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?
Aho Valley Panorama 01 11/05/2021 — Blue Ridge Mountains, Boone, North Carolina
Money is the end of democracy.
"The Rule of Law" is such a good idea,
but it comes in a distant second
to the idea of compound interest.
That's the best idea!
That's the idea that transformed the world.
With enough money,
you can buy the law makers,
and the law enforcers,
and do whatever you want to do,
and put whomever you want out of business,
however that term may be interpreted.
Money rules the rule of law.
And makes a joke of democracy.
And democracy doesn't have a fix for that.
Democracy can make all the laws it wants,
but if they aren't enforced,
or if they are enforced unequally
we have an oligarchy,
not a democracy.
The United States is run by
an oligarchy of business and industry,
which could be thought of
as an international mafia,
with the wealthiest of the wealthy
pushing the buttons
and flipping the switches,
buying politicians
and law enforcement agencies
and "contractors"
to do their will,
while We The People
wonder why nothing is being done
about the water pipes,
and the sewage pipes,
and the minimum wage
which hasn't been raised since 2009,
and it was a pittance of an increase then.
If you think the wealthy
will ever be taxed at a level commensurate
with their actual income,
you need your reality assessor adjusted.
The wealthy are in charge of loophole distribution,
and enforcement application,
and money runs the show.
And then, there is global warming.
Napoleon had his Waterloo.
And you can't eat money.
Or drink it.
Or breathe it.
Money is having a nice little run,
but it is running to its own demise.
Like the lemming's rush to the sea.
Not that that is going to matter to anyone,
what with the sea rushing to us, and all.
A fitting end to wasted opportunities
and possibilities.
What if we had done it the way
it needed to be done?
Where would we be then?
Not here, now.
For sure.
Aho Valley 05 11/05/2021 Oil Paint Rendered — Blue Ridge Mountains, Boone, North Carolina
What needs to happen now?
Is our guide for life.
What needs to happen now in light of what?
Narrows our options down
to a final few choices.
In light of what do we live?
The Democratic quadrangle
enclosing democracy works for me:
Liberty!
Justice!
Equality!
Truth!
These four cornerstone values
give rise to the rest of the guides:
Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Compassion,
Generosity, Gratitude, Graciousness,
Mercy, Noble, Right, Pure, Lovely,
Decent, Admirable, Excellent, Praiseworthy...
Living in the service of these
guiding lights
leads the way through
the dilemmas, quandaries,
and predicaments of the day.
And when any of these values
are clouded by circumstances
to the point where doing good here
results in bad there
in a damned if we do
and damned if we don't
kind of way,
we wait in stillness
to intuit the choice
which creates another situation
in which we have to decide
what needs to happen then, there.
One choice leads to another,
with "What needs to happen now?"
leading us all the way.
It is the only important question,
and we answer it all of the time.
Being aware of it being asked
and of how we are responding
makes all the difference.
If we are going to be right
about anything,
let it be that question,
always
(Knowing that what is right
in one moment may be wrong in the next,
and vice versa)!
–0–
02
Beech Woods 06 11/10/2021 Oil Paint Rendered — 22-acre Woods, Indian Land, South Carolina
We do what we determine needs to be done
and see how it plays out,
doing what we determine needs to be done
at each stage of each situation as it arises
all along the way.
"Do your work," said Lao Tse,
"and step back.
Let nature take its course."
"Let the outcome be the outcome."
"See how it plays out."
Vaxers and anti-vaxers face off,
reading the facts and the evidence
in light of different evaluations
of the validity of the other side's
view of what is a reliable fact,
what is reliable evidence,
and step back
to see how it plays out.
Time will tell.
Truth will out.
It is only a matter
of waiting and seeing
who is right
and who is wrong.
Answer the core question,
"What needs to be done now?"
as only you can,
and see how it plays out.
–0–
03
Road Through the Woods 02 11/10/2021 Oil Paint Rendered — 22-acre Woods, Indian Land, South Carolina
Nurturing/nourishing our relationship
with Heart/Soul/Mind--
with our Psyche Self--
with The Invisible World,
the Spirit World,
the Spiritual World--
with The Other Within
Carl Jung spoke of when he said,
"There is within each of us
another whom we do not know"--
provides us with ready access
to an Inner Guide,
with whom collaboration and respect
provide us with all we need
to find what we need
in living aligned with our original nature
through all of the circumstances of life.
