Finding our way to The Way one situation at a time. I don't know how great it will be, but I expect it will be interesting, and I look forward to it going on past all reason because wonder is just that way. Are you coming or not?
We live best in the service of something
that is greater than we are.
We live best when we are dedicated
to something,
owned by something,
belonging to something,
possessed by something,
with fealty to something,
with liege loyalty
and filial devotion to something...
Truth, perhaps.
Justice,
Beauty,
Balance and Harmony,
Integrity and Sincerity,
A Noble Heart,
Kindness and Compassion,
Good Humor and A Gentle Presence...
Something that makes the world
a better place
because of your company
and demeanor.
Whatever it is,
it is already in place
awaiting your permission
to come to life in your life
as a blessing and a grace
upon all who share your path.
It is likely winking at you
even now,
laughing,
saying, "Come on! Let's go!"
Another Barn 10/17/2011 Oil Paint Rendered — Brevard, North Carolina
The easiest thing in the world
is thinking it is about one thing
when it is about another.
Clarity is the foundation
of a life worth living.
And fooling ourselves,
no--telling ourselves what we want to hear,
which amounts to the same thing--
is what we do best.
Truth and clarity interfere with
having our way
and getting what we want.
So, the first thing is
getting our way
and what we want
out of the way
entirely.
Practice living without having a way,
without getting what you want.
Live with only what needs to be done
here/now in mind.
From one here/now to the next one.
Truth and clarity are grounded
in/on what is important.
Everything falls into place around that.
Knowing what is important
and being right about it
are superpowers,
directing your life,
guiding your living.
How important are the things
you declare to be important?
We can think our heart is in
things that don't matter at all.
This is called fooling ourselves.
The clarifying question is:
How wholeheartedly do we live
in the service of things
we tell ourselves our heart is in?
Heart shows up in living wholeheartedly.
How often can that be said
about what we are doing?
Examine your life from the standpoint
of wholeheartedliness.
How much of what you do
do you do wholeheartedly?
Enthusiastically?
Energetically?
Joyfully?
Those are the important things.
The remainder are pretenders to the title.
Shuck them like you would an ear of corn.
And live like you mean it
with the things that matter most.
False Hellebore 03, 04/20/2010 Oil Paint Rendered — Blue Ridge Parkway, Floyd County, Virginia
Being true to ourselves
is living out of our original nature,
expressing/exhibiting/serving
our innate virtues/traits/characteristics,
in rising to every occasion
and meeting each situation as it arises
as it needs/deserves to be met,
doing in all the here/now's
what is called for then/there,
when/where/how it is called for,
and being ready to do it all again
in the situations that flow
from this one,
time after time,
no matter what,
all our life long.
If you think there is ever any more to it
than that,
you haven't lived long enough.
Everyone wakes up if they live long enough.
Eventually, there is nothing more to get
than this.
It waits for everyone,
who then have to live with it having taken
so long,
when it was always right there,
winking at them,
whispering their name,
the entire time.
And it is never more difficult
than see/do--
again and again--
the Sisyphean Task
one situation after another
shrunk to the metaphor
of a rock and a hill.
Except for the symbol
and a few other changes,
when you talk about us,
the story is the same one.
Get it?
Then get with it!
Laughing all the way!
Amen! Amen!
And don't forget the laughing part!
Curve 12/13/2011 Oil Paint Rendered — Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina
Curves are everyday occurrences
through the outback of life,
and we keep thinking we have
to "Be There Now!"
It's "Be HERE Now!"
We all might like to be somewhere else,
but the Here/Now is all there is,
and the perennial call
is to do right by the time
that is at hand.
What is being asked of us here/now?
What is being called for?
What is needed?
Right here, right now?
Maybe, it is nothing more than waiting.
Going to the DMV is going to wait.
And wait.
And wait.
Emergency rooms, too,
are getting to be that way.
When waiting, we wait!
And, while we wait,
we can be aware of the pressing need
to walk two paths at the same time
in most of the moments
that come our way.
Sometimes, we have to live
in two worlds at the same time.
Family reunions,
weddings
and funerals
are like that for me.
The traditions require my presence,
and I'd rather be not there at all.
