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?
The Pier 11/02/2008 BW Oil Paint Rendered — Silver Lake, Ocracoke Island, Cape Hatteras National Seashore
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
Tower Falls 09/22/1999 Oil Paint Rendered — Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
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?
–0–
03
Triple Falls Panorama 05/29/2011 Oil Paint Rendered — Dupont State Forest, Cedar Mountain, North Caroilina
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."
Twilight East Fork Overlook 02 05/30/2011 Oil Paint Rendered — Blue Ridge Parkway, Brevard, North Carolina
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
Banff Depot 09/22/2009 Oil Paint Rendered — Banff National Park, Alberta
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
Water Rock Knob Sunset 01 09/02/2011 Oil Paint Rendered — Blue Ridge Parkway, Maggie Valley, North Carolina
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.
The Pier at Ocean Isle 05/02/2008 Oil Paint Rendered — Ocean Isle, North Carolina
The most important thing to be right about is
what response is called for here/now?
The most important thing to do
is the response that is called for.
Moment by moment,
in each situation as it arises.
Jesus and the Buddha together
could not do better than that.
–0–
02
Water Rock Knob Sunset 03 09/02/2011 Oil Paint Rendered — Blue Ridge Parkway, Maggie Valley, North Carolina
People want their circumstances
to be happy-producing.
Happiness is an orientation,
not a steady state of being.
Dead is the only steady state of being.
Life is one thing after another.
Some, we are happy about,
some, we are not.
We are here to make the best of it all,
happy or not.
And shooting ourselves in the foot
with our choices
is not conducive either to happiness
or to making the best of our situation.
We make the best of our situation
when we meet it with our original nature
and the virtues we are born with
no matter what,
without the stipulation
that it make us happy.
Just get in there and do what needs to be done
when, where and how it needs to be done,
and let that be that.
Time after time.
For the joy of doing it
and the satisfaction of having done it,
and let that be happy enough.
–0–
03
Upper Falls 03 10/11/2015 Oil Paint Rendered — Linville River, Blue Ridge Parkway, Linville Falls, North Carolina
We do not know what life is
or how it is generated,
or if it is co-existent with inorganic matter,
or if it is a precondition for inorganic matter,
or...
The questions swirl into the distant regions.
"Darkness within darkness,
the gateway to mystery"
(Tao Te Ching).
We live within that mystery,
unimpressed by it.
The unimpressed part
is a greater mystery
than the mystery part.
How can we walk around
not being awed into silence and wonder?
How can we be content with explaining anything,
with understanding anything
as though we know what we are talking about,
when we do not know
how organic comes from inorganic,
or if it is the solution within which
inorganic drifts suspended?
And then, there is death,
and what happens after we die.
We should just shut-up
and sit agog.
Agog should be our steady state of being.
Instead, we dismiss mystery
and live in devotion to
drugs,
alcohol,
sex
and money--
as though that means something.
Agog would mean more,
and it would be honest.
Recover the mystery!
Relish the numinous!
Be aglow with the radiance
of the ineffable!
Bring wonder to life in your life!
And, sit agog for a while every day.
Chaparral Yucca 05/29/2022 Oil Paint Rendered — Charlotte, North Carolina
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.
–0–
02
Winter’s Brown 08 01/11/2018 Oil Paint Rendered — Indian Land, South Carolina
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.
Winter’s Brown 01/11/2018 09 Oil Paint Rendered — Indian Land, South Carolina
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.
–0–
02
Wetlands Geese in the Rain 02/07/2013 Oil Paint Rendered — Guilford County, North Carolina
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.
Yosemite Falls 01 03/24/2006 Oil Paint Rendered — Yosemite National Park, California
No expectation.
No agenda.
No opinion.
Just seeing
and doing
what needs to be done about it.
Whatever "it" may be.
Go about your day like this,
and note the difference
it makes on you
as you do it.
Why live any other way?
What does living any other way
produce what you see around you
in any moment?
What is worthy about that?
