Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy

We are here, in part,
to find out what we are good for,
to discover what we can do--
to explore ourselves,
our original nature,
our innate virtues/abilities/traits/qualities/
specialties/strengths,
who we are,
what we are about,
where we fit in,
where we belong,
what is ours to do,
and do it.

The "stages of development"
serve to call us forth.

Just as "it took the cyclops
to bring out the hero in Ulysses"
(Joseph Campbell),
so it takes our life 
to bring out who we are capable of being
at every point in our life.

The circumstances of our life
are delivery rooms,
birthing us at every stage along the way.

Everyone grows up against their will.
Babies come protesting from the womb
throughout their life.

It is the way.

We find out who we are built to be
by "getting in there and doing our thing,
and allowing that to show us who we are"
(The Bhagavad Gita).

This is the adventure of being alive!

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Our life is lived between
"How much can we get by with?"
and "How much can we take/bear/stand/tolerate?"

Somewhere between those two poles,
optimal lies.

If we had some way of knowing,
"This is it.
It isn't going to get any better.
Enjoy it while you can."
That would take the pressure off
of trying endlessly to achieve/acquire/get/have
more/better/now.

That isn't going to happen.

Optimal exists,
but we don't know when or where,
thus, the life-long struggle
in the futile effort for more/better/now.

Or, we could opt for "good enough,"
and settle in with what we have
at any point along the way.

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Knowing who we are
and aligning ourselves with who we are,
living out of who we are
in each situation as it arises
means noticing/knowing 
what we like and don't like,
what brings us to life
and what robs us of life,
what is "us" and what is "not us,"
and so on, like that.

It means noticing/knowing 
what our original nature is and is not.

The old Myers/Briggs Personality Inventory
is one path to figuring some things out
about ourselves.
An internet search will bring a lap full of options
directly to your laptop.

Knowing what our innate virtues/attributes/qualities/
talents/specialties are
is an excellent foundation
for knowing what we are best at
and what we had best leave alone
(You don't want me doing anything with numbers for you
or singing at your next wedding).

We are well-equipped to know
when and where to draw lines,
and to live within lines
that have been accurately drawn.

We live to know and serve who we are,
not to ignore and sacrifice who we are.
Our identity and authenticity
are a gyroscope enabling us to 
remain balanced,
on the beam
and in harmony with ourselves
through all the circumstances
and situations
life throws at us.

It starts with noticing and knowing 
what we know,
and honoring that with the way we live
through all that comes our way.

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The truth is infinite, eternal, ever-lasing, now and forever.

Truth is the bed you slept in last night,
and the world you woke up to this morning--
and what needs to be done with it,
about it,
here/now.

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Joseph Campbell was of the opinion that
"reflection leads to new realizations."

Reflection requires emptiness,
stillness,
silence.

Our life is grounded in,
surrounded by,
seems to require
noise,
complexity,
drama/trauma.

Regular retreats into solitude
are vision quests
into the inner world
that is vibrantly alive
and replete with everything 
we need to find what we need
to deal with what's happening now
and get up and do what needs to be done
about it
in each situation as it arises
throughout what remains
of the time left for living.

"A word to the wise is unnecessary." 

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Our place is to do what is ours to do,
what is at hand
and needs to be done.

"Anne, eat your breakfast,
Dan, take your medicine, 
Life goes on,
I forget just why"
(Edna St. Vincent Millay).

It is incumbent upon us 
to live out our roles,
to play our parts,
within the circumstances
that enfold us,
as though it matters.

This is our covenant with one another,
to treat each person,
and each moment,
as though they matter.

Play Frisbee with the dog,
rock the baby to sleep,
fold the clothes,
water the flowers...

Meet the circumstances
as they need to be met,
smiling,
glad to do it,
happy to be here,
a part of the daily routine
of meeting the day.

And when, at the point of death,
the bright light encompasses us,
we don't hold back!
But leap into the light 
with all our might!

Having done what was ours to do
with all our might,
holding nothing back,
we carry it forward
to meet the light!

A life well done
is done well all the way!

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"When you meet an elephant on the trail, GET OFF THE TRAIL!!!"
is an old Taoist/Zen directive
that sets aside all of the "Rules to Live By,"
with the one, overriding, foundational, always pertinent guideline:

"Size things up and decide for yourself what is best/
what is called for in each situation as it arises
and do that,
without looking for permission to do so
from someone who is not there/then!

We are on our own in the day-to-day,
moment-to-moment whirl of life lived
between the clashing rocks
and the heaving waves of the wine dark sea,
and must make it up as we go,
listening to our "Karma Body,"
as SandyNC might say--
which is also our "Dharma Body,"--
that "felt sense" (As in the "Uh-Oh Feeling")
of what needs to be done here/now Right Now!
And being our own guide to what is right, Now!

In doing so,
we learn to trust ourselves over time,
and know how to read the signs,
so that we "get it" 
when we "meet an elephant on the path"
and Get Off The Path!
Or do whatever is appropriate to the situation
within the circumstances of the moment.