Our original nature
and The Other Within
are our contact points
with spiritual reality--
the source of instinct,
intuition,
imagination,
insight,
awareness,
vision,
creativity,
inspiration,
realization
and all those "sixth-sense" functions
that are the essential aspects of Mythos
that are required to balance
the input of Logos,
reason,
logic,
rationality,
intellect,
analytics...
and enable us to live
as a fully integrated whole person,
with Psyche and Soma combining
to guide and direct us
through the choices and decisions and responses
of life within the here and now
context and circumstances
of day-to-day life
throughout our physical existence.
Bringing Psyche/Mythos to life in our life
as a full partner with Soma/Logos
is the work of the Hero's Journey
in the time left for living.
–0–
04
Goshen Creek 11/06/2021 Oil Paint Rendered — Aho Valley, Blue Ridge Parkway, Boone, North Carolina
The Tao is like this:
It took everywhere I’ve been to be where I am.
I regret that but. There is no other way.
It is so with all of us,
and is an allegory of the way life
is throughout the Cosmos.
There is no plan.
Everything is working its way to where it will be
on a path that stops but never ends.
The Tao is like this:An Irish pub serves the public
with a staff of six servers
and a bartender,
two cooks
and a host/hostess.
There is no manager,
and the staff is trusted
by the owner
to do what needs to be done,
when it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
in each situation as it arises,
daily.
The servers take care of their own tables,
and keep an eye on each other.
If one server has a party of 6 or 8,
other servers help out with drink refills.
If the bartender needs a restroom break,
the server with the fewest customers
takes over the bar.
During lulls in the action,
a cook may tend the bar.
The flow of food and drink
is steady
and everybody assumes their role,
and helps others as needed with their role.
The floor is concrete
and hard on the feet and legs
of everyone who works there.
The pay is reasonable
and the tips are what might be expected,
and turnover is low but regular.
New hires fit into the system,
or not--depending on their personality,
their maturity, grace, generosity
and awareness,
and people who do not belong there
do not stay around long.
The pub is an example of the Tao at work in the world,
as is an emergency room,
or an intensive care ward,
or a hospital,
or an elementary (etc.) school,
an airliner,
an airport...
Any place where needs are served
in a particular way
toward a particular end
in a particular manner
and within a particular time--
the what, when, where and how
that have to be right
according to custom and expectation,
is a place where Tao can be experienced
in each situation as it arises
on a daily basis.
Applying this kind of attitude and presence
within our life
throughout our life
transforms the world.
Aho Valley Panorama 02 11/05/2021 — Blue Ridge Mountains, Boone, North Carolina
"Adjustment and accommodation, Kid.
Adjustment and accommodation."
That's the recurring experience
of life as it is
throughout our life.
Life takes a lot of getting used to.
We never get things the way
we want things to be
for long.
Something is always coming along
to decimate this,
destroy that,
knock everything over
and laugh on its way out the door,
with "See you again soon,"
and more laughter fading into the distance.
We are always dealing with something
we do not want in our life.
We live between how things are
and how we want things to be
all the way along the way.
If we can come to terms with that--
adjust and accommodate ourselves to that--
we have it made,
as much as we can have it made,
in a world where nothing good lasts for long,
and the bad is always knocking on our door,
and walking out, laughing.
We become accomplished in
adjustment and accommodation,
or not.
Everything is better
with the right response.
Nothing is so bad
that the we way we respond to it
can't help.
We will never arrange our life
like we like it for long.
We can perfect our response
to what we don't like
to the point where what we don't like
is just another turn in the road.
And every turn in the road
is an opportunity to practice
our response to turns in the road.
The old story about "The Lost Horse Returns"
(Googleit)
is a helpful reminder of the kind of practice
that puts everything in its place
even when everything is scattered and shattered.
If nothing good lasts,
nothing bad lasts either.
Everything is coming or going.
The trick is to let go what's going,
and let come what's coming.
And to respond to everything
in ways appropriate to the occasion.
Amen! May it be so!
–0–
02
Graham Cabin 04 02/11/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Anne Springs Close Greenway, Fort Mill, South Carolina
What we have done
with what has happened to us
is not as important
as what we are doing
and what we will do
with what has happened to us.
We are amassing experience
all along the way--
which may, or may not,
become a source of guidance and direction
through what remains of our life.
Too often, 25, or 50, or 75
years of experience
is actually one year of experience
repeated 25, or 50, or 75 times.
My maternal grandfather
was "all grown up" when he was 25,
and he lived 84 years.
It happens all of the time.
Mindful awareness and self-transparency
are essential companions along the way.
Experience is a treasure-trove of knowledge
to be examined and explored
as a source of endless reflection
leading to new realizations
and different ways of living.
So don't allow one "mistake"--
or a life full of mistakes--
lock you into a pattern
of one mistake after another.