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01
Yellowstone Lower Falls 06/22/2001 Oil Paint Rendered — Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
We withstand the complete loss of everything
in the strength of what remains
when all else has been taken away.
We have been doing it from the beginning.
It is the most outstanding quality of the species--
No! Of LIFE--
to find what it takes to go on
by refusing to take the complete loss of everything
more seriously than it deserves,
and to find a way
anyway,
nevertheless,
even so.
The inner world does not abandon us.
We find what we need
in the strength of our original nature
and the virtues that are packed into our DNA.
We are equipped from birth
to take what we are given
and make the most of it.
This is the legacy,
endowment,
heritage
of every living thing!
We all have what it takes to declare,
along with Odysseus,
"I will persevere
and I will endure!
And when the heaving sea
has shaken my raft to pieces,
THEN I WILL SWIM!!!"
(Homer, in The Odyssey).
May it certainly be so!
Swan Lake 10/25/2019 08 Oil Paint Rendered — Swan Lake Iris Gardens, Sumter, South Carolina
Clarity comes
with waiting for the mud to settle
and the water to clear.
And, it has to be the right kind of waiting--
the kind of waiting that is just waiting.
In the stillness and silence,
and in the emptiness that is empty
of everything,
even the desire to be empty,
like the emptiness between breaths
which has no emotions,
designs,
agendas,
plans,
opinions,
etc.
attached to it.
It is just empty.
In the stillness that is just stillness.
In the silence that is just silence.
In the waiting that is just waiting.
For clarity.
Open for realization,
and wonder,
awe,
amazement,
radiance,
rapture,
and transparency to transcendence.
Everything, or so it is said,
come to those who wait.
Clarity is close to the top of the list.
With clarity,
all things are possible
and waiting for us to act
in ways that evoke their
participation
and their assistance
in the work that needs to be done.
Spanish Moss Lane 05/21/2019 01 Oil Paint Rendered — Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia and South Carolina
Trials and ordeals, Kid,
trials and ordeals.
We are forever coming up against them,
as tests of our mettle
and an invitation to grow up some more again.
How well we rise to the occasion,
occasion after occasion,
tells the tale.
The tale of growing up against our will--
which is the prime requisite
for growing up at all.
What pushes us into the challenges
we would much prefer to avoid?
And why do some of us refuse
to the point of drug addiction
and suicide?
These questions carry us into the heart
of mystery that is unknown and unknowable.
Some of us grow on eternally,
and some of us reject the notion
that we should be inconvenienced in any way.
I present you with Jesus of Nazareth,
and Adam and Eve.
Adam and Eve couldn't pass the test
of attractive to the eyes
delicious to the taste.
Jesus looked Satan in the eye without blinking,
three times.
Some have what it takes,
others don't have it at all.
Why?
It wouldn't change anything if we knew.
Some of us would still stand up
and answer the challenge,
others would curl up and
turn their face to the wall.
The opportunity is a separator
of people on The Way,
determining whether they keep going,
or detour into the wasteland
of terminal immaturity.
Remember that the next time
you are asked to take out the trash,
or walk the dog.
–0–
02
Goodale 10/25/2019 17-detail Oil Paint Rendered — Adams Mill Pond, Goodale State Park, Camden, South Carolina
Everybody wants you to take what they tell you
about God "on faith."
Then, they tell you it is a absolute fact
if you don't believe them
you will go straight to hell,
"Like a martin to its gourd,"
when you die,
and suffer miserably until you do.
That's what theology and doctrine will do for you.
I recommend deciding for yourself what is right,
and doing that,
until it becomes obvious that you were wrong,
then decide what is right based on what you know now,
and do that,
until it becomes obvious that you were wrong...
Our life will teach us what works,
and from a collection of things that work,
we can decide what is right, good, just, merciful,
compassionate, sensible and sane.
No kidding.
We can actually do that.
And then we can live to find out
if what we say is so
in each situation as it arises.
Experimentation, observation and deduction, Kid.
Experimentation, observation and deduction.
