 
by way of achievement,
by way of accomplishment,
by way of acquisition,
by way of attainment,
by way of awards,
by way of possession,
by way of success,
by way of victory...

We become who we are
by being who we are
in relationship with ourselves
in the dance of life
within the moment of living
here/now,
at one with the flow,
in spontaneous response
to what is called for
in each situation as it arises,
when/where/how it is called for,
exactly as the script would have been written,
and the scene directed,
if there had been a script,
if there had been a director,
but there is only us,
here/now,
dancing eternally
through the moments
of time and space.

"There is only the dance" (TS Eliot).

–0–

Suffering is how we choose to look at things.
So is everything else.
Everything is how we choose to look at it.

The end of suffering
the Buddhists are so concerned about
is as easy as turning the light around
by changing how we see
what we look at.

Perspective, perception 
and attitude
are the Elder Wands
of personal adjustment
to circumstances.

And provide instant transformation
of the world,
changing all of it
with a wink
and a smile.

Life has never been so easy
as it becomes
when seen in the right way.

Leaving everyone who masters the art
wondering why we aren't taught
how to do it upon exiting the womb.

–0–

What drives this beaver through life
in a "This is fine! How I love it!
May it remain like this forever!"
kind of way?

Beaver's know Better and Worse from birth.
Everything does.
Nobody has to explain it to them.
Can and Can't have to be explained,
but not Better and Worse.
We all know that.
And, we don't worry about how.

We are born knowing 
the important stuff.
but Wanting/Fearing get in the way.
We want it all
and we are afraid of everything.

And cannot just settle down
with Good Enough
and let that be Just Fine forever,
because Wanting/Fearing interfere
with The Best Life Has To Offer.

The Most Important Thing
is to put Wanting/Fearing 
in their place.

We want more 
than we have any business having,
and we are afraid of losing everything
all of the time.

And we have to have a
Sit Down And Come To Truth Moment
on a regular basis:

"Look! This is what you are doing!
STOP DOING IT!"

"Stop wanting what you don't have room for!
Stop being afraid of losing what you have!
Trust yourself to deal with whatever comes your way!"

–0–

Here is a link to my "From Twitter To Here" site for today's posts. I'm recommending #2 for your consideration:

https://jimwdollar.wordpress.com/2024/02/06/february-06-2024/

How do you square up
with your life?

Make your peace
with how things are?

Decide what to do
and how to do it,
and what to leave undone?

Who do you consult in these matters?

How did you develop
your relationship
with your inner self?

How do you maintain it?
Care for it?
How long has it been
since you sat down with it
and listened?

How does it get your attention?
Demand an audience?

How do you keep things on track?
Know when they have gone off the rails?
Maintain your balance and harmony?

How do you know where
to draw the lines?

What keeps you
steady as she goes?

–0–

Growing up is bearing the pain
of being alive
and doing what needs to be done
in response to it
in ways appropriate to the occasion
in each situation as it arises,
all along the way.

How well we do that
over the full course of our life
"tells the tale."

We show ourselves to be who we are
by the ways we respond to what 
is happening day-to-day.

Being who we are is the essence,
foundation,
source, goal,
reason and purpose of living/being.

Why be somebody else?
Why not do it
the way we would do it
through all of the circumstances
of our life?

Leading the way
to the question at the bottom
of it all:
"Who are we? What are we about?"

The intensity and intentionally
with which we respond to/answer
these questions in all of the day-to-day's
exhibits, expresses, displays
the truth of our essential identity
by the way we live our life
from birth to death.

Who are you?
What are you about?

–0–

You can view the five sessions of The Power of Myth with Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers for free on line at The Joseph Campbell Foundation. And you can purchase the companion volume, also called “The Power of Myth,” but with an inordinate amount of additional material, either as a hardback, paperback or eBook, either at the Foundation, or from Amazon. And, you can purchase a new, fresh from the author,

Myth and Meaning: Conversations on Mythology and Life eBook

Which will tie in nicely with the video/book/eBook of The Power of Myth, and will turn out to be one of the 3 best things you can do for yourself in the New Year. I’ll stake my reputation on it!

–0–

Where are we going with this?

What do we mean with the rest of our life?

How many questions can we ask in a day?

Here are two we can start with:

Who do we think we are?
What do we think we are doing?

Seriously.

Start with those two questions,
and see what questions they generate.

Do not seek answers!
Seek more questions!

Flowing from:
"Who do I think I am?"
"What do I think I'm doing?"

No answers!
Only questions!

See how many questions 
you can generate throughout the day
starting with these two.

–0–

Our worldview is 
how we think things are.
Changing our worldview
is the task of maturation:
Seeing how things actually are.

This is also called enlightenment.
Realization.
Waking up.
Seeing the light.
Coming to our senses.

Jesus put it this way:
"The old has passed away!
Behold! The new has come!"

We think it is one way,
and yet, it is another way entirely!
We think it is like this,
and it is like that!

The transition is more
than some people can take.
Making the transition
is what is asked of all of us.

The task of living.
The work of being alive.

–0–