So, we adjust ourselves to our role,
and do what it requires of us,
as though we are playing the part
in a movie,
and give the best performance of our life,
while looking forward to a quiet
cup of coffee and a nice piece of pie
(Or whatever your preferred substitutes
might be)
on the way to whatever is after that.
Backyard Sunset 2019 Oil Paint Rendered — Indian Land, South Carolina
Our circumstances are an ever-present
guide through our days.
They are always calling for something.
Taking care of business
is a full time job
even when one is retired!
And, it is good practice!
The practice is paying attention
and doing what needs to be done.
The creative individual,
paying close attention to the baseline
requirement
of knowing what is called for
in each situation as it arises,
knows when it is time
for a cinnamon bun
and a cup of coffee
in addition to all of the other
tasks of the day
required by the circumstances at hand.
And naps have a wonderful way
of coming out of the blue
with their "Rest when tired"
ultimatum to trump (That word again)
every other matter crying,
"Me Next! Me Next! It's My Turn Now!"
Handing ourselves over to our circumstances,
and giving them the reins
is a great way of practicing the practice
of doing what needs to be done,
when, where, and how it needs to be done,
with naps,
cinnamon rolls
and coffee
all taking their rightful place
amid all the other circumstances
vying for our attention.
Baxter Creek Bridge Oil Paint Rendered — Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Big Creek District, Waterville, North Carolina
Throw away the theologies,
the doctrines,
the dogmas,
the sutras,
the dharma,
etc.
In their place recognize
integrity,
sincerity,
spontaneity,
emptiness,
stillness,
silence,
balance,
harmony,
original nature,
innate virtues/traits/characteristics,
spirit/vitality/life.
Remove noise/complexity/drama.
See and do
what needs to be done
here and now
when/where/how it needs to be done
for no reason other than
it needs to be done,
in each situation as it arises,
no matter what,
throughout the time left for living.
This is all we need
to create a life
worth living
with liberty and justice for all.
It is simple,
doable,
and it works.
And it is already
the basis of life
for those who know what's what.
What practice do you follow
to maintain/recover your balance and harmony?
How do you sustain your focus?
Your direction?
Your connection to the central pole,
the axis mundi,
of the turning/heaving/crashing/chaotic world?
What brings you back to who you are--
to your original nature
and the innate virtues/traits/characteristics
that are yours from birth?
An abiding relationship with
art,
music
and nature
is traditional with the species
for providing a restorative association
with the other side.
Reducing the amount of noise,
complexity
and drama,
and increasing the time spent with
emptiness,
stillness
and silence
will reestablish contact
between the mover and the moved.
I look out the window.
Take photographs.
Write these monologues with the Muse.
We find our own way
to what works for us
in returning to the source
of balance and harmony,
spirit/vitality/vibrancy/life
and aligning ourselves
with the rhythm and flow
of time and place
in each situation as it arises--
which becomes our practice,
and the ground of our being.
Otter Point 10/11/2009 Oil Paint Rendered — Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine
No plans,
no agendas,
no expectations,
no opinions...
The day has a drift
and a rhythm of its own.
Our place is to find
what needs to be done
and do it,
when, where and how
it needs to be done,
situation by situation,
and let that be that,
because the next situation
is on the way.
We can tell
when we are willing
what cannot be willed,
and let it go,
stepping back,
standing aside,
listening/looking
for what is called for,
and assisting
as we are able,
to the best of our ability,
with the unfolding of the here/now
in the time and place of our living,
as we move through the day,
one situation at a time.
Imposing nothing,
contriving nothing,
seeking nothing,
doing nothing
in the right way
at the right time,
letting it all come forth
in its own time,
in its own way,
as only a day
knows how to do it.
Flowing with the movement
of the day
into the movement
of the night,
doing what is called for
all along the way.
Cedar Island Ferry 10/28/2011 Oil Paint Rendered — Pamlico Sound, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Ocracoke Island, North Carolina
Being true to our essential nature,
living in the service
of our innate virtues/traits/characteristics
and doing what is needed,
when, where, and how it is needed
in each situation as it arises,
has nothing to do with wanting,
having,
getting,
acquiring,
owning,
amassing,
seizing,
striving,
forcing,
and living to have our way
at the expense of everyone else's way.
It flips the switch,
turns things around,
stops the madness
and opens the way
to life and light and peace.