The only thing you have to take on faith
is that it matters how we live.
Then we find the ways to live that matter the most.
And do that.
–0–
03
Zabriskie Point Panorame 01 04/23/2006 Oil Paint Rendered — Death Valley National Park, California
We have to give our life the reins
and see where it goes.
And we have to know where we belong,
and where we have no business being.
It is as though we have been given the reins
and our life wants to see
what we will do with it.
But, we also have to trust our life
to know what it is doing
and live without being stiff in the saddle
and tight on the reins.
We have to have a trusting,
compassionate,
relationship with our life,
and relax into its pace and flow,
seeing what we can learn
from observation and reflection,
avoiding rigidity,
stern judgment
and narrow traces
between right and wrong.
Sunset Christmas Eve 2016 Oil Paint Rendered — Charlotte, North Carolina
Our practice is working
to maintain our balance and harmony
while endeavoring to merge our original nature
and the virtues that are ours from birth
with the here/now
of our circumstances
in each situation as it arises.
This is called being who we are,
where we are,
when we are,
how we are,
while doing what needs to be done,
when, where and how it needs to be done,
no matter what.
That's what Jesus would do.
Being who Jesus was
is being who we are
in ways that are just right
for the occasion at hand.
–0–
02
Goodale 11/22/2019 03 Oil Paint Rendered — Adams Mill Pond, Goodale State Park, Camden, South Carolina
There is:
See.
Feel.
Know.
Trust.
Do.
Softly.
And there is:
Sincerity.
Integrity.
Authenticity.
Spontaneity.
And there is:
Balance.
Harmony.
Get this down
with the right ratios
and that's all there is to it.
Oh, and make sure that
your theology
doesn't get in your way.
–0–
03
Swan Lake Iris Gardens 10/25/2019 04 — Sumter, South Carolina
The best way
to keep your theology
out of the way
is don't have any.
No theology never hurt anyone.
Theology is the bane of existence.
And the end of religion.
The number of wars fought over theology,
and the amount of misery and suffering
imposed upon humankind by/because of theology
is reason enough to have nothing to do with it.
Couple that with it's destructive power
in reducing our own response-ability
for doing what needs to be done
in each situation as it arises,
and theology easily becomes
the worst idea ever
in the entire history of ideas.
No theology!
No doctrine!
No dogma!
No creeds!
No catechisms!
Only us just as we are
on our own
up against the context and circumstances
of our lives.
That seems fair.
Actually, not.
The odds are heavily weighed in our favor
every time.
The context and circumstances of our life
have no chance with us.
Our original nature
and the virtues that come with us
from the womb
are more than enough to deal well
with what faces us
every step of the way
along The Way.
Grounded in The Mystery,
about which no more can be said,
we have all we need to do what needs to be done
in each situation as it arises.
Following the lists in #2 above
is all it takes to manage our life successfully
no matter what it throws at us.
If it helps you to think that
we will return in some configuration
after death
to continue the work we have begun,
think it--
that will not get in your way,
and it will free you up to give it your best
in making the best of everything that comes along.
And life becomes a play ground
with us having a grand old time
with all of our options
all of the time.
It is delightful to speculate
about the process whereby
the Source of Life
actually becomes life,
but it is also beyond the realm of our options.
We cannot think about things
transcendent to thought,
or imagine things beyond our imagination.
For us it is impossible.
How inert carbon atoms
come to life...
How the energy of life
inserts itself into inert carbon atoms...
I start with the theory
that life can be anywhere,
but it is not everywhere.
From the beginning there has been life,
which means there is no beginning.
There was never a time
when time was not,
and within time--
coterminous with time--
is life and the means of supporting life,
which suggests water,
and from our standpoint oxygen--
but doesn't discount the possibility
that life forms could "breathe"
something other than oxygen--
and from that point,
evolution takes over
and things go their merry way,
which has an infinite number
of configurations.
This doesn't say anything
about what life is,
because we cannot say what life is,
because it is transcendent to thought.
Life "just is."
