Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy

We can relax in ourselves,
trusting ourselves to know
what needs to be done
in response to whatever happens.

Clarity and direction are
of the moment
when we thrust ourselves 
into the silence/stillness/emptiness
from which we come
and into which we are going
and in which we live.

All good things are found there
by those who know and trust 
it to be so.

–0–

To be free from doubt
is to be free to doubt.
To be free to doubt
is to trust our ability
to deal appropriately 
with anything that arises.

The gift of the Elder Wand
is to free the wizard
from the need of having the Elder Wand.

To stand alone as one thus come
in any situation as it arises
is to have what we need
to find what we need
to do what needs to be done.

We come with that from the womb.

Every baby is born
having what it needs
to find what it needs
to do what needs to be done.

Trusting ourselves to the moment
as one thus come
is trusting ourselves to ourselves
and to the emptiness,
stillness
and silence--
and to what emerges there
to lead the way.
Through any circumstance
that may arise.

–0–

I would like a sit-down talk with Jesus
to explore what he thought he was doing.

Continuing the work of John the Baptist is my guess.
Assuming the roll of a prophet
calling Israel back to it's covenant pledge 
to be the people of God in the Land of Promise.

Repentance was nothing more involved
than getting back to who they were called to be.

His "You have heard it said, 
but I say unto you..."
was a bold reinterpretation
of the old prophetic understanding
of the covenant.

And his "In as much as you have done it,
or failed to do it
to one of the least of my 
brothers and sisters,
you have done it or failed to do it
unto me,"
was an equally bold call to be who Jesus was
in his life's role as an exhibition
of how the people of God were to be.

Nothing about erasing the shame
of Adam and Eve,
or removing the burden of their actions.
Just the call to be the people 
who would be as God is
from the earliest Old Testament times
and it was clear that "the Father and I are one"
was to be apparent in the life of all people.

–0–

This is a link to Truman Capote reading his “Christmas Memory” and is not to be missed!

If we changed our mind 
about what's important,
the world would be transformed
immediately.

Perspective/perception 
are the Elder Wand.

And we are not in control
of how we see what we look at.
Or of what anything means to us.
We are slaves/victims of our own way
of assessing what we asses to be reality.

Propaganda and indoctrination
make fools of us all.

Our mind is not our own,
but is owned by the forces
in charge of what we see and hear,
with "in charge" being in quotes
because no one is in charge
of their own perspective/perception.

Everyone is driven by what they think
they want,
but they are not in charge of
what they think or want.

No one is.

Everything is as it is
because everything is as it is
and has been so forever.

Circumstances begetting circumstances
carry us all away
and create the forces determining
where we go and what we think/do
all along the way.

No one is in control.
Everyone is responding
to impulses generated by
their environment
triggering their emotions
producing their thoughts/actions
randomly creating low-level chaos
throughout the systems
governing life in the world.

No one gets to choose their choices.
No one knows what they are doing,
or what to do 
about the way things are.

It is like stopping a tsunami.
Or a glacier.
Or keeping a glacier from melting.

"This is the way things are,
and this is what you can do about it,
and that is the way things are."

I recommend observing what you think/feel/do
and exploring where the motive/impetus
to think/feel/do that
came from--
and see what you think/fee/do
in response to that
(And explore where the motive/impetus
to think/feel/do that
came from).

–0–

What do you live to do? 

What engages you?
Enthuses you?
Enlivens you?

What are your passions?
What is your bliss?
The source of your radiance?
Your joy?

What do you do with all your heart?

Live the remainder of your life
so that everything else
falls into place around these things.

Devoting yourself to these things
with filial devotion
and steadfast loyalty
will enable you to live in light of
what matters most,
and be clear about what needs to be done
in each situation as it arises,
no matter what.

And that is all you need.

–0–

We come to life
within the context
of our lived experience,
complicated by our wants and wishes,
fear and desire,
perceptions, perspectives, opinions
and expectations...

We are hardly a "blank slate,"
and need to erase much of what is there
to have a chance of waking up
and doing what needs to be done
without getting in the way.

Psychotherapy is about erasing 
what's there
and replacing it with what would be helpful
in the work to be who we are
here and now
in the time left for living.

Reducing (instead of increasing)
the noise and complexity
of living
by examining our options
and the choices we make
is a giant step toward
balance and harmony,
integrity and sincerity
oneness and peace
"upon the heaving waves
of the wine dark sea."

And that requires examination,
reflection, awareness of and attention to
what we are doing
and what happens when we do it
and what we might do instead
to restore the connections 
with heart and soul,
enabling us to live soulfully
with our heart in what we are doing.

