(.....July 30) Philosophical Rant

1. Let us assume we're all doing our best as we understand it, and even those who feel they can put one over on Existence, the best they can do is proceed from that assumption until they have to abandon it as a skeleton that doesn't support the the weight of the meat of real life. Our best then includes the possibility of being stuck, spinning metaphysical wheels for a long time, because we are all complex blends of qualities and may not have a particular tool in our toolbox. We're all such strange birds! Everyone's heard about the Nazi officers who would weep at romantic music, or there might be a shy person with the inner strength of a lion, and no way to release it except through heroic endurance. Given all this, I'm thinking about repetition: insanity, say my 12-step friends, is doing the same thing and expecting different results. But do we ever really do the same thing twice? And maybe doing the same thing on a cloudy day will bring a different outcome. Then there's the possibility that each apparent repetition digs down a little deeper into the bedrock of what's there. I don't know about any of this: 'living out' a problem means you haven't a clue. 2. You might say this poem is my philosophy, and this part is the footnote. I remember when I was young, how most of the world seemed to believe you live a few decades, maybe six or seven, then die and face Eternal Judgment, and so it followed that you'd better get it right! I'm stunned every time I realize many people still believe all that, still wear that tight, tight collar on their lives. There are reasons for that, too, but what a relief it was to learn we are not one-shot stabs in the dark, but rivers whose destiny is to reach the Ocean, and all the crazy meanderings, all our thousands of adventures, all the times we go to sleep and wake up in a new body ready and full of energy for a whole new round, the river includes all that, and its current is taking us downstream, and all we really have to do is relax and let it.