Take up the practice of sitting
with your life,
looking for what lessons you have learned,
and what lessons you have missed
that can be redeemed/reinterpreted
and applied to new ways of responding
to similar situations
in your present and future.
We are always in the process
of redeeming our past
by how we respond to our present
and live in our future.
But.
Realization requires reflection,
acknowledgement and reconciliation
in order to produce a future
that is a better place to be
than our past has ever been.
Mary Whaley 02-B 04/12/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Ownby Cemetery, Porter’s Creek Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Greenbriar District Cosby, Tennessee Mary Whaley, Born & Died Aug 11, 1909
Heart, Soul and Mind are our spiritual essence.
We are swimming in a spiritual sea.
Floating on a spiritual ocean.
Drifting in a current of spiritual flow
throughout our life
and beyond.
You wonder how I know?
I don't know.
And I take comfort in knowing
that I don't know
and trusting it to be so nonetheless.
I also take comfort in knowing
the lines between Heart, Mind and Soul
are too fine to be seen
with even the most powerful microscope.
Microscopes cannot go where Soul, Heart and Mind dwell.
That is like Logos having a cup of coffee with Mythos.
Worlds apart in the same world.
There is no understanding this.
No figuring it out.
Only floating on the endless sound of spiritual waters.
Left Brain and Right Brain in the same head.
Laughing and dancing together.
Playing and humming along.
We should join them in the laughter and the play.
Just dance.
Just sing.
No thinking.
No saying.
We are always only a short
perspective shift away
from having the time of our life.
Enjoying the best company in the world.
–0–
02
Beneath the Parkway 11-06-2021 Oil Paint Rendered — Blue Ridge Parkway, Aho Valley, George Hayes Road, Boone, North Carolina
Making the best of our life
and what happens there
is the best we can do,
expect,
ask for,
hope for.
Making the best of it
doesn't mean getting/having
what we want.
We can always imagine a better world
than we can live in.
Adam and Eve thought they could
improve paradise.
We join them in screwing things up
all of the time
trying to make them better.
Making the best of it
doesn't mean making anything better.
Leaving things alone,
letting them be what they are,
giving them permission to be,
works with colts,
and chicks,
and butterflies struggling
to be free of the chrysalis.
What we don't want
can be the best thing
that could happen to us.
Making the best of it
puts us to the test,
and requires us to sit with it
for a while,
listening,
looking,
wondering what's best
and where to draw the line.
–0–
03
Beneath the Parkway 11-06-2021 Oil Paint Rendered — Blue Ridge Parkway, Aho Valley, George Hayes Road, Boone, North Carolina Using Photoshop’s Sky Replacement Filter I wish we could do Congress that way.
Who, okay, whom, do you know
who has more questions than answers?
If you know anyone,
I'd like to have their contact information.
The people I know
are so wrapped up in their
agendas and opinions
I have the same conversation
with everyone I talk to.
I could replay yesterday today
and not know the difference
unless it's raining.
No one knows what they don't know,
or even that they don't know everything worth knowing.
No one knows what's what
and what to do about it,
though everyone thinks they do,
and if we would only listen to them
everything would be great.
Everyone thinks their way
is the best of all possible ways.
How did they arrive at that conclusion?
They just jumped there.
They are all completely incapable
of evaluating what they just said,
or what they are about to say.
But they can evaluate with enviable expertise
what everyone else says.
I don't know how I fell into such company.
It's always been there.
Everywhere I go.
My happy fantasy is hanging out
with people who have more questions
than answers,
and playing the game of seeing
how many questions our questions raise.
With all answers being tentative and provisional,
and no absolutes of any kind allowed.
Conviction and certainty would also be unwelcome.
Sunset 03 Panorama 11/05/2021 — Aho Valley, Boone, North Carolina
We all draw water from the same well.
The water I'm talking about
is the creative source of life and being.
And ideas,
realizations,
imagination,
connections,
inspiration,
zeal,
enthusiasm,
insight,
know-how,
awareness.
instinct,
intuition,
premonitions
and all the rest
of That Which Truly Matters.
The source is the origin of all things.
Where everything comes from.
Where everything we see when we look around
came from.
The wellspring of living water
flows through us all.
We are afloat
on a spiritual sea,
swimming in a spiritual ocean.
Buoyed up and carried long by spiritual currents.
We are the children--the offspring--of an invisible world.
You might think we would do more
to enhance and sustain our connections
with the ever-present source of life and being.
I wonder why we don't.
Don't you?
–0–
02
Lake Martin Cypress 5-6 Panorama 02/04/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Breaux Bridge, Louisiana
What was Jesus' political solution?
The Buddha's?
Gandhi's?
