Don't settle down with anything
as The Right Way To Live!
Unless your Right Way To Live
is doing what it takes
to get things done
the way they need to be done,
when they need to be done,
where they need to be done,
through all of the circumstances
and situations of your life.

Jesus would do it differently.
The Buddha would change things.
The dance is not the same dance
day-to-day.

We have to see what's what
and feel our way into doing
what needs to be done about it
throughout the day.
No agenda.
No plan.
No expectations.
No demands.
No opinions.
Just being right about 
what needs to be done
and doing it when/where/how
it needs to be done
no matter what.

Every day.

–0–

We live in the service of corrections
and adjustments
all the way to the grave.

Each situation as it arises
presents us with new opportunities
to amend, modify and reform
our batting stance
or our pitching motion,
to tweak our golf swing
or the ratio of seasonings in the soup.

Experience produces alterations
and improvements in our behavior.

The old is always passing away
and behold the new is always coming into play.

Ideally that is the way.

Too often, we settle into 
doing things the way we have always
done them,
seeing the results
as they have always appeared to us.
Never learning what is to be learned,
and "forty years of experience
turns into one year of experience
repeated forty times."

How do we wake up in a world
where being woke is detestable 
and contemptible--
and everybody does it 
the way somebody else says
it ought to be done,
always and forever,
no variations allowed?

Sometimes, Jesus raised the dead,
as was the case with Lazarus,
and, sometimes, Jesus left the dead
to bury the dead,
learning situation by situation
how to respond to the moment at hand
with the best he had to offer
out of his own original nature
and the virtues/characteristics
that were his to work with from birth.

His legacy is ours to share:
"Be who you are,
do what is yours to do
with what you have to work with
in all situations and circumstances
as best you can,
then step back
and let nature take its course--
and, if you can improve on that,
by all means, do so!"

–0–

The horse is our life
waiting to carry us
along the way that is our way
if only we will get in the saddle
and say, "Let's go,"
and mean it.

We trust ourselves to the road
that chooses us,
and to the kindness of strangers
we meet along the way.

Those who know do it that way--
by not having a way,
but being open to the way
that is the way
for them, personally,
individually, 
uniquely theirs
and theirs alone,
like their fingerprints
and the cones in their retinas.

The story of Adam and Eve
is the story of forsaking our way
for the way we aspire to,
the way we want to be our way.

The drama and trauma of our life
flows from our insistence
on having our way
when it is not our way at all--
and being at war with every way
that is not the way 
we want it to be.

Fascism is the name for this spirit
and attitude--
the way of forcing our way upon 
and through the world
and all of life.

The opposite of that could be called Kyiv 
because it is exhibited in Kiev
and all of Ukraine--
the way of being free to choose the way
that is truly our way
and allowing everyone that freedom
in an association of kind strangers,
assisting each other
with the type of help 
that help is all about (Shel Silverstein).

Being the type of help 
that help is all about
is the way to the way
for all people and things--
the Tao of Here/Now,
doing what needs to be done,
when/where/and how it needs to be done,
moment-to-moment
all the way.

Which requires being attuned
to the Here/Now
in a way that perceives/knows
what's what and what needs to be done about it
with the gifts of our original nature
and the virtues/traits/specialties
that are ours to share and serve
along the way,
without worrying about what we 
are getting out of it,
or when it will be "our turn."

Just free to be who we are
offering what is needed
Here/Now,
and being pleased knowing 
that is enough,
and always has been,
and always will be,
all there is.

–0–

Transitions, alterations and transformations
require adjustment, accommodation, and alteration
all our life long.

"That was then, this is now,"
all along the way.

Our adaptability is a function of
our openness to change
and our ability to see the possibility
of adventure and growth 
tucked away in all things.

We never out-grow additional growth.
Growing up some more again today
is what is called for in many of our days.

The same-old same-old is for people
who have died to the opportunities
unfolding before them at all times.

"What are you afraid of trying?
Go there! Do that!" applies to them all.

My heritage is people who never did anything
they hadn't done before--
that hadn't been done by anyone they knew.

"Nothing is new under the sun"
for those who lack the capacity
to grasp and appreciate that
"The old has passed away,
behold the new has come"
again and again
throughout their lives.

I thought about them 
the first time I walked into the Fish Taco place,
and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

I do that with my heritage a lot.
I work at developing the art
of finding/doing all things new.

I track down and nose out
transitions, alterations and transformations
for the wonder of it--
to see what I will do about it
and what it will call forth from me,
in a "No expectations,
no opinions,
no fear," kind of way.

