Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy

01

The most ignorant thing
is thinking that how we see things
is how things are.

How we see things is our interpretation of reality,
of how things are.

Alfred Korzybski and S.I. Hayakawa and others
have explored the differences
between our perceptions of reality
and reality "just as it is"
in their books on "General Semantics,"
which should be required reading
in all high schools worldwide.

What we make of the world
positions us to respond to the world
as though it is what we think it is.
We are boxing with shadows,
wrestling with ghosts,
and creating a hell of a mess of things thereby.

We have to step back,
sit down,
be quiet,
and observe ourselves thinking,
see ourselves seeing,
hear ourselves speaking,
feel ourselves feeling,
and just watch what is going on--
without becoming engaged by any of it,
beyond becoming curious
about the things that trigger
emotional responses in us.

Get to the bottom of it
without being hooked by it,
and develop a sense of the difference
between you and the things 
that make up your world.

"There is more to everything 
than meets the eye."

Get to know what that means.

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02

When has peace ever been established
and maintained
without killing somebody
and/or threatening to kill somebody?

And how is ostracizing,
banishing,
barring,
expelling somebody
different from killing them
in societies where the tribe
is the foundation of life?

Why can't we live together
without the threat of death or abandonment?

When have compassion and goodwill 
ever been the foundation of lasting peace?

What does it take to live together
in ways that are good for everybody?

Why are there assholes who refuse
to abide by the rules governing the behavior
of everyone?

We have to have laws with execution attached
to deal with the Genghis Khan's 
and the Jeffery Dahmer's of the world
because they can't be trusted
to stay on their side of the line.

Rodney King nailed it with his,
"Why can't we just get along?"

Why can't we?

How would have Jesus 
imposed and maintained the peace?
The Buddha?
Gandhi?

We don't know,
and it is easy to imagine 
that they wouldn't have.
Jesus died refusing to take up arms
against the Romans.
The Buddha had an alliance 
with the princes/kings of his day
based on his promise of merit
and Nirvana.
Gandhi was assassinated
because he didn't have armed bodyguards.
And the Dalai Lama's bodyguards
carry automatic weapons
(Square that up with compassion
if you can).

Death, 
or the threat of it,
is the only basis of lasting peace.

This is a contrary equal to
life eating life--
to life depending on the death
of something.

Peace depends on the death of something.
Life depends on the death of something.
Death is the source/foundation of life.
And we have to make our peace with that.
How's that coming along for you?

We have to dance with the contradictions--
not deny them--
"Joyfully participating 
in the suffering/sorrows of the world"--
all our life long.
And then, we die,
and merge with the contradictions
at the heart of life.

Contradiction and compromise
all the way down.

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03

We are never more than 
a slight perspective shift
away from having it made.

Having it made 
is being at peace
with our circumstances,
no matter what they are.

How long has it been?
Since we, individually,
collectively,
corporately,
as a person,
a nation,
as a world,
been at peace with our circumstances?

Know why?

Expectations.
Aspirations.
Greed.
Fear.
Agendas.
Opinions.

Know what it takes?

The right kind of emptiness,
stillness,
silence,
and the willingness/ability
to "Joyfully participate
in the suffering/sorrows
of the world"--
which is the willingness/ability
to say "YES!"
to life just as it is
(Joseph Campbell).

The trick of having/maintaining
the right kind of perspective
is a regular return
to the right kind of emptiness,
stillness,
silence,
in the right kind of way.

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01

We have aspirations,
expectations,
desires,
which, 
when frustrated,
or delayed,
(which is often the same thing),
lead to anxiety and/or depression,
alcoholism,
drug addiction
and a long list of symptoms
associated with these types of responses
to our situation
which began as a combination
of aspirations,
expectations
and desires.

We would be better off
if we only had a bit of curiosity.
Like, "I wonder what I would enjoy doing?"
And see where that leads.

I can watch YouTube videos, say,
on DIY small engine repair,
or trench drain installation,
and know that isn't it.
I can rule out a lot of things
without ever getting my hands dirty.

If it involves getting my hands dirty,
it isn't for me.
And knitting isn't for me,
although my hands stay clean.

But I'm not wondering how to get wealthy.
I am wondering what I would love to do.
What can I do with all my heart?

Photography and writing pop to mind.
And getting to the bottom of things.
And seeing what's what in a situation...

Before I know it,
I am swimming in an ocean
of things I enjoy doing.
And it turns out that I could make enough money
doing some of them
to pay the bills,
and I paid the bills to do
some of the things that didn't make any money at all.

I'm hunching the same thing 
would apply to you.

Start with what you love to do
and see where it goes.

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02

True belief and genuine faith
are encased in denial.

They are not only belief/faith IN something,
they are also belief/faith IN SPITE of something else,
namely a four-engine freight train
hauling car loads of solid evidence to the contrary.