The Continental Congress'?
The political solution does not exist,
and is not possible
because the solution
requires us to work out the answer
to Rodney King's
"Why can't we just get along?"
How does Fascism co-exist with Democracy?
What is the political solution there?
Politics is the art of the impossible
in that it attempts to negotiate
mutually exclusive ends.
Abortion.
Civil Rights.
Equal Rights.
Etc.
People have hard (and fast) feelings
about all of the issues
that divide and separate us
into different sides,
and no matter what the law says,
enforcement is another matter entirely.
Racial segregation has been illegal
in the United States
(And how united has that ever been?)
for nearly 70 years
and inequality is as real today
as it was 70 years ago,
or I completely misread
the controversy over Critical Race Theory.
There is no political solution
to force people to "just get along."
Kindness, compassion, generosity, etc.,
cannot be compelled.
No one can be made to grow up.
Although all of us grow up against our will.
some of us refuse to move in the matter,
and that is the blockage in the arterty
of democracy.
So, what to do?
Keep going!
Keep living toward
Justice! Freedom! Equality! Truth!
Anyway! Nevertheless! Even So!
In practical terms,
this means voting for the Democrat candidate
in all elections great and small,
no matter what,
forever.
It means supporting Democrat candidates
and the causes of democracy,
and taking up those causes in our life,
calling out injustice and inequality
wherever it appears,
and refusing to be silent and compliant
in the presence of the Fascist tide
apparently sweeping over the land.
It means standing for what the flag stands for.
It means doing the work of democracy
in supporting the ideals of democracy
in our life and in the life of our community,
by drawing the lines that need to be drawn,
Voting and encouraging voter registration
and access to the polls in every election.
We can't assume that democracy will take care of itself.
We have to tend the flames of justice, freedom, equality, truth
for as long as we are alive.
We continue the Revolution the Founders began.
The fight for "liberty and justice for all,"
for "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,"
is ongoing and eternal,
and we all must take our turn in pushing
the nation toward the good the Founders served
and passed on to us--
knowing that each generation
could be the last generation
to serve the American dream,
and living so as to be certain
it will not happen on our watch.
–0–
03
Mary Whaley 02 04/12/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Ownby Cemetery, Porter’s Creek Trail, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Greenbriar District, Cosby, Tennessee
We live to maintain our alignment
with the spiritual flow of life and being.
We do this by being aware of our balance and harmony,
understanding the gyroscope function
of our original nature,
and doing the work of
harmonizing our original nature
with the time and place,
context and circumstances,
of our living
in each situation as it arises
over the full course of our life.
This is called being true to ourselves
within the conditions that govern our living
from day-to-day.
This is the legacy of Jesus of Nazareth,
and of all of those like him
throughout the ages of human existence.
Jesus called it "bearing our cross,"
living between two worlds--
the world of what our spirit/soul/mind requires
and the world of what our environment allows.
The work may well lead to an actual cross,
and it will certainly lead to
a number of metaphorical crosses,
whereupon we "die" and are "resurrected,"
to "die" again and be "resurrected" again
all our life long.
Every spiritually-attuned person
experiences this death/resurrection motif
in their work to live with a foot in each world,
to walk two paths at the same time--
being true to themselves
while remaining in touch with the world
of their physical existence.
It is the work that will
"fill (our) hearts brim-full,
and break them, too"
(William Alexander Percy).
"No Agenda! No Opinion!"
is the sine qua non for all
gurus, sages and desert saints--
with the understanding
that "no agenda" means
"The only agenda is to have no agenda,"
and "no opinion" means
"The Guiding Opinion is that
having no opinions is necessary
in maintaining balance and harmony."
Having nothing at stake
in any outcome
frees us to see what is needed
in each situation as it arises,
and to serve that above any
special interests that we may have.
Nonpartisan, objective, distant,
disinterested, unbiased and
free from investment of any kind
in what is happening here and now
allows us to see and do
what is called for
in rising to any occasion
and offering what is right
for the moment
all along the way,
spontaneously, naturally, automatically,
like a stream running downhill,
finding the proper course
around, over, under or through
whatever it encounters.
Balance and harmony require
just enough caring to be present
and involved,
but not enough to be hooked,
hijacked, and overwhelmed.
Too much noise and complexity
quickly becomes
nothing but noise and complexity,
and the emotional distance necessary
for perspective and perception
disappears entirely from
our lived experience.
"No Agenda! No Opinion!"
is a way of restoring
our place in our life,
and positioning us to
live in ways that honor
the moment with attentive
presence and the right amount
of participation in the service
of the good,
here and now.
