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?
Cormorant Sunrise Oil Paint Rendered — Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Ocracoke Island,. North Carolina
Living between the extremes,
between the contradictions,
between the dichotomies,
between the contraries,
between the mutually exclusive polarities...
takes all the fun
out of being alive.
And so, denial.
In the form of diversion,
distraction,
dismissal,
disregarding,
denouncing,
delaying,
postponing,
rejecting
and refusing to consider
anything we don't want to think about.
The entertaining pastimes--
money,
sex,
drugs,
alcohol,
video games
and all the spectator sports--
come to our rescue,
delaying indefinitely
the unwanted realities
of our life.
Can you imagine the dreadful existence
of someone like the Buddha, say,
or Jesus,
Gandhi,
the Dali Lama
and all of the saints in light--
who just faced straight-up
life-as-it-is
every day?
What a dreadful way to live!
Doing nothing than what needed
to be done,
when, where and how it needed to be done,
from get up to lights out?
Who could live like that?
No TV?
No commercials?
Nothing to take their mind off
whatever was at hand?
WHY???
We don't wait around for the answer.
The idea alone is more than we can
bring ourselves to consider.
There has to be a beer around here somewhere...
Lake Andrew Jackson Mirror Oil Paint Rendered — Andrew Jackson State Park, Lancaster County, South Carolina
Everything turns on how we perceive our life.
No one teaches us about perception.
About interpretation.
About hermeneutics.
About ascribing meaning.
About seeing.
About understanding what we look at...
We stumble into some mode
of explaining to ourselves
what's happening,
making things up to suit ourselves,
call that knowing how things are,
and responding to it
in ways commensurate with our explanation.
Is there any wonder that the world
is insane?
We are all doing the only thing we know to do--
thinking things are what we say they are
and doing what we say needs to be done about them.
And, here we are.
Nobody wants to be here,
but, everybody is here.
Because everything turns
on how we perceive our life.
The Grove 05 01/25/2015 Oil Paint Rendered, B&W — ACE National Wildlife Refuge, Hollywood, South Carolina
There is no peace
as long as wanting
is running the show.
The only companion of peace is knowing.
Knowing what's what
and what needs to be done about it,
and doing it
with our original nature
and our innate virtues.
We never need more than that
to live in the service
of what needs to happen
in each situation as it arises.
We sell our original nature
and our innate virtues
for the price of a pair of sandals.
Have no use for integrity,
sincerity
and spontaneity,
the source,
or emptiness,
stillness
and silence.
And so, the mess we live in
from day-to-day.
Our first order of business
is to turn the light around.
This is to understand that
we are the Buddha,
we are the Christ,
and that nothing happens
until we become who we are
by remembering the face that was ours
before we were born,
before our parents were born,
before our grandparents were born...
from before the beginning
of time and space.
Innate virtues.
Essential nature.
Emptiness.
Stillness.
Silence.
Spirit.
Energy.
Vitality.
Seeing.
Hearing.
Knowing.
Doing.
Being.
Money is nowhere on the list.
Nor is wanting.
Getting.
Having.
Owning.
Possessing.
Amassing.
Striving.
Forcing.
Compelling.
Contriving.
Conniving.
Controlling.
The Buddha gave up everything
for a monk's robe
and a begging bowl.
Jesus was born in a stable
and died on a cross.
They both spent their life
in the service of doing
what needed to be done
for the joy of doing it
and the satisfaction
of having done it,
using only their essential nature
and their innate virtues.
Seeing,
hearing,
knowing,
doing,
being.
Happily at peace with themselves,
with others,
with the world.
The lesson is clear
for anyone with eyes to see
and ears to hear.
It begins with
turning the light around,
and doing what's next.
Dome Sunset 11/08/2006 Oil Paint Rendered — Clingman’s Dome Parking Lot, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cherokee, North Carolina
We make things worse than they need to be
by enlarging them beyond the absurd
into the realm of things Hollywood
hasn't come up with.
We scare ourselves sick
with our endless "What if that then?"
scenarios.
I recommend that we stop it.
And tell ourselves instead,
"We will deal with whatever comes up."
Instead of feeding our fear,
allow our fear to evoke our courage.
We will never talk ourselves out of fear.
Fear has an answer for anything.
Only courage works with fear.
"I don't care what you say,
I'm going to deal with whatever comes up."
And you will.
You always have.
So have I.
It's what we do best.
Dealing with whatever comes up.
We have all the courage we need
to get us where we need to be.
Trust that it is so.
Allow it to be so.
Act as though it is so,
and it will be so.
So, there.
Do that.
Always and forever.
Leaving Peggy’s Cove 10/03/2008 Oil Paint Rendered — Nova Scotia
Fear is our base emotion.
Everything falls into place around fear.