Robb Elementary and Sandy Hook
and all the other stupid, senseless murders
and vicious acts of mayhem
are part of a forever train filled with examples
of how we would be as well off 
with a God who hated us
as we are with a God who reportedly loves us.

A God of love would have to do better than this,
or part with the brand.
And this is where that God
parts ways with The Mystery at the Heart of Life and Being.

Put all you have ever been told about God,
including what's in the Bible,
in the burning barrel 
and embrace The Mystery--
because all we can say about The Mystery
is that it is all Mystery,
and we don't have to say anything
to explain, defend, justify, excuse The Mystery
because it's all Mystery.

And along with embracing The Mystery,
embrace sincerity and integrity,
honesty and forthrightness.

Embrace your own original nature
and the virtues that come with you 
from the womb.

Embrace emptiness,
stillness
and silence.

Embrace The Sermon on the Mount,
the Parable of the Prodigal Son,
the Parable of the Good Samaritan,
and the bit in Matthew 25
about "Inasmuch as you have done it,
or failed to do it,
to the least of my brothers and sisters,
you have done it,
or failed to do it,
unto me."

And let these texts be your guiding lights
in determining how to conduct yourself
in relationship with yourself
and all sentient beings.

Believe that it matters how you live,
and live in ways that bring forth
your original nature and your innate virtues
in doing what needs to be done,
where, when and how it needs to be done,
in each situation as it arises
no matter what,
and let that be that.

Live how it suits you
in right relationship with The Mystery,
recognizing how we are all immersed 
in Mystery from birth to death and beyond,
and honor The Mystery
with all your life and being,
in all you say and do.

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03

If we lived as though 
it is all up to us,
we would do it differently
than we do it waiting on God
to take care of us.

It is all up to us!

We are killing the environment.
We are killing each other
with "Guns for everybody!
Come get your guns!
You can't have enough guns!"

There is no divine intervention
to keep us from driving off the cliff
into oblivion.

It is all up to us!

If Republicans are elected
children will die from gunshot wounds.
People of all ages will die from gunshot wounds.
We elect Republicans.
We do it to ourselves.

It is all up to us!

What we do matters!
How we live matters!
The choices we make matters!

We cannot live as though 
someone is going to pick up after us,
or sweep the path before us.

How we live in our present
determines how our future will be.

It is all up to us!

–0–

01

I spend a lot of time looking out the window,
though sitting in a canoe,
or walking in the woods,
or driving along the back roads
are all equivalent ways of being occupied,
allowing my thoughts to carry me 
wherever they go.

It isn't thinking.
It is wandering among realizations
and possibilities.

Listening,
looking,
seeing,
hearing,
supposing,
imagining,
are all as much a part of what I do
as thinking is.

Thinking gives it form,
writes it down,
finds the right words,
or receives them,
and knows they are right
when they appear.

It is who I am.
What I do.
Which can be expressed,
but not explained,
justified,
excused,
defended.

I much prefer it 
to dinner parties
or cocktail hour.

Just give me a porch
and a rocking chair,
or a swing,
or a hammock...

I'll be fine.

–0–

02

There is balance/harmony.
And, there is noise/complexity.

Our life is a movement
between the two/four.

Stabilization,
homeostasis,
equilibrium, 
equanimity...
are always finely tuned affairs,
a quick blink away from
disorder,
disarray,
mayhem,
bedlam,
chaos...

Which states are more prevalent
in our life?
What might we do to increase
AAUUUMMM
and decrease
the shrieking Furies?

What choices do we make 
in favor of one
at the expense of the other?

How do we create the world
we live in?

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03

Qi, or vital energy, 
diminishes over time,
according to the old Taoists,
and the new ones, as well.

If we want it to last,
we have to expend it in the right ways.

Using it in the service
of those things 
that offer an immediate return
on our investment
is the optimal arrangement.

All creative endeavors are this way.
Putting in a flower bed,
and reworking the old ones,
restore our energy
(IF that is our thing),
and extend our life.

Life lived in filial devotion
and liege loyalty
with fealty to what we love
is life well-lived.

How are you doing with that?

Does your life--the life you are living--
flow from you,
or is it required of you?

If you need to get your life back,
what do you need to do to do that?

The indigenous people of the southwest U.S.
would tell their sons and daughters
as they left home to seek their life
in the world beyond,
"As you go along your way,
you will come to a great chasm.
When you do, JUMP!
It is not as far as it seems."

–0–

01

What are the lies you have been told?

Make a list over time.

Keep it going to include all the lies,
great and small,
that have impacted your life.

Burn the list.

Bury the ashes.

Turn the light around.

Turning the light around
transforms the lies
by turning the light from the negative burden
of the lies,
to the truth of who you are
that the lies evoked/called forth
to meet the reality of the lies.