We decide what needs to be done,
when, where and how,
and do it,
time after time,
trusting that we will get better at it
as we practice reading the signs
and doing what is called for
all along the way.

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There is nothing beyond contentment and peace,
being at one with circumstances just as they are,
to want,
or seek
or strive for.

What those who want,
and seek
and strive for
is to be content and at peace,
at one with circumstances just as they are.

What is preventing that,
interfering with that,
keeping that from happening?

How we see what we look at
makes all the difference.

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Having plans doesn't factor
very much into my life.
Some day I will have the filter
changed in the HVAC system.
That is as close to a plan as I get.

I'll have something for the evening meal.
I plan not to have ice cream and blueberry pie.
I'm off added sugar,
and in seven days,
I will celebrate 9 years of sobriety.
But, I've never remembered to celebrate
that anniversary for the past 8 years.

What seems to motivate other people
doesn't move me.
The "eat when hungry, rest when tired,"
adage fits me well.

I'm moved by ideas,
realizations,
questions.

Religion as a way of controlling
what happens--
The "Prayer works!" declaration 
applied to everything we want or fear
as the legitimate basis for life
cannot compare to "Gravity works!"

If prayer worked like gravity,
what a world it would be.
Prayer wars would rage constantly.
The very idea is hilarious.
I can entertain myself endlessly
with thoughts like this.

It doesn't get the grass cut,
but we have an HOA for that, at last.

I entertain myself
with looking forward
to the next thought/realization/question,
with no clue as to what it might be,
or where it will lead.

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Jesus' declaration,
"The spirit is like the wind that blows where it will,"
is the saving grace of Christianity.

Everything else about Christianity
is washed clean by the realization that
"Sometimes it is like that,
and sometimes it is like this!"

"Sometimes we do it this way,
and sometimes we do it that way."

"Sometimes it is up
and sometimes it is down."

"Sometimes it is left
and sometimes it is right."

"Sometimes it is yes,
and sometimes it is no."

"Sometimes it is Yin
and sometimes it is Yang."

What is it time for Here/Now?
is always the question.

Never mind how it was then/there,
or how it will be then/there.
What is called for Here/Now
is the question!

And, because "The spirit is like the wind
that blows where it will,"
we have carte blanche permission
to do whatever the situation calls for
in doing what needs to be done Here/Now
no matter what.

Now, with that as the foundation/ground/basis
of Christianity,
the entire world is changed, "like that"!

Throw out the doctrines, 
the dogma,
the catechisms,
the rules and regulations,
and simply do what is required 
by the circumstances at hand--
doing what needs to be done
when, where and how it needs to be done
in each situation as it arises
all your life long!

What a beautifully freeing concept!
What a wonderfully appropriate response
to every moment of every day!
How completely exactly 
what we have always needed!
To do what is needed--
Here/Now
always and forever!

Let those who have ears hear!
Let those who have eyes see!
And step into the next moment
as those who have what it takes
to meet the moment as it needs to be met
and to do there what needs to be done,
when, where and how it needs to be done,
always and forever. Amen!  

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When we merge with the flow
of what has life for us,
with where our joy is to be found,
and make that the path we follow
through the circumstances of existence,
things shift for us in substantial ways.

The way we structure our days changes.
The things we talk about
and read changes.
The questions we become interested in
are not the questions we once 
were interested in.

We say "No" more often.
Our life simplifies.
Quietens.
Softens.

And the wind of the spirit
that blows where it will
is always in our hair.

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Life without theology and doctrine
is as spiritual as it gets.

Theology and doctrine are sidetracks,
wilderness bound.

Emptiness, stillness, silence and solitude
flow straight from the heart
of transcendence and life.

The essence of spirituality is flow and life.

We all have--and have had--experiences
with the flow of interest and enthusiasm
carrying us to vitality and life.

Joseph Campbell called it "following our bliss."
It is going where we are drawn,
being led,
carried,
directed,
guided,
and fed.

This is the quintessential religious experience,
where we know we are not our own,
but belong to more than we know,
to more than meets the eye,
and can trust ourselves to that
with all of our life and being.

"That" is central to us,
and always "right there,"
without theology or doctrine,
and is "more than words can say."

Which is what everyone who knows knows.

Lao Tzu and all the old Taoists said,
"The Tao that can be said/told/explained
is not the eternal Tao."
A phrase that is better translated by Martin Palmer as:
"A path that can be discerned as a path
is not a reliable path."

Jesus said as much with his,
"The spirit is like the wind
that blows where it will."

No catechism or Book of Doctrine
or Collection of Sermons,
can say anything,
for all their words,
about that which they speak.

We are much better off not saying,
but simply living out of 
the flow of life
as it leads us with the pull of life
to where we need to be
and away from where we have no business being.

Find the path that is life for you,
even though it cannot be discerned as a path,
and trust yourself to it,
bliss leading to bliss.

You may not make a lot of money,
but money cannot buy what you have.

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