–0–
02
Cheraw State Park 02 04/08/2014 Oil Paint Rendered BW — Cheraw, South Carolina
"Grace" is chance with a positive spin.
"Fate" is chance with a negative spin.
We spin things every time we ascribe
meaning to them.
What something "means"
is what we say it means.
What we say anything means
determines what we do about it,
how we respond to it.
We change the way something
impacts us
simply by changing our mind about it,
by "seeing" in in a different way.
Interpretation of reality IS reality.
Interpreting things differently
alters everything.
Changing our way of talking
about something
changes the way we see it,
changes the way we interpret it,
changes our relationship to it,
transforms our life.
–0–
03
Graham Cabin 02 02/12/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Anne Springs Close Greenway, Fort Mill, South Carolina
Our original nature
has to be squared up
with our circumstances
in each situation
as it arises.
When we fail to do that,
we incur resistance
in the form of symptoms
every time.
We are always dismissing
our original nature
as a minor detail
on our way through our life,
and that is the failure
that leads to the clashing rocks
and the heaving waves,
dead ends,
lost hope
and the unending landscape
of the wasteland
on every side.
Nothing changes
until we change our relationship
with our original nature,
and live aligned with its
unique configuration
through all of the days
of our life.
Otter Point 09/25/2004 Oil Paint Rendered — Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine
Capitalism is the end of democracy.
The mantra of Capitalism,
"Profit At Any Price,"
means goodbye to Liberty, Justice, Equality, Truth.
Money is all that matters.
Everybody has a price.
Congress and the Supreme Court,
and certainly the President,
can be bought off
with a billionaire's tip money--
and when the corporate Gang of Thieves
comes together with the common purpose
of making (In their mind) unlimited money
off of the carcass of democracy,
it's the end of the ride
for the Revolutionary Dream.
Think about what separates the revolutionaries
from us.
It comes down to maturity.
They were willing to sacrifice themselves
for the idea of freedom, equality, justice and truth.
Can you imagine walking into the Continental Congress
and saying,
"How much do you fellas want
to just go on back home?"
But, say that to a member of Congress--
with "Do what I want done,"
in place of "Go back home,"--
and they line up
with their hand out
docile and ready to do your bidding.
They never had an idea worth dying for.
What is the point of dying for money?
They want money to live high
as a money-making orbit around the earth.
And they will do whatever it takes to make it.
That leaves the rest of us
figuring out how to make the best of it
on the crumbs that "trickle down"
from their banquet table.
It is going to be a mess.
My best advice is get yourself
an idea that can see you through
the worst life can do,
and get yourself a community
of three to twelve people
who can join together in a pact
of balance and harmony
to assist each other
in riding out the madness of these times.
Everything I have written forever
is about these two themes,
the right kind of idea,
and the right kind of community,
and it's all free on my WordPress
companion site:
https://www.jimwdollar.com
It's an anchoring adamantine foundation
amid the clashing rocks
and heaving waves
of the wine dark sea.
And it is a lot to read--
and it is meant to spark your own
inner realizations,
to ignite your own spirit and imagination,
in the service of what needs to be done
in the present moment
of each situation as it arises
in your life.
It all amounts to a "See and Do Workbook."
It is a way through the wilderness,
and it is a lot of reading.
And it doesn't matter where you start.
The way is not a linear way.
Carl Jung called it
"The process of individuation,"
and said it consisted of
"the circumambulation around the Self"
(That would be our Other Self,
the Psyche, our Inner Guide,
our Best Invisible Friend).
It is the round-a-bout way
of finding what we need
to find what we need
in times such as these.
Happy Trails!
Mind how you go!
–0–
02
Ownby Cemeterty Steps 01 04/19/2006 Oil Paint Rendered — Porter’s Creek Trail, Greenbriar District, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cosby, Tennessee
We have from birth to death
to do what is ours to do,
to do what we came to do,
to be who we are.
Too many of us are settling
for something else.
Call it "the Adam and Eve Syndrome."
They were handed paradise
and thought they could make improvements.
Thought they might be better off
somewhere else.
Thought they were one installment purchase
away from having it made.
They had it made and had aspirations
of Really Having it Made.
The were like "a man on a donkey
looking for his donkey."
Like a woman with here glasses on her head
looking for her glasses.
Like us looking for what we want,
not seeing what we have--
and what we are being asked (by our life)
to do with it.
What we have is never enough.
That's the story of the Garden of Eden.
Here we are.
Now what?
What will it take,
do you think,
to sit us down,
in the stillness and the silence,
and wait,
watching, listening,
for what, we do not know,
but trusting ourselves
to something hidden,
waiting for us to be available
and open to the idea
of being life-long companions
with what is waiting for us
in the stillness and the silence.
