Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy

We make our own peace with our life.
No one can do that for us.

We come to terms with our own 
responsibility for our responses
to the way things are,
knowing that how we respond
to what happens
can make things better
or make things worse,
and that our response-ability
is the key for things being
as good as they are capable of being
our entire life long.

And, "Okay. Now what?
is always appropriate
to every occasion,
voiding, as it does,
our tendency to be emotionally reactive
and mood-bound,
thereby deaf and blind 
to what our options
and opportunities are
in all circumstances
that come our way.

Our twin powers,
perspective and perception,
are superior to the Elder Wand,
in that even the Elder Wand
would be at the mercy
of our perspective and perception
(With perception being what we see
and perspective being how we see
when we look at everything).

Until we get perspective and perception
under control,
we are at the mercy of everything
that happens
over the full course of our life.
And nobody can do that for us.
It is all up to us,
how we see what's what
and what we do in response.

–0–

Squaring ourselves up with the here/now,
coming to terms with what's what
and what is being asked of us
in order to meet the day
and provide what is called for
in each situation as it arises
is the day's work
each day,
in a "Here we are, now what?"
kind of way.

We adjust ourselves
psychologically,
physically,
emotionally,
intellectually,
spiritually,
in doing what needs
to be done,
when,
where
and how it needs to be done
with the tools of our original nature
and our innate virtues/attributes
out of the stillness,
emptiness,
silence
in dancing with what is asked of us
and maintaining our balance
and harmony,
growing up
some more,
again,
today
for the joy of doing it
and the satisfaction
of having done it,
day by day
all the way.

That's the process
we follow,
whether we are a member
of the United States Calvary
riding over the hill,
or a 10 year-old Apache girl
standing outside
of her family's teepee
watching them come,
with things about to be
radically transformed forever.

Sometimes,
there is no joy or satisfaction
to be found
anywhere in the day,
for days on end,
and we dance with that
as well--
as well as we can.

–0–

If you want to be certain
of going to heaven--
or it's preferential equivalent 
to your way of thinking--
all you have to do
is be clear about what is important
in each situation as it arises,
and serve that with the gifts
of your original nature
and your innate virtues/attributes
throughout the time left for living.

You don't have to be right about it,
you only have to be clear about it.
And you achieve clarity
by waiting for the mud to settle
and the water to clear
from the vantage point
of emptiness,
stillness
and silence,
and the collective wealth
of your experience.

This sounds as though 
it will take a long while,
but with practice,
you will zip into clarity
just by recognizing the need for it
and applying the process
with confidence in the outcome
and enthusiasm for the adventure.

With time,you will become
increasingly right as well as clear
about it,
and you will take your place
along with Jesus and the Buddha
and all of those who have known
what's what and what's to be done about it
through the ages,
and live as a blessing
and a grace
upon all who come your way.

–0–

We are here to find out who we are
and to see what we can do.

To seek and serve our original nature
and innate virtues/attributes
within the constraints 
and opportunities
of the time and place
of our living.

In so doing, 
we have to give ourselves 
the freedom to explore--
the permission to experiment,
investigate,
examine,
ask,
inquire,
knock,
play,
dance,
sing...

To discover for ourselves
what the legitimate limits are,
and to push against those limits
without end,
testing them over and over,
to see if they are 
what we take them to be.

Always asking the questions
that beg to be asked
and saying the things 
that cry out to be said,
in the search for what can happen,
what the possibilities are,
what we can get by with,
and what we have to live with,
like it or not.

How are you coming along with that?
What assumptions are you making
that may be invalid assumptions?
What limits are you accepting
that may be imaginary limits?

We owe it to ourselves
to find out
what is so
and what is not so,
and who says so,
and what we can do about it,
anyway,
nevertheless,
even so.

–0–

There is sitting still,
being quiet,
allowing the days 
to have their own 
rhythm and flow,
and there is imposing
our will on the day,
every day.

Two very different ways
to go about living,
and they shake out
among the indigenous peoples
and the conquistadors.

Conquistador mentality
takes center stage 
among the rulers of the world,
and of the world religions.

Indigenous peoples' mentality
finds its place
among the spiritual seekers worldwide.

Between the haves and the have-nots,
there is a line
that has more to do with mentality
than with money and power.

If you are preaching to 
the wealthy and powerful,
you are wasting your time 
and theirs.

–0–

A ranch, say, in Wyoming,
or a pizza restaurant, say, in DC,
or you, say, or me,
develops their own rhythm and flow,
maintaining their own balance and harmony,
in dealing with all that must be dealt with
through all situations and circumstances
coming their way.

Whatever that is, it is the way 
things are done there over time.
It is their way of doing things.
It is who they are.

Identity develops over time.
It is not imposed on time.
Time will tell who we are.
We will not tell time who we are.
And who we say we are
is a gift of time and place.

We all would be different 
with a different point of origin
and a different birth date,
or just a different birth date
if it spanned a long enough time frame.

We are not born who we are,
or even born to be who we are.
We contribute to our development
but we aren't the sole determinant
of who/how we turn out to be.

Rhythm and flow,
balance and harmony,
form and shape us
as we bend and sway
in response to their
influence upon us,
the way the banks 
shape the river 
that forms its banks.

And here we are,
dancing our way
through what remains
of our time left for living,
seeing what we can do
with what comes our way--
and who we will become 
because of it.

We are all being born still,
the older we get.

–0–

The Two Paths of Yin and Yang
pair off in different configurations
throughout our life.

We are always walking 
two paths at the same time.

And the better able we are to do this, 
the better everything will be
all the way around.

