This. Now. Here.
– It is our art,
our story.
Don’t waste one moment
with worry or self-doubt.
Give all now, to this, here,
though it terrifies you.
Each new peak brings further vistas,
thinner air.
And with it,
stronger legs,
stronger lungs,
and a lighter,
better-fitting pack.
To choose this is to exclude that;
to decide is to decide against;
to marry is to divorce;
to love is to hate;
to say yes is to say no.
Be free to be a contradiction.
– All of us are,
whether we admit it or not.
Be absurd. Nonsensical;
jealous, greedy, and childish.
Be profound. Insightful;
strong, courageous, and noble.
Each of us is too big to be called
only one name.
Thoughts become things
they say.
Focus on something
and that thing will find its way to you.
—Or, if not it to you,
you will find your way to it.
Keep your power.
Do not surrender it to other people.
No one can take it from you;
it is always something you give.
And giving away can become a habit.
A way of life.
Keep your power.
For only then will you have something to give.
I imagine that every one of us,
on our deathbed,
will realize that we took “ourselves” too seriously.
– That the “I” was a fiction of my own imagination.
A nothing. An idea. A cartoon character;
a Mr. Potato-Head.
And I imagine that every single one of us;
once we come to terms with that reality;
the mutability of the self;
will say, with some regret:
“why did I not dare
to create something more of this Self?
Something bolder?
Something richer?
Something more distinct?”
The most beautiful moments of life
are not planned.
They catch you by surprise,
leave you breathless,
pull your heart up into your throat.
Your only task is to hold your breath;
hold your gaze.
Drink it in.
The original beauty fades,
the afterglow, bittersweet.
Learn to embrace the cycle:
Surprise, delight, loss.
Surprise, delight, loss.
Do not try to hold on.
Be you.
Something different,
only because it is what it is.
Something people run into like a wall.
Something that makes them feel alive.
Something that makes heads bob to invisible beat.
Make them tumble and turn,
searching for words
to describe what you are.
Can you discover yourself?
The extraordinary, within?
Rage is an icy mountaintop.
Black abysmal edges,
heavy clouds that swirl higher:
want only to rise higher.
Harness that energy.
Use it for good.
At first the wood
is tied to its curve:
forced, beyond her will,
to take shape.
But held long,
and untied now,
the bend is her only will
and from it comes her power.
I hate my job.
– Then why go?
Because I need to.
– Why do you need to?
Because I have to pay for my car.
– Why do you have to have a car?
Because I have to get to my job.
A teacher said, “do as I do”,
and all the students did,
except for one who could not.
Then Life said “do as you do”,
and all the students could not,
except for one who did.
Plummet
down through the icy water
to the bottom of Things.
To the hard, cold floor.
Your grasping mind
hits reality,
plants its feet,
shoots back up to the surface.
Your lungs can finally be at rest with Things;
take every Thing in fully,
and let it out fully.
Your gasping mind can finally breathe.
View your life as a video game.
Unserious.
Unreal.
– Or, real, but only in the sense that a game is real
to the characters in it.
Each day is a new opportunity;
challenges (not “problems”),
testing your abilities;
levels (not “imperfections”),
testing your courage.
Dare to explore this fantastic world;
dare to experiment, to try;
to see what is possible
in this video game life.