It only takes being quiet,
and still,
and empty
to know what I'm talking about.
"Empty" is the trick.
How do you empty yourself
of all the stuff that arises
when you sit still and quiet?
The rule for finding what the silence
has to offer is
"No Agenda And No Opinions!"
Sit still and quiet
refusing to be hooked by
all that comes to mind,
or any of it.
Let it come and let it go,
as though you are watching leaves
floating by on a wooded stream.
Let all those thoughts
be as leaves on a stream.
Here comes another one,
there it goes.
Sit still and quiet,
watching your thoughts come and go,
looking for one that is not "of you."
For one that stands apart from the rest.
For one that calls your name,
that draws your attention,
that compels your interest,
that knows where you live,
and will not leave you alone,
or go away.
It may scare you awake.
Joseph Campbell said,
"What you seek lies far back
in the darkest corner
of the cave you most
don't want to enter."
This is Jesus in Gethsemane.
We live our life between the two gardens,
Eden and Gethsemane.
We leave Eden in the search
for something better.
We find our way back to Eden
on a path that leads
through the heart of Gethsemane
and across the face of Golgotha,
on the way to the Empty Tomb.
All those old Bible stories
are allegories
about us and our life.
There is no coming to life,
no New Life,
no being Born Again,
without dying to all
that called us from Eden
with its promises of sweet nothing
and its offer of glory everlasting.
Wealth and money is a lie.
Life is found within,
in being true to what
is deepest, best and truest
about ourselves.
And it is like dying
to hand over the life we have in mind
for ourselves
in order to live the life
that has us in mind for itself.
In the stillness and the silence,
we meet firsthand the truth
of what I am saying.
What we do about it
tells the tale--
the tale we are here to tell,
or the tale we would prefer to tell.
One is heaven,
and the other is hell.
Choose wisely.
Choose well.
Canopy 01 11/14/2021 Oil Paint Rendered — Indian Land, South Carolina
We are just lucky to be here.
"Time and chance happen to us all."
Particularly chance.
All the way down.
It's pure chance that the times
are what they are.
Nothing has to be what it is.
It is as it is
because of chance.
We are who we are by chance.
By the chance our mother and father
are our mother and father,
for one thing.
And by the chance that
the things that happened to us
to "mold our character"
happened to us the way they happened to us,
and when,
and where.
It is by chance that we see the way we see,
that we are influenced by
the things that--
and the people who--
influence us.
Why them and not something, someone, else?
Why do we listen to whom we listen to,
and not someone else instead?
It's all chance.
Chance directs our boat
on its path through the sea.
So, sit back, enjoy the ride.
There is absolutely nothing
that wouldn't be there
except for chance.
So, what's the point of all the anguish,
and the constant striving?
Maybe, yes.
Maybe, no.
The Braves beat the Astros,
and where are the Dodgers?
Need I say more?
–0–
02
Lake Martin Cypress 02 02/08/2018 Oil Paint Rendered — Breaux Bridge,. Louisiana
Amor fati, or "Love of Fate,"
is living as though everything that happens
is just the way it needs to happen,
and, more than that,
just what we need to happen
at this point in our life.
The questions,
"What is going to happen?"
and "What are you going to do
if this or that happens?"
are answered with,
"I have no idea! I am going to wait and see!"
All of the work to control the future--
and there is a considerable amount
of that going on--
would best be served
by devoting it to doing what needs to be done
in the circumstances at hand.
A better present would produce a better future,
like that (snaps fingers).
What needs to be done right now,
because it needs to be done?
Do that!
The way it needs to be done!
Who determines what that is?
We do!
And we have to be right about it!
The present depends on it--
and so does the future!
Living with our heart in what we are doing
because it needs to be done
is the sine qua non of a life well-lived.
We cannot do that apart from a "love of fate."
Another Barn 10/17/2011 Oil Paint Rendered — Brevard, North Carolina
We settle ourselves into our life
just as it is,
and live there just as we are.
And that is all there is to it.
So, of course, we will have
nothing to do with it!
"NO!" we say, "NOT THIS!
THAT!!!"
And we are off into contention,
and confrontation,
and competition,
and disgust,
and dismay,
and dissatisfaction...
We live forcing this,
resisting that,
insisting on that over there
appalled and undone
that things are as they are,
wondering why it has to be
the way we require it to be.
We reduce the complexity,
and diminish the noise,
by demanding less
and accepting more.
But that sounds like giving in,
like surrender,
like capitulation,
and we want what we want right NOW!
AND WE ARE GOING TO HAVE IT!!!