We balance/harmonize opposites
by the way we relate to them
always and forever.

There is the care/don't care paradox.
We have to live as though we care
when we don't care at all,
and, of course, vice-versa.

We have to live like it matters
when it doesn't matter one bit.
And, vice-versa.

We have to put ourselves on the line
every day,
and we have nothing to lose all of the time.

Etc. And so on and so forth. Like that. Without end.

Squaring up to eternal incompatibilities,
embracing the contradictions,
reconciling in our own bodies
mutually-exclusive polarities,
and bearing the pain
of how things are
and how things also are
is the very essence of being alive.

It is how we get up and face the day
every day,
as though we mean it
when we had rather be somewhere else,
anywhere else,
all the time--
because everything depends on it,
and that is how it is,
and also is.

World without end. 
Amen.

–0–

Knowing what needs to be done
and doing it
is all there is to it
in each situation as it arises
all our life long.

Getting what we want
and having our way
doesn't take precedent
over doing what needs to be done,
but we don't neglect ourselves, either.

We. Do. What. Needs. To. Be. Done.

Sometimes that's a chocolate shake.
Sometimes, it's a nap.
Or reading a book.

We are in charge.
We make the call.
We draw the line.
We say what's what.

With all things considered.

–0–

AMERICA! LISTEN TO ME! 
THE WAY YOU THINK THINGS ARE
IS NOT! THE WAY THINGS ARE!!!

THE WAY YOU THINK THINGS ARE
IS ONLY YOUR OPINION
ABOUT THE WAY THINGS ARE!!!

STOP WATCHING TV!
STOP ENGAGING WITH SOCIAL MEDIA!
STOP LISTENING TO RADIO --
ESPECIALLY TALK RADIO!!!

STOP LISTENING TO YOUR FRIENDS!
STOP LISTENING TO YOUR PREACHER!

RETREAT TO EMPTINESS, STILLNESS AND SILENCE!!!
IMMERSE YOURSELF IN ART, MUSIC AND NATURE!!!

LISTEN TO NOTHING BUT EMPTINESS, STILLNESS AND SILENCE,
AND ART, MUSIC AND NATURE!!!

FOR AS LONG AS IT TAKES 
FOR YOU TO SEE THAT YOUR OPINION
ABOUT THE WAY THINGS ARE
AND THE WAY THINGS ARE
ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS!!!

AND THAT ALL YOU HAVE IS YOUR OPINION
ABOUT THE WAY THINGS ARE!!!

SEPARATE YOURSELF FROM YOUR OPINION
SO THAT ALL YOU HAVE IS NO IDEA
ABOUT THE WAY THINGS ARE!!!

BE LIKE A BABY JUST BORN!!!
A BIRD JUST HATCHED!!!
DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING!!!

STAY WITH THE EMPTINESS, STILLNESS AND SILENCE
AND WITH ART, MUSIC AND NATURE,
UNTIL THE MUD SETTLES
AND THE WATER CLEARS
AND YOU ARE YOU
AND EVERYTHING ELSE
IS EVERYTHING ELSE
AND REMAIN THERE
WITH YOU BEING YOU
AND EVERYTHING ELSE BEING EVERYTHING ELSE
SO THAT YOU KNOW
WHERE YOU STOP
AND EVERYTHING ELSE STARTS
AND MAINTAIN HEALTHY BOUNDARIES
FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!!!

–0–

You can gauge your degree of indoctrination
by the number of questions
you will not allow yourself to ask,
or permit others to ask.

I wonder what questions Jesus
would not ask
or allow others to ask.

And Herod.
And Pilate.
And Calaphas.
The list is long.

We are all held captive
by the questions 
we are not allowed to ask.

What are yours?
What doors can you not open?
What worlds can you not explore?
What possibilities can you not see?

–0–

Toss aside the twin perils of modern life
(Having your way
and getting what you want),
and adopt as a healthy replacement
doing what needs to be done,
when,
where
and how it needs to be done
in each situation as it arises
no matter what
all your life long.

You will be instantly happier
without the constant pressure/worry
over struggling to arrange things
to your eternal satisfaction forever,
and with the everlasting joy
of finding and doing your best,
regardless of the outcome,
through all of the ups and downs of life.

Effort Not Outcome!
Bringing forth our best 
to meet life's worst
and letting that be that
will do wonders for our 
sense of peace and well-being.

Understanding that we do not have
to be happy
is the surprising key to happiness!

And leaves us to focus 
on doing what needs to be done
whether or not it makes us happy
(Spoiler alert: It probably will!).

The key realization is:
We Don't Have To Please Anyone--
Not Even Ourselves!

We only have to meet the day
with what the day needs to have done,
with only our original nature
and our innate virtues/attributes
to work with.

That takes an inordinate amount 
of pressure off of our need to be successful.
We only need to align our gifts
with the day's interests
and let nature take its course.

What do we have that this moment could use?
What is called for here/now
that we are able to supply?
Poof!
That's all there is to it!

And we are eternally free from the struggle
to have our way
and get what we want
(And when did that ever work out
for anyone's good,
especially our own?).

Right?

–0–

An image in this collection--
or in any collection--
that draws your attention, 
catches your eye,
inviting a closer look,
and the words in the list 
that follows
are ready subjects
for meditation,
contemplation,
reflection,
and as such,
serve as portkeys,
thresholds,
doorways to new realizations
and new ways of living:

Balance and harmony,
emptiness, stillness, silence,
integrity, sincerity, spontaneity,
original nature,
innate virtues/attributes,
noise, complexity, trauma, drama,
questions, meditation, contemplation, 
reflection,
realization.

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