That is all we can say about life.
And we say, "God just is,"
so it isn't as though we are saying
anything about life that hasn't been said
about God.
Life is God.
Think of it that way.
And it is all a wonder!
Be amazed!
And dance with the very idea!
Lake Crandal 11/06/2016 10 Oil Paint Rendered — Anne Springs Close Greenway, Fort Mill, South Carolina
Our problems disappear
when we change our mind about them.
Our problems are rarely as big
as the problems we make them out to be.
All of our suffering is self-imposed.
Pain can be real
and we can respond to it
in ways that make it worse
or better.
The power of the response
goes unrecognized
much of the time.
"This is the way things are.
What can I do about it
that increases or lessens
its severity?"
Is a great way to start
in dealing with the way things are.
The problem/the pain is exacerbated
when all of the things we could do
to lessen the impact of the problem/pain
are unavailable to us
because the system is broken.
Maybe the emergency rooms are all closed.
Maybe the doctors and nurses are on strike.
Maybe the hospitals are filled to over flowing.
Etc., like that.
In the Uvalde elementary school massacre,
the children and their parents were failed
by the systems that should have protected them.
The shooter had access to a weapon.
The shooter had access to the school.
The shooter had access to the classroom.
The First Responders who were police did not respond.
The children and their parents were helpless.
This is a worst case scenario
in terms of reducing the impact of pain.
The parents and survivors
will never out-grow having been failed,
and must bear forever the anguish/agony
of that failure.
It is too much to bear alone.
We need a wailing wall.
10,000 wailing walls.
Places the community,
which is the entire country/world,
can gather to wail far into the night,
each night.
When the people who promise to protect us--
who are charged with protecting us--
do not protect us,
where do we turn then?
There is only the wailing wall,
and "the sound of Rachel weeping
for her children,
and she cannot be consoled,
for she has lost them."
"Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'"
(Isaiah 30:21)
What determines our ability to be right
about the path before us,
no matter if we "turn to the right or to the left"
is the rightness of our being
in relationship with ourselves
and with the Tao,
with The Way through our life in the world.
Right being is right seeing is right knowing is right doing.
The opening few lines of the Tao Te Ching have been interpreted
by Martin Palmer as saying,
"The path that can be discerned as a path,
is not a reliable path."
To find the reliable path,
we have to be aligned with ourselves
and in accord with the Tao,
so that we are seeing, hearing, knowing
what's what
and what needs to be done in response,
and doing it at the right time,
in the right place,
in the right way,
no matter what,
without anything in it for us
beyond the joy of doing it
and the satisfaction of having done it.
The trick with knowing The Way when we see it
is knowing what we know
as opposed to what we think,
what we hope,
what we believe,
what we wish,
what we want.
Be empty of all of that.
Be empty of everything.
Be empty like the space between breaths.
And wait for what arises unbidden within
as a sense,
an awareness,
an urge,
a leaning,
a tug,
a nudge
etc.,
that you know is the way,
right here, right now.
We do not think our way to The Way.
We simply know it when we see it.
If you don't know it.
Don't go.
If everybody else is telling you it is the way.
If anybody else is telling you it is the way.
Empty yourself of all of that.
"The way that can be discerned as The Way
is not a reliable way."
What do you say?
What do you know
without knowing how you know?
Trust that.
Until it becomes obvious that you
do not know what you are doing.
Then change your mind about
what you think you know,
and go back to the process
of knowing what you know,
listening,
looking,
waiting,
empty of everything,
until something stirs to life within,
suggesting the way.
Follow it until it becomes obvious that you
do not know what you are doing...
like that, forever.
–0–
03
Goodale 17 10/25/2019 Detail Oil Paint Rendered — Adams Mill Pond, Goodale State Park, Camden, South Carolina
There are no techniques,
gimmicks,
tricks,
strategies,
etc.
to get what you want
and keep the mojo working
forever.
There is no mojo.