So, those who see what's what,
step back,
disengage,
untangle themselves
from the way it is being done
about them,
and let things be as they are,
as they go about doing
what is theirs to do
within the context and circumstances
of their life
just as it is.
And that is exactly what they would do
if things were more like they ought to be
than they will ever be.
And, that's all there is to it.
02
Fall Woods 01 11/02/2021 Oil Paint Rendered — 22-acre Woods, Indian Land, South Carolina
There is nothing (ever) wrong with us
that a perspective shift
wouldn't fix.
Attitude adjustments
are the first things to undertake
in every transition point
that comes our way.
And that comes down to
changing our mind
about what is important.
Any time you experience
negative emotional reactions
to your experience,
change your mind
about what is important,
and go on about your business.
But, what if it IS important,
you say?
Change your mind about the level
of importance
and go on about your business.
Adjustment and accommodation, Kid.
Adjustment and accommodation.
Our business is doing what we can
to do what needs to be done
in each situation as it arises.
After that,
it is adjustment and accommodation.
And focusing our attention and effort
on what needs to be done
as the situation develops around us,
creating new situations entirely,
with more things to adjust to
and accommodate.
We change our mind about what's important
and take care of business
throughout the day
every day.
And do it again tomorrow.
Lake Martin Cypress 10 02/04/2014 Oil Paint Reflection — Breaux Bridge, Louisiana
Lao Tzu, the Buddha, Jesus...
the list is long of people
who spoke the truth
and had no impact
upon the spirit of their times.
The spirit of their times
is Tao gone rogue.
Call it Anti-Tao.
It is balancing something.
Goodness, truth, kindness, mercy...
Too much of that
and things go over into
living in some equivalent of the caves
from which we came.
Jungle tribes in the Amazon basin.
People living out their lives
on Island Time.
Peace and love don't get it done.
If you want it done,
you have to call Vito or Eddy.
They have what it takes
to make things happen.
If you know what I mean.
I mean heart and heartlessness
go hand in hand--
or as close as it gets
with siblings
who can't stand to touch each other.
How do we work it out?
Flower children and mobster bosses?
How do we live together?
Neanderthal and Cro Magnon?
Heart and heartlessness?
The tenderhearted and the hard hearted?
Let me know when you find people
doing it as it ought to be done--
as it needs to be done--
together.
Which would mean that
they agree on what ought to be done.
On what needs to be done.
Give me a call.
I'm waiting.
Ocracoke Lighthouse Oil Paint Rendered — Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Ocracoke Island, North Carolina
The Hero's Journey
is working our heart
into our circumstances.
That is all there is to it.
What is keeping you
from living
with your heart in
what you do?
What would you have to do
to bring your heart
to life in your life?
There is nothing in the picture
but you,
your life
and your heart.
Get those three points
aligned, in sync, in accord
and keep them there,
and you are in business,
at one with yourself
and your life.
You have nothing more
to ask, or want, or imagine.
You are there.
That is it.
Why is it so hard?
Why do we think there must be
something else?
Something more?
It isn't good for the economy!
We are the Enemy of Capitalism
if we live with our hear
in our life!
The culture demands our dissatisfaction!
We are born into a culture
that requires our disgruntlement.
"This" is never enough in this culture!
"Is this all there is?"
We need parties, beer, cocaine, sex
to take our mind off our misery
at not being able to be happy
with where we are.
The rejoinder to
"Is this all there is?"
is "What would it take?"
We have no idea.
Just, not this.
What it would take
is to have our heart in
what we are doing.
And to be doing what needs to be done.
In this moment,
within these circumstances.
"NO!" we shout!
"Nobody can do anything with moments
and circumstances like these!
We have to have better moments!
Finer circumstances!"
We are children of the culture.
Imprisoned by Capitalism.
We escape by sitting still,
being quiet,
emptying ourselves of the idea
that we need more than we have,
and waiting for our heart to speak.
What is our heart dying for?
What does our heart need
us to be doing?
What is our heart's deep joy?
What would cause our soul
to twinkle, dance and sing?
Here's a hint:
It won't cost very much money.
Probably none at all.
–0–
02
Cabin in the Snow 03 02/11/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Anne Springs Close Greenway, Fort Mill, South Carolina
Sitting still,
being quiet,
empty and awake,
watching,
listening,
waiting...
Emptiness and silence are
the doorway to balance and harmony,
sincerity, integrity, spontaneity,
spirit, energy, vitality,
compassion and peace,
courage, virtue, resiliency,
life and well-being.
Our work is to transform
our relationship
with our life,
ourselves,
other people,
and see where it goes,
with nothing in it for us
beyond what becomes of us
in the process
of knowing and being who we are
within the circumstances
of each situation as it arises
in the service of what needs to happen
moment by moment.