I'm eager to see what's next.
And what I do with it.

–0–

Why spend our time with people
who cannot take "No" for an answer? 

Taking "No" for an answer is
the primary ingredient in maturation.
It is instrumental in "getting over it,"
and nothing is more essential 
to our development
than "getting over it"
and "moving on."

People who cannot do those things
are drains on everyone else,
sapping the life energy out of every room
in demanding that everything revolve
around them
and their need to be happy in all things
at all times.

The entire attraction of,
and motivation to attain, power
is grounded in the inability
to take "No" for an answer.

Wealth is just a weapon to wield 
in refusing to take "No" 
for an answer.

All of the problems of humankind
come down to a refusal
to take "No" for an answer.

And being able to take "No"
for an answer
is the foundation of all helpful,
healing,
relationships,
and the ground of our ability
to live together in ways that 
are good for each other
and the entire species/world.

It is what holds everything together
and enables us to find the way
through disappointment,
heartache,
grief,
loss
and sorrow,
in getting over it
and moving on.

–0–

What's it going to take
for us to settle in 
on meeting the day on the day's terms
and doing what we can about what is called for
with the best we have to offer
in each situation as it arises
and letting that be that
because we will do it all over again tomorrow?

What does "Taking care of business"
mean to you?
What is your business?
What do you live to serve/do
with the gifts of your original nature
and the innate specialties/virtues/talents
that come packed into your DNA?

What's your shtick?

What do you look forward to doing?
What do you love to do?
How often do you do it?
How long has it been since you have done it?

I love posting photographs
and seeing what I have to say each day.
I'm doing it now.
Taking care of business.

Then I'm going to see what the day holds
and meet it on its terms
with the best I have to offer
to the time and place of my living.

Each day has its own rhythm and flow,
and I keep time with it 
as well as I can,
responding with what is asked of me
without trying to force anything,
just seeing what can happen
where/when/how,
and dancing with the day
all day long.

–0–

"The Peace of Wild Things" is a poem by Wendell Berry,
which I recommend highly,
but which is occasioned
by wild things' absence of anticipation
and remembrance.

The wild things that are hunted
have less peace,
I would think,
than the wild things 
that do the hunting,
but then,
everything is hunted by something,
and the more conscious anything is
of that,
the less peace it has
as a regular state of being,
wild or not.

Which makes peace a fleeting thing,
coming and going at a moment's notice,
incapable of hanging around
like poverty forever.

If peace had the staying power of poverty,
it would take the anguish 
out of being poor.
Or hunted.

But no.
Here it comes,
there it goes.

Peace like the wind
blows through our lives
as an irregular reminder
of what we don't have,
or have too much of,
regretting and dreading
through our days,
with an occasional respite
of peace like that of the lake above
oblivious to the moss growing beneath 
its surface
and the annual leaf fall filling 
it from above
until there is no room for water
to rest on its way to the sea,
which is coming,
hunting for it,
even as we speak,
challenging us to make our peace
with that
if we can.

Awakening us to the reality of peace
being more of a state of mind
than a state of being,
and asking us to be okay
with things as the are
even as they are changing,
transforming,
coming,
going,
which is the way of all things
like the rhythms of the tides
and the moon in its orbit,
and our way through our life,
whispering relentlessly,
"Let it be because it is,
and what would you do about it anyway
that has a chance at permanence
or even longevity?
So, let come what's coming
and let go what's going,
and make the best of what's what
here and now."

Making our peace with that
is all the peace we will ever have,
and all we need
to find what we need
to do what needs to be done
here and now
some more again
every day.

–0–

There are places that are sacred to us,
beyond reason, question or doubt.
Parker Palmer calls them "thin places."
Joseph Campbell would say they are
"Transparent to transcendence."
The enliven us, 
and remind us
that there is more to it all 
than meets the eye.
there is an inexplicable,
irrational,
illogical side of physical existence
that defy words...
"The way of a ship on the sea,
The way of a snake upon a rock,
The way of a man with a woman..."

There is a holy side to life
that transports us to a state of being
might be described as
"One with the cosmos."
"Aligned with the way."
"At one with the Tao."
"At peace with all things."
"Glad to be here/now."

The moments that stand apart for us
are sacred moments,
beyond the reach of theology,
doctrine,
dogma
and creed.

Their primary characteristic
is that there is nothing artificial
about them.
They are authentic experiences
with the truth of life
incapable of being produced/created/manufactured
at will, 
but always possible at any moment.