Fascism is Fear and Denial.
Its grounding premise is,
"If we kill our enemies, we will be safe."
Judaism and Christianity are Fear and Denial.
Their grounding premise is,
"If we keep God happy,
and do as we are told,
God will take care of us,
and we will be safe."
Hinduism is Fear and Denial.
Its grounding premise is,
"If we abide by the dharma
and stay where we belong, we will be safe."
Buddhism is Fear and Courage.
Its grounding premise is,
"If we don't kid ourselves about what's what,
live in right relationship
with ourselves and one another,
and let things be as they are,
we will be safe."
Taoism is Fear and Courage.
Its grounding premise is,
"If we are true to our essential nature
and our innate virtues,
live with integrity and sincerity
with one another,
and let nature take its course,
we will be safe."
All the heroes, gods and goddesses
of Greek and Roman mythology
are about Fear and Denial,
or Fear and Courage.
Odysseus, Prometheus, Sisyphus, etc.
are about doing what is right
and having the courage
to not worry about being safe.
Others are about denial and compromise
in the service of being safe.
Of them all, Taoism is my choice
for a grounding orientation to life.
We live with Fear and Denial,
or with Fear and Courage.
Living with Fear and Courage
means facing what's what
and doing what needs to be done about it
and letting that be that.
Doing what needs to be done about it
means, among other things,
the continuing practice
of reflection and realization.
Reflection leads to realization,
and realization leads to more reflection,
and that produces/maintains
balance and harmony,
yin with yang,
and a life in accord with the Tao,
the Way,
and everything falls out around that.
How we come to terms with our fear,
and build a life around that,
tells the tale.
Denial, distraction, dismissal, diversion
(Via sex, drugs, alcohol, entertainment and money)
are popular ways of dealing with our fear.
What do we spend our time thinking about/doing?
What does that keep us from thinking about/doing?
How conscious are we of our fear
and its influence upon what we think about/do?
Our relationship with fear
is reflected in what we think about/do,
and how well or poorly we live our life.
The more conscious we can be of our fear
and what we do in response to it,
the better chance we have of living well
in proper relationship with fear.
This is the central work of being alive,
coming to terms with fear
and living in proper relationship with it.
Katahdin Range Panorama 09/26/2010 Detail Oil Paint Rendered — Sandy Stream Pond, Baxter State Park, Millinocket, Maine
Those who have known
have been quite content
to live out their lives
chopping wood and carrying water,
doing the day-to-day chores
and taking care of the business at hand,
doing what needed to be done,
when, where and how it needed to be done
in each situation as it arose
as long as their life lasted,
and when it was done,
they let it go,
and allowed that to be that.
The only difference between them
and us
is that we think they did not know a thing.
Leaves in the Pond 10/28/2007 Oil Paint Rendered — Upper Pond, Bass Lake, Blue Ridge Parkway, Blowing Rock, North Carolina
Getting what we want
and having our way
are the hallmarks of success
and happiness.
We know nothing of what
we ought to want.
We just want what we want
as though wanting knows.
The story goes that
the tribe of Delaware Indians
who traded Long Island
for shiny beads and silver mirrors
got what they wanted.
We trade our life
for goods and services
of about the same value,
thinking what a bargain we got,
refusing to wake up
to the emptiness of it all,
wanting more on top of more
to take our mind off
the futility of living
in the hamster cage.
There are alternatives to wanting,
having, owning, possessing, striving,
attaining, grasping, forcing...
Looking/seeing,
listening/hearing,
for starters.
The right kind of emptiness,
stillness, silence.
Integrity, sincerity, spontaneity.
Spirit, energy, vitality.
Our essential nature,
our innate virtues.
Balance and harmony.
Compassion and kindness.
Relishing the wonder
of a cup of coffee
and good company.
Without contrivance
or deceit.
Just being "as one thus come."
And letting that be enough.
Moon Hiding 12/01/2018 Oil Paint Rendered — Indian Land, South Carolina
We have to know where we stand,
what we stand for
and what we stand against.
And everybody else has to know it as well.
Some Christians like to say
"God isn't a Democrat or a Republican."
Who would God vote for is the question.
Who would God have you vote for
is the other question.
Does it matter to God what happens,
is the other question.
Do we know where God stands
is the other question.
Do we know what God is good for
is the other question...
So many questions.
Where do we stand is the fundamental question.
Everything falls into place around that.
Even God.
Clarity brings the truth to light,
and to life.
Clarity is another word for enlightenment.
For realization.
For knowing.
Where we stand is essential knowing.
Not knowing where we stand
is also essential knowing.
Looking for where we stand
is the life-long search.
And mirrors are everywhere.
We are mirrored by everything we do
and say.
Who we are and where we stand is obvious
to those with eyes to see.