If you are looking
for something other than that,
something more than that,
I hope you find it.
–0–
03
Cheraw State Park 01 04/08/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Cheraw, South Carolina
Perspective is the super power
we all seek
and possess.
We only need to know that,
and allow it to become
what it needs to be
in the time and place of our living,
to transform the time and place of our living,
and bring us to life in the life we are living.
How we see what we look at
changes everything--
particularly so
when we begin to see our seeing.
A perspective that takes itself
into account
is a power for good
in our life
and in the life of the world.
But nobody wants us to know that
because they can't control us
if we are aware of what they are doing.
And the culture depends on our being controlled
by the aims and needs of the culture.
In our culture,
if it is not good for the economy,
it is not good.
And "the economy"
means people profiting
on what we buy/spend/amass/consume.
If we aren't buying
what they are selling,
we are a threat to the system,
and they do everything they can
to keep us docile and compliant,
disgruntled and needy.
Taking our mind back from them
is the essence of treason
in their book.
It is the essence of life
in our book.
We are engaged in the struggle/fight
for our soul/mind/perspective.
We win with emptiness/silence/solitude/reflection.
We lose with noise and complexity
being inserted into our life
by the spokespersons of the culture.
How much noise/complexity is in your life?
How much emptiness/silence?
Your perspective is in the balance here.
We cannot be grounded/focused/centered/
anchored to an adamantine foundation
without emptiness/silence/solitude/reflection.
Sit still.
Be quiet.
Pay attention—
to what arises in the silence,
particularly to what resonates with you,
catches your eye,
calls your name,
just by emerging
appearing,
occurring to you
from within the silence.
Look closer there.
See where it goes.
On a regular basis.
The Bison in Hayden Valley 06/28/2011 — Canyon Village, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Fine lines are everywhere.
We have to walk carefully.
We are on thin ice all the way.
For instance,
there is taking things too seriously
and there is not taking things
seriously enough.
We have to find the balance point.
And live there.
It's tricky.
because everything is wobbly.
It's a wobbly world.
A wobbly universe.
Nothing is as it is always.
There are no Absolutes.
It's all Relative.
With everything
depending on 10,000 things.
And we have to find our way
through it all.
What a joke.
And we have to see it as a joke
to have a chance.
If we take it seriously,
it's all over like that
(Puckers and kisses the air)
kiss it good-bye.
The balance point is playfulness.
Play is serious
and not serious
at the same time.
Children play within the rules,
and they establish the rules
early on.
"That's MY truck!
THIS one is yours!"
Every game has its rules,
and they are all "only a game."
We have to live that way.
Playfully.
Laughing all the way.
At the absurdities
that matter enough
to make us cry--
but not so much
as to make us quit.
Find the sweet spot
between too serious
and not serious enough
and live there.
Always and forever.
–0–
Cabin in the Snow 02 02/11/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Anne Springs Close Greenway, Fort Mill, South Carolina
You have heard me talk about
doing what needs to be done
in each situation as it arises
with the gifts of your original nature
that you have to work with.
You have not heard me talk about
doing what is good there.
The Good is philosophical ideal
that is rarely an option--
a possibility--in our actual life.
Because The Good is not an Absolute
to be realized anywhere in the cosmos.
The Good is always good in relation
to something that is Bad.
It is always better than something else.
Not Good forever in and of itself.
The Good is always good for something,
and not so good for other things.
A 747 is good for transporting you
across the country,
but it is not so good for mowing your lawn.
And what is good for the lion
is not so good for the antelope,
and vice-versa.
In some situations there are no good options.
In those situations,
we say "We are damned if we do
and damned if we don't."
The choice there is to be damned and be done with it,
by flipping a coin, perhaps,
and dealing with the outcome.
We do not get to choose our choices,
and when there are no good choices
to choose from,
only variations off bad choices,
with unwanted,
or unlivable, results,
we are left with going with
what we consider the best of the bad,
and making the best of the fallout
from that choice.
In all of this,
we bear the pain
of being unable to do better than bad.
We may bear it forever.
We bear it knowing
that any other choice
would have been bad as well--
and we look for ways of redeeming
what can be redeemed
by living to make all the good choices
we are capable of making
from that point on.
We live toward the good
in every situation
even though that may not be possible
in all situations.
This is called "living anyway,
nevertheless, even so"
toward the best we are capable
of being and doing
throughout what remains
of the time left for living--
even as we bear consciously
the pain of being unable to do better
in numerous times and places
in a world where too often
what we get isn't worth having.
Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 