There is only seeing what's what,
and knowing what needs to be done about it,
when, where, and how it needs to be done,
in light of the good of the situation
as it arises,
and doing it,
for the joy of doing it
and the satisfaction of having done it,
situation by situation
in the time left for living.
Thinking there is a God
and you can get God on your side
by doing what makes God happy with you
is not the same
as realizing it is all a mystery
and seeking to live in accord
with the mystery
no matter what it may mean for you personally,
by seeing/knowing/doing
what needs to be done,
when, where and how it needs to be done
throughout the time left for living.
Putting ourselves in the service of the mystery,
no matter what,
shifts the focus from getting
to seeing/knowing/doing what needs to be done,
anyway,
nevertheless,
even so,
no matter what.
And that changes everything.
For the better.
But, maybe not your better.
Jesus was crucified, you know,
and he tells us to take up our own cross
and follow him as he goes to his death,
so be ready for that.
Mormon Row Barn 02 06/24/2011 Oil Paint Rendered — Grand Teton National Park, Jackson, Wyoming
What is your philosophy of health?
How healthy are you on a scale of 1-10?
What practices do you follow
in the service of a healthy life style?
I recommend a 12-hour fast every day,
from the last calorie you consume in the evening,
to the first calorie you consume in the morning.
I also recommend no alcohol and no added sugar,
and no tobacco.
And a 20+ minute nap when you can work it into a day.
And an annual wellness exam to keep your numbers
near the center of the normal distribution curve.
Regular exercise and a good night's sleep.
Reduce the amount of noise and complexity in your life.
Increase the amount of peace and well-being.
Live to be pleased and to be pleasing.
Listen to your body (to your stomach's gut feelings,
to what you know in your bones, to the Uh-oh feelings,
and tightness wherever it may be found).
Listen to your nighttime dreams.
Listen to your spontaneous impulses, urges and responses,
including "slips of the tongue."
Expand the list to include all you have found to be helpful,
and live by it religiously
in the time left for living.
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02
Carolina Wren 06/14/2016 Oil Paint Images — From My Hammock, Indian Land, South Carolina
What is "just there"?
"Just there" is "just so."
"Just so" is who we are without
expectations,
agendas,
motives,
plans,
intentions,
desires,
fear,
drama,
opinions...
When we aren't striving/trying
to arrange anything,
or avoid anything,
or gain anything
like some advantage
merit,
profit,
or keep from losing anything...
When there is nothing in it for us,
and we are just responding
to the situation,
to the circumstances,
with what is called for
in light of all things considered...
When we are "Just being natural,"
with nothing at stake,
with no emotion driving our actions,
no desires,
no fear,
no anger,
no hatred...
When something is "just there,"
it is automatic,
spontaneous,
authentic,
genuine,
real,
fitting,
a "just right" response to the moment...
And, evidence of our original nature
and the virtues that are ours from birth
at work in our life.
Trying to get to our original nature
and the virtues that come unbidden
at "just the right time"
as a blessing and a grace
upon any occasion that has arisen,
is consciously pursuing
an unconscious source,
like trying to get to the origin
of our nighttime dreams.
We are a mystery.
We can say the words,
"Psyche," "Soul," "Heart,"
but what we are talking about
is total mystery.
We do not know wereof we speak.
But, when we live from there,
magic happens.
Magic is the purview of mystery.
And the evidence of things unknown.
We are "transparent to transcendence"
just by walking about aimlessly
through our life--
"foreign (even to ourselves)
an enigma,
a veil."
Proof of that is "just there."
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Goodale 10/25/2019 06 Oil Paint Rendered — Adams Mill Pond, Goodale State Park, Camden, South Carolina
Do not take anything seriously.
Respond to everything as it needs
to be responded to--
with no emotional investment
in the outcome.
No desire.
No fear.
Just so.
"Just so" is "right there."
Automatic.
Spontaneous.
Natural.
I was speaking to the captain of a trawler
docked at some New England
seafarer's museum,
as my wife and I toured his now retired ship.
We were the only people there
at that time of day,
and I asked him,
"What was the biggest problem
you encountered at sea?"