Partying hardily
and letting the good times roll
is not the recipe for mindful living.

Walks in the woods
along streams,
by ponds
and the sea,
Baroque music 
and retreats into silence
help to offset the tenor of the times
and enable us to resonate
with the inner voice
of wisdom and grace,
putting us back in touch
with our original nature
and innate virtues/attributes,
making a new life possible
in relationship with ourselves.

–0–

Live to see what
you are capable of.

Live in the service
of the best you can imagine.

In each situation 
as it arises.

Without caring what your chances are.

With no interest in 
having your way,
or getting what you want,
beyond having your way
being living in the service
of the best you can imagine,
and getting what you want being
what needs to happen
in the situation at hand.

No matter what.

All your life long.

Simple enough a child could do it.

No?

–0–

Finding our place
within what is available
and what is permitted
and what is required
is a dance that goes on
throughout our life.

What we can get away with
changes with our context
and circumstances,
and they are always in flux
as the times are constantly a-changing.

War and natural disasters
create their own vortex,
impacting our world 
in ways that demand transitioning
in mid-stride.

Being able to impose our will
and do what we want
isn't in the playbook,
but conferring 
with the emptiness/stillness/silence
is always appropriate
to every occasion
in a "Okay, here we are, now what?"
kind of way.

Being able to listen
and take direction
are talents tailor-made for survival,
and we never out-grow their place
in growing up
and doing what must be done
here and now.

As the world gets crazier,
we have to become quieter
and increasingly centered/grounded
in our original nature
and the virtues/attributes
coded into our DNA,
as we adjust and readjust
to what is being asked of us
and handed to us
in the day-to-day dance with time and place.

–0–

People who are afraid to die
have never lived.
They have been dead all their life.
And know it.
And never had the courage
to say, "To hell with being dead!"
Because they were afraid to be alive.

Fascists fit nicely into this category. 
Fascists are afraid of everything.
Hence their infatuation with AR-15's,
and their need to kill everyone
not like they are.

And when they get that job nicely done,
they will splinter into groups
and kill each other.
Because they are afraid of everything.

The solution, of course,
is to grow up.
Which, of course,
is out of the question.
And so, the problem.

Growing up is the solution
to all problems everywhere.

Shut up.
Sit down.
Be quiet.
Grow up.

The four steps to enlightened living.

And the shortest self-help book
ever written.

Which never made anyone's 
Best Seller list.

Because there is a little bit
of fascism in all of us.

Which makes it so hard to uproot
and be done with.

The best of us are ashamed of that
and keep it under wraps.

The worst of us are proud of it
and would make Hitler blanche.

Shutting up.
Sitting down.
Being quiet.
And growing up.
Are the most anti-fascist things
we can do.

And are the foundation of democracy world-wide.

–0–

People go on pilgrimages to sacred places
to find God,
or to find themselves,
or both.

As though God is hard to find
and they are hard to find as well,
never mind that Jesus is said to have said,
"The kingdom (of God) is spread out over all the earth,
and people don't see it."

God is as much in our back yard
as anywhere,
and we are right here all the time.

What's with going to look for God?
Going to look for ourselves.

All it takes is being still and quiet.
But, it is easier for some people
to go across the sea
than to sit still and be quiet.

What are your questions?
Start there,
sitting still and quiet.
Meditate on your questions.
Wonder about your questions.
Write them down.
See what questions your questions
bring to mind.
Write them down.
See what questions they bring to mind.
Write them down.

Take up the quest of asking questions.
See how many new questions you can ask
in a day.

In a week.

In a month.

In a year.

Fill up a journal with nothing but questions
that are your legitimate questions.

God is in the questions.
You are in the questions.

Your Meditation on Questions
leads to both God and you.
It's like going on a pilgrimage 
without leaving home.

–0–

Pray without words.

Commune with The Mystery
with a silence too deep for words.

Pray this image, for instance.
Or the impact it has on you.

Pray a memory.
A dream.

Pray your feelings.

Your predominant emotion.

Your rarely felt/experienced emotion.

Your entire range of emotions.

Pray emptiness.
The dearth of emotions.

Pray aloneness.

Pray beauty.

Pray horses,
and dogs.
Cats and whales.
Hippos and marbles.

Pray your day
as you live it,
walk through it,
contemplate it...

Pray you at any moment
throughout it.

Invite The Mystery 
into your life.

Welcome The Mystery.
Allow The Mystery
to pray itself to you.

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