What we say and how we say it
and what we don't say,
tells anyone who is interested
who we are and where we stand.
What we do and don't do,
where we spend our time,
what we read,
how much we watch TV...
Mirrors.
If we don't know where we stand,
what we stand for,
all we have to do
is look in the mirror.
The right mirror.
They are everywhere.
Goodale 18 11/04/2018 Oil Paint Rendered — Adams Mill Pond, Goodale State Park, Camden, South Carolina
Our life is a string of coincidences
and another string of luck
intertwined and playing out,
and what we make of it
is our gift to the mix.
It helps to have little in the way of
expectations,
agendas,
plans,
opinions,
judgment,
willfulness,
demands
and requirements.
Being true to our essential nature
and our innate virtues,
serving integrity,
sincerity
and spontaneity,
maintaining balance and harmony
and living with spirit,
energy and vitality,
seeing what's what
and what is called for
in each situation as it arises,
and responding with the best we have to offer,
for the joy of doing it
and the satisfaction of having done it,
moves us through our life
aligned with the movement and flow
of time and circumstance--
and it is amazing how all of this
combines with coincidence and luck
to produce wonders and magic
we could never manage through contrivance
and calculation.
It is the way.
Atlantic Dawn 03 10/26/2008 Detail Oil Paint Rendered — Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Ocracoke Island, NC
What are the meaningful things in your life?
How many meaningful things do you do in a day?
In a week?
In a month?
Our joy of life varies in direct proportion
to the amount of meaning in our life.
No meaning, no joy.
You could look it up.
Or, you could experiment with your own life.
Watching how joy increases as meaning increases.
Doing things that are meaningful to us
is strictly up to us.
We are in charge of the meaning quotient in our life.
We cut back on the things that are not meaningful
and double up on the things that are.
What's the problem?
November Maples 11/06/2005 Oil Paint Rendered — Greensboro, North Carolina
We want that and don't want to give up this to get it.
"You can't have your cake and eat it, too,"
gets to the heart of the matter.
The only way out of the morass
is bearing the pain.
How well--how consciously--how deliberately--
how consistently--how utterly and completely--
we bear the pain of being alive
and living constantly between the two poles:
"I want to have my cake!"
"I want to eat my cake now!"
Tells the tale.
When Col. Nathan R. Jessup said
(In the movie, "A Few Good Men,")
"YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!"
he was talking about the truth,
"You can't have your cake and eat it, too!"
All of our problems come down
to wanting to have our cake and eat it, too.
Come down to
having to give up this to get that.
God Damn It!
We just want everything at the same time!
My sister Susan killed herself
by starving herself to death in Hospice care
because living meant living on life's terms,
and her terms were the only terms she would accept.
Doing it her way meant doing it this way now,
and that way in five minutes,
and that way five minutes later,
and no one could live with her
because her way was always changing
in light of whatever she wanted now,
no, now,
no, now...
Vladimir Putin wants everyone to adore him
on his terms.
Norma Jeane Mortenson killed herself
because what she wanted
interfered with something else she wanted,
and she couldn't bear the pain
of not having what she wanted
for the sake of something else she wanted.
The lesson in all of this is:
We have to bear the pain!
We have to bear the pain of the truth
we can't handle!
How well we live hinges on
how well we bear the pain
of our opposites,
of our contradictions,
of wanting this without giving up that.
Life becomes a lesson in pain management.
The people who live well,
bear their pain well.
The Sisyphean Task
is bearing the pain of being alive.
Of negotiating our way between
Scilla and Charybdis.
Between wanting this
and having to have that.
Sit down with what's killing you,
and come to terms
with the pain you are carrying.
What is the nature of your pain?
What is the source of your pain?
What is life requiring of you
that you do not want to relinquish?
What will handling the truth mean for you
and the way you are living your life?
This is a conversation that living well
requires of us
over the full course of our life.
We constantly bear the pain
of not being able
to have our cake
and eat it, too.
Broaden the conversation to include
your best friends.
Tell them about your cake
and ask them about theirs.
Make it a regular part of your relationship.
"How's it going with you and your cake?"
It is called consciously bearing
the pain of being alive.
The only way I know of handling the truth
is to handle it consciously
with those we trust to know us well.
Great Blue Heron 03 05/18/2011 Oil Paint Rendered — The Bog Garden, Greensboro, North Carolina
The key to photography
is taking a lot of pictures
and knowing what you like
and don't like about each one--
then working to duplicate/deepen/expand
what you like,
and stop doing what you don't like.
The mystery about photography
is learning to see what makes your little heart sing
and your little toes dance.
When you turn image selection
and composition over to your little heart
and your little toes,
the magic happens,
and you spend your time going "Wow! Wow! Wow!"
And, some of them become photographs.
Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 