Knowing that keeps us alert to its presence,
aware that any time
might be the time of transportation
from the mundane and profane
into the wonder and rapture of more than words can say.

Holiness is the fundamental state
of life in the world of physical reality
for those with eyes to see,
looking for the door to open,
that they might walk through
into another thin place
that is transparent to transcendence,
here and now. 

–0–

Dawns can be just this way
if we give them a chance.
I haven't seen a dawn of any variety
since well before we moved to Blakeney.

Not that I haven't been up before dawn.

That happens nearly every day.
But I don't leave the house.
I make coffee and sit down to write.

I'm made for writing and photographing.
My knees have made photographing difficult enough
for me to be happy sitting with a tin mug 
of coffee and writing for a while.

I'm good for the right word 
at the right time
in the right place
and the right way.

It's my shtick.

But spelling is not.
Nor are numbers.
So, I don't get far away
from being at home 
with my coffee and my shtick.
Looking forward to being bald.

To be bald,
I'm going to have to outlive my wife.
Until then, I'll be happy
imagining being bald.

Being bald, for me, is a defiant protest,
renunciation, rejection, repudiation,
renouncement, and abrogation
of the ways things are being done
everywhere I look.

Being bald, for me, is immolation on the order
of Buddhist monks in Vietnam,
only I get to keep breathing
and enjoying my putdown of what it's all come to.

Protest is all that is left to us.
That and the power to put things right
insofar as we are able
by doing small things
like choosing the right word
and using it at the right time,
in the right place
and the right way,
while enjoying our coffee and our shtick.

So, if you shave your head before me,
know that I'm coming along
and will get there as I am able.

–0–

We cannot fix the system from within the system.
All of the revolutions and near extinctions 
through the ages
failed to change much (enough) of anything
to change things.

Like fascism did in the United States
at the end of the Revolutionary War--
it went underground,
operating as the KKK
and the White Citizens Council,
until enough fascists with enough money
could mount a serious takeover attempt
and succeed in owning enough members of Congress
and enough judges strewn throughout the judicial system
to be a credible threat for decades and eons.

Fixes require a healthy majority, 
say 70% of the people,
to be solidly in favor of
and committed to 
Liberty! Justice! Equality! Truth!
for Democracy to have a chance at eternity.

And, for that to be the case (70% of the people),
the people have to wake up, 
be present,
pay attention,
be aware
of what's what, 
and what's happening,
and what's called for
in each situation as it arises,
and respond in ways appropriate
to the occasion,
every moment,
of every day,
throughout eternity.

And, if you know people
the way I know people,
you know lethargy takes over
after a year or two at the ready,
and things begin to slide,
and money buys votes and judges,
and within a generation
things are back to being out of hand.

The truth about humanity favors fascism.
Always has.
Always will.
The rest of us have to recognize 
what we are up against
and go up against it
all the time--
without quitting 
because "It's hopeless, pointless, useless,
futile and absurd!
And coming to a very bad end
(We are all going to die before the work is done).
So who cares?
What's the use?
Why try?
What good will it do?"

At this point, 
it is essential that we 
not care that "no one" cares,
that it is "no use,"
and refuse to be conned into 
defending/excusing/justifying/explaing
why we are doing why we are working
in the service of the Good that is truly Good
whether it does any "good" or not--
and stand up
and step forward
into each situation as it arises
and do there what is called for
in ways appropriate to the occasion,
anyway/nevertheless/even so
without keeping score
or caring what our chances are
because that is who we are
and that is what we do,
and if you think you are going to stop us
with reason and logic and money, money, money,
you've got another think coming
because that think isn't going to stop us
or even slow us down.

He said, smiling and winking, 
on his way to what is here and now and waiting...

–0–

Being moved by that which moves us 
is the common element uniting all living things.

That which lives, lives as
"the moved in response to the mover."

The mover--the moving "thing"--
is the wonder/radiance of life itself. 
Life being moved by life,
by the encounter with the reality of life,
with the astonishment of being alive.

Life is in love with itself,
cannot get enough of itself,
relishes the glory of the sublime nature
of being one with the mover in being capable
of being moved.

Those who know the beauty of their own experience
walk around agape and giddy
at the very idea of being here/now,
immersed in the "WOW!!!" on all sides.

There is nothing beyond the experience 
of being moved
to ask,
or seek
or desire.

Life itself is all life has to offer.
Are we going to be moved by that
on and on forever,
or not?

–0–