"Those who wish to embody the Tao should embrace all
things.
To embrace all things means first that one holds no
anger or resistance toward any idea or thing, living
or dead, formed or formless.
Acceptance is the very essence of the Tao.
To embrace all things means also that one rids oneself
of any concept of separation: male and female, self
and other, life and death.
Division is contrary to the nature of the Tao.
Forgoing antagonism and separation, one enters into
the harmonious oneness of all things."
Last year in a sales training, I did a collaging exercise as part of an icebreaker: cutting things out of magazines to represent different aspects of my life and who I am. The most important one I found was the phrase, "The process is the passion." At that point, I wasn't even sure why I was cutting it, but with everything that has transpired since, I'm beginning to understand. It's something of what I feel sent me apart from the dominant culture, most of the time. In life, people love to talk about purpose, and in the past I have become trapped in grandiose ways of thinking about my destiny.
While I do believe that I have one, and that it needs to be fulfilled, I've realized that in the day-to-day it must be superseded by the myriad small steps of living: the process of existence. In fact, if I were to write a book, I might answer this one and call it The Process Driven Life.
Scientists out there might say, "Well, duh, all life has processes!" But I say that's exactly it. By observing these, I can know peace--the way I once took tremendous pleasure in watching a bartender wash glasses one by one from where I sat, sipping my wine. At the time, this thrilled me as a poem would. Now I know that if I mind the process, the purpose takes care of itself.
things.
To embrace all things means first that one holds no
anger or resistance toward any idea or thing, living
or dead, formed or formless.
Acceptance is the very essence of the Tao.
To embrace all things means also that one rids oneself
of any concept of separation: male and female, self
and other, life and death.
Division is contrary to the nature of the Tao.
Forgoing antagonism and separation, one enters into
the harmonious oneness of all things."
Last year in a sales training, I did a collaging exercise as part of an icebreaker: cutting things out of magazines to represent different aspects of my life and who I am. The most important one I found was the phrase, "The process is the passion." At that point, I wasn't even sure why I was cutting it, but with everything that has transpired since, I'm beginning to understand. It's something of what I feel sent me apart from the dominant culture, most of the time. In life, people love to talk about purpose, and in the past I have become trapped in grandiose ways of thinking about my destiny.
While I do believe that I have one, and that it needs to be fulfilled, I've realized that in the day-to-day it must be superseded by the myriad small steps of living: the process of existence. In fact, if I were to write a book, I might answer this one and call it The Process Driven Life.
Scientists out there might say, "Well, duh, all life has processes!" But I say that's exactly it. By observing these, I can know peace--the way I once took tremendous pleasure in watching a bartender wash glasses one by one from where I sat, sipping my wine. At the time, this thrilled me as a poem would. Now I know that if I mind the process, the purpose takes care of itself.
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