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Showing posts from January, 2025

Being the Location of Our Own Well-Being: An Investigation

How is one to go about writing about something that he doesn't understand? Something that he hasn't experienced? Further, how is he to go about teaching it, living it, creating it, instilling it - in himself and, to the degree that they are receptive and interested and willing and committed - others? The more I taste, however faintly, however discreetly, however fleetingly, Bruce's view of the world, the more I realize how completely foreign it is to me. And, I presume, to much of, the vast majority of, our culture.  When I taste it, I like the flavor. But then I spit it out. If I swallow it, it only seems to be in small amounts; amounts that are then fully absorbed by the normal, habitual, familiar processes of my mental and emotional tract.  Words can be written so simply, so effortlessly, and then go off utterly uncomprehended but nonetheless loudly wielded by those who come across them. I know, because I am one of the word-sword bearers.   There are fundamentally...

James-ism #1 (On How We Involve Ourselves)

No matter how strong our habits of involvement are, each moment of involvement is a choice. - James Low "Involvement" is the way we "involve ourselves" in what is happening. It refers to the manner in which we "show up." At every moment, we are showing up in some way. We are "involving ourselves" in what is happening, in each moment, moment after moment. There is no choice to not show up. Even turning away or closing down are ways of showing up.  Much of the time, we are not aware of how we are showing up (of how we are involving ourselves). Our behaviors and characterological patterns, deeply embedded as they are, carry themselves into each fresh instance of life. Those patterns transpose themselves onto and insert themselves into this never-before-experienced moment.  We then end up showing up in familiar and predictable ways. "Oh, that is Trevor. That is what he does." But am I really doing it? Or is it doing me ? Beyond a lack of aw...

Grin and Bear it - The Beauty of Patience

Patience is a virtue, so we've been told. That which allows us to not give in before we get to where we're going. But that's not the whole story. Patience is more than that. The phrase "grin and bear it" gets closer to the heart of patience. "Grin" - a genuine grin - is a sign of joy.  And one part of patience is joy. And joy is only found in one place - here and now. Therefore, patience is the willingness to meet our existence, precisely as it is, in the here and now, with a smile.  It's an attitude of "yes." Patience prioritizes this attitude over our preferences.  We may not 'like' what we find in the here and now, but that doesn't stop us from saying 'yes' to it. It is the attitude of "ok, hi, nice to meet you" whether we actually enjoy meeting you or not.  We consciously bring this attitude into any situation that we happen upon, or that happens upon us. And then there is the aspect of patience that we cou...