The lies have been devastating,
particularly when compared to the life
that might have been yours without the lies,
and, you have risen from the ashes of that devastation
to be here/now
anyway,
nevertheless, 
even so.

We all could have been better with more help,
with more truth.

Yet, here we are, "just so."
Thanks, in part, to our original nature
and the virtues that are still with us from birth.

We can count on that nature and those virtues
to be with us the rest of the way.
We can count on ourselves
standing up and meeting the day,
each day,
because here we are.

Our response to the lies
has been the life we are living.
And our continued response to the lies
will be the life we will live yet.

We will continue to rise from the ashes
in being who we are,
anyway,
nevertheless, 
even so!

We all have a tale to tell 
that has yet to be told,
and the way we live from this point
will tell that tale.

Press on! Press on!

–0–

02

Knowing what to do in a situation
is not a matter of thinking about it,
but one of simply realizing what is so,
and responding automatically,
spontaneously,
with the right word/act,
done at the right time,
in the right way,
and following that with 
the right response to the situation
that flows naturally from the present one.

It is like dancing with the music
without thinking about what you are doing.

Live at one with the music of your life.

That is all that is asked of us.

Thinking comes in with things like
filing our income taxes.

Mostly, it is just knowing/doing here/now.

–0–

03

What's your specialty?
Start there.
What flows from that?
Connects with that?
Is a natural extension of that?
Evolves smoothly from that?

Think of your specialty 
as a doorway to you
and the things you do best,
enjoy the most,
and see where it takes you,
with one thing leading to another,
following the alchemical formula,
"One book opens another,"
and leading you spontaneously,
joyfully,
into worlds of wonder,
amazement,
radiance
and beauty--
all YOU.

–0–

01

My plan is to wait and see what happens,
and then do what needs to be done.
When it needs to be done.
Where it needs to be done.
How it needs to be done.

No expectations.
No agendas.
No opinions.

Sincerity.
Integrity.
Spontaneity.

Emptiness.
Stillness.
Silence.

Balance and Harmony.

Original nature.
Original virtues.

Spirit.
Life.
Vitality.

See it.
Feel it.
Know it.
Trust it.
Do it.

If I can think of 
how to improve on this.
I will. 

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02

Keeping the public happy 
is out of the question.
Somebody isn't going to like something
about everything/anything.
Malcontents are everywhere.

Not only are they malcontent,
they also think they are due
what they want
when they want it
how they want it
at all times
even though
it has never been that way ever.

And they are taking over the world.

There is nothing wrong with them
that growing up would not cure.

Growing up is out of the question.

And most of them are heavily armed.

Looking for someone to blame
for their misery.

It's the sign of a culture
in a downward spiral.
Blaming others 
for their failed expectations.
Immature and whining to the end.

–0–

01

I look forward to seeing 
what I can do with the day,
and with the future.

To seeing what can happen,
with my preferences
guiding my choices,
but with other considerations
coming into play as well.

Preferences are not willfully
insistent "gotta haves or else."
They are just preferences,
like hot coffee over warm coffee,
and can be set aside
in favor of compelling alternatives
at any point
in dealing with situations "thus come."

I get up and see what the day brings,
and what I do about it,
and where it goes.

With the freedom to choose my choices,
I do just fine.
When my choices are limited and forced
by the circumstances,
not so much.

I live toward freedom,
which is enhanced
by being able to pay the bills,
and being able to choose
which bills to incur.
When time and chance take that away,
I wonder how I will respond,
and hope to be big about it.

Now, I hope my mind and body
do not go before I do.

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02

Most of the people I know 
are awash in contradictions
and conflicts
they don't know they have.

The live tight little lifeless lives,
thinking they are on top of things
because they structure everything
and can see it all
so they must be on top
looking down.

They are in the cesspool,
holding their breath,
imagining they are on top of things.

If it weren't for denial
they would be in some psych ward.
They are already on large doses
of medication,
which helps them stay on top of things.

We have to dance with our contradictions
and frolic with our conflicts,
laughing at the idea
of ever being free of either.

Quick now, what are your contradictions?
What are your conflicts?
What are the forces of destabilization
at work in your life?
Where are you on the scale 
of balance and harmony?
How is that manifested in the way you live?

Our body is the most obvious reflection
of our degree of balance and harmony.
You can tell by looking
at how well you're doing.

If you want to do better,
you have to sit down,
shut up,
be quiet and empty.
and wait for the contradictions
and conflicts 
to appear.

Oh, there they are!
They are coming to introduce themselves.
Hoping you will ask them to dance.
And frolic.
Far into forever.

Or at least square up with them,
make your peace with them,
befriend them,
be conscious of them
and kind to them
the rest of the way.

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