Thinking about mechanical breakdowns,
or storms,
mutinies and pirate attacks,
and he responded instantly,
without pause for thought,
and louder than appropriate
for normal conversation: "GREED!!!"
He continued, "Always, always,
bigger boats and larger nets,
and deeper, longer, runs--
with no catch ever being enough,
and no trip out ever being satisfactory
to the people in charge!"
It was a moment of truth
as it is rarely realized
for all three of us in the wheelhouse.
And, it was as sacred,
as holy, as sublime,
as any moment in my life.
Because it was so "just so."
"Just as it is/was."
"Just there."
The captain was responding to me,
to the moment,
exactly as it needed to be done,
and his emotion was automatic,
not contrived or intended,
"just so."
He was not serving some goal,
or arranging some outcome.
He was "of the moment,"
offering exactly what was needed,
what was appropriate to the moment,
unrehearsed and incapable of being reproduced.
Stepping into each of our moments
without trying to create/produce something,
but just responding to what is there
in ways appropriate to the occasion
is being free to say what needs to be said,
to do what needs to be done,
with nothing at stake,
nothing to gain or lose,
taking nothing seriously enough
to adjust our behavior one way or another,
just curious to see what the moment will bring forth,
to startle and amaze,
and remain remembered all these years.
Harbor River Mooring 08/24/2015 Oil Paint Rendered — St. Helena Island, South Carolina
If Republicans are elected, children will die.
Pass the word.
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Peaks of Otter 10/29/2019 B Oil Paint Rendered — Blue Ridge Parkway, Bedford, Virginia
Where do your interests lie?
What do you love to do with your time?
How do your virtues and your original nature
weave themselves through your life?
We owe it to them to bring them forth
within the circumstances of each here/now,
and to enjoy them
as one might enjoy the company
of good friends and family.
How often do you enjoy
your virtues and your original nature?
How long has it been?
Devote yourself to bringing them forth
and working them into
the rest of your day.
Don't go to bed without having done it.
Do it again tomorrow...
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03
Old Sheldon Church Ruins 04 11-12-2017 Oil Paint Rendered — Yemassee, South Carolina
As I write (at 5:50 AM, Eastern U.S. time)
a summer storm is storming
and lights are flickering.
A reminder of how close to the edge of everything
we all live,
assuming that everything we need
will always be within reach,
when, in truth,
we are always on thin ice
with the wolf at the door,
but who can live knowing that?
Bring on the circuses
and don't forget the bread!
Distractions and diversions
help mightily with denial,
and where would we be without that.
If we elect Republicans,
children will die.
But, don't say that!
Leave us with our illusions!
Tell us sweet things!
Reassure us that all is well,
and will be forever,
or, at least until we have breathed our last.
Then it can all go to hell.
What?
Hiding from truth?
Waiting to die?
That is no way to live!
We have been abandoned and forsaken
by a culture seeped in deception
and misdirection--
to the point where we beg to be lied to,
and live to not-know what is happening,
deliberately,
if subliminally,
so.
No one can handle the truth these days.
Col. Nathan R. Jessup knew us well.
Everybody lies
and begs to be lied to.
It is a sham,
a con,
a joke,
a farce.
a charade,
a facade,
a masquerade,
a travesty
and we do not care.
We demand it,
insist upon it.
Are addicted to it.
And beg for more lies.
Because we don't think anything is there,
and cannot bear knowing that is so.
We are living the wrong kind of emptiness,
creating the world
we refuse to face
and cannot live in.
Scaring ourselves into hiding from everything.
We have to stop caring what our chances are,
and trust ourselves
to have what it takes
to live with nothing
and make the best of anything.
That is what we started with!
We came naked from the jungles
and the caves!
We know how to do this!
How to find the way to The Way
that is The Way!
With nothing more to work with
than our original nature
and the virtues packed in us
right out of the womb.
We only have to trust that it is so
to know that it is!
Fear is the only thing holding us back.
Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 