I wonder why we haven't
thought of this before,
and started sooner.
But, now is all
we have ever had to work with,
so why not get things going now?
Little River 10/14/2011 Oil Paint Rendered — DuPont State Forest, Cedar Mountain, North Carolina
There is what we have,
and there is what we need,
and there is what we wish we had,
and there is what we think we need.
And here/there we are.
How to be right about what we have
and what we need
is our life's work.
The truth is that we have what we need,
if we would only realize that
and get to work!
Every sentence I write here,
there,
everywhere,
is a sentence I need to read,
a statement I need to hear.
Every dream/day dream I have
is exactly what I need to hear
with understanding
and right response!
The same could be said for you.
What keeps attracting you
like a flame to a moth?
Sit with that until you see what's what
with it,
and how it pertains so to you
and the life you are living,
and the life you are not living.
The key is there.
The key that opens the door
to the rest of your life.
Everything waits on our getting it
and getting to work
with what remains
of the time left for living.
The things I keep reading,
underlining,
and writing,
are the things I keep needing
to comprehend/understand/implement/
put into play
in the way I live my life.
As with me,
so with you.
Revelations are everywhere
to those who have eyes to see.
Find those eyes
and get to work!
(I said that to me,
not you.
But, if it applies to you,
help yourself to all it has
to offer)
We have what it takes
to rise to any occasion
and do what needs to be done
in each situation as it arises.
The problem is that we don't want to.
We don't want to is our only problem.
If we only wanted to do
whatever is asked of us,
we would have no problems.
What do you care about?
What living thing do you care about?
We can't BS ourselves,
so be deeply honest/truthful here.
What do you pretend to care about
that you don't actually care about?
How often does caring about
what you care about
ask/require you to do
what you do not want to do?
If you can override yourself
in this situation,
you can override yourself
in any situation that you care about.
Now, we are down to caring about
the situations that arise in a day,
and caring about bringing your best
to bear upon those situations,
knowing that the way we live
in our situations
has the most impact for good or ill
on the conditions and circumstances
of our life.
So, in a rational/logical way,
we can see the importance of caring
about our situations to the point
of doing whatever is called for,
whether or not we want to.
Now it is only a matter of transferring
this over to our emotional/psychological
response to what our life is asking/requiring
of us.
Do the work!
Make your life matter!
Situation by situation!
The Woods at Springer’s Point 11/02/2007 Oil Paint Rendered — Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Ocracoke Island, North Carolina
Coming to Jesus
is coming to ourselves,
is coming to.
Jesus had to come to Jesus
by coming to himself,
by coming to.
In the wilderness,
in the lonely vigils at night,
in Gethsemane,
on Golgotha.
We all have to follow the same path,
in coming to terms with the discrepancy
between how things are
and how we want them to be,
and what we can do about the disparity.
That will grow us up--
and that's the last thing
we want to be--
as a quick glance
at the political framework
currently trying to destroy
life as we know it
(Every despot ever has been fascist
to the core,
has taxed the poor
to benefit the rich,
and has called Social Security/
Medicare "Entitlement Programs,"
and equated them with "Socialism,"
terms that create heavy smoke
where there is no fire
to divert/sidetrack the conversation
into the wilderness of noise,
drama
and complexity
to hide their own corruption
and deceit,
and coverup their own wrongdoings).
Deception and denial keep us safely
away from the truth of how things are,
which is what growing up requires of everyone.
This is not a grown up culture,
or one that has any chance ever of growing up,
which makes the true counter-culture
one that understands growing up to be
the price of admission
to life as it must be lived--
what coming to Jesus is all about!
Jesus saw what was what
and what needed to be done about it,
and turned over the money-changers tables,
setting up the Sanhedrin/Pilate scheme
to rid the world of just another trouble-maker,
via a cross on a Friday called "Good."
The truth is "a harsh task-master,"
requiring grown-ups for the task
that is always at hand.
And we do not come to that task
without going through ourselves
and how it is with us,
not-wanting as we do,
anything to do with it--
with the truth,
with the task,
with the work at hand.
Coming to Jesus is coming to the truth
of ourselves
and what needs to be done about it
in order to be who the situation calls
us to be,
in each situation as it arises,
all our life long.
The fascists won't have anything to do
with that.
How about us?
Where do we stand?
Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 