time beings

In the book ‘Tale for the Time Being’ [link], a 100-year-old Zen master says:

    “For the time being
       ...words scatter
     are they fallen leaves?”

In the Shōbōgenzō [link], Dōgen Zenji says:

   “We are all time beings
     existing as passing moments in time .”

So, I guess to answer the Zen masters question: Yes, words are like fallen leaves because once spoken, they quickly pass and exist only as prior moments of time. ..transient as falling leaves. Another way to answer, I suppose, is by not answering at all ..in observance of the insubstantial nature of words.

phenomenon

phenomenon

Rhythm

I wake up in a Pavlov state of anticipation ..wondering what news my iPad will bring. Says: My laptop’s been declared a relic and Paramore’s new album’s a phenomenon. Now I’m sitting back and wondering what information I’m missing but don’t know I’m missing because it’s not in-scope of my RSS feeds. I get into the rhythm of the Internet. Cycles of information ..each one triggering a cycle of reactions. Another wave of anticipation. I take my hands off the keyboard and back away from the computer ..the cycles dissolve. Sometimes I go a week and I don’t even miss it. When I return ..it’s like I never left.

Haley's comet

So tell me
what are you gonna do
when the world don't or-bit a-round you?

Boundaries

“Teenagers with mental distress come mostly from families near the boundaries between socio-economic classes ..not families who live squarely in one class or another.”   [Center for Disease Control]

This report caught my attention. I grew up in a fairly affluent, upper-middle class neighborhood ..but belonged to an income class that was closer to the bottom of the socio-economic scale. The result of a divorce settlement that kept us in a nice place but with just enough money to eat ..if we stuck with Taco Bell and beef jerky. We basically relied on the charity of sympathetic neighbors to get by. We we’re definitely living near the vicinity of different class boundaries. I was forbidden from hanging out with kids in families from my income class (according to my mom it didn’t reflect well in the neighborhood I was in) while kids in my neighborhood were discouraged from hanging out with me by their parents ..out of fear I'd become another  ‘dependent’. Now I’m not looking to assign blame here or anything. There are more than enough reasons for the ‘distress’ I felt. I was definitely a major contributor. But this article resonates. It wasn’t until I got the hell out of Dodge that my depression cleared. Economic class is a largely unspoken source of discrimination in the U.S.

Moving on

adelaide

rambling practice

The word meander means to proceed by or take a winding or indirect course .. explore whatever captures the imagination ..engage in a quest to attract novel experiences. I think it’s the word that best describes my journal writing practice. It’s a record of my meanderings both inward and outward. In other words ..it’s all over the place. My thoughts kind of go that way. Motivated more by curiosity than intent. I guess to the casual observer that would appear rambling and frivolous. However, if I had to give it a purpose I would to say it’s my way of explaining things to myself. See how ridiculous they sound once I read them back. Now that I've finished this one I’m going meandering through town.

Unfettered and alive

“Mothers and fathers throughout the land / Don't criticize what you can’t understand / Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command / The old road is rapidly aging / Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend a hand / For the times they are a-changing.” 

The way I see it, I have every reason to feel optimistic. Young people are revitalizing the land. Men and women in equal measure. And they’re not doing it the same way as before. I see something different. More like a fusion of local culture with global ideas. Using modern technology. Bringing together communities of like-minded people faster and less fettered than before. Whether or not this is sustainable is too soon to tell. At present I’d say it’s inexplicable. More like life according to Lao Tzu: “The way that can be spoken is not the way / Nameless is the origin of heaven and earth.” Even in Tijuana, young entrepreneurs and artists are reclaiming the streets ..giving wide berth to the adverse conditions bestowed by prior generations. They have more in common with their counterparts in Mexico City, Los Angeles and other metropolises. In L.A, tech firms founded by women are replenishing the city. Unimpeded by the Bay Area’s male-dominated programmer culture, they’re using their expertise in retail, entertainment, advertising and media to build digital companies whose products and services are aimed at other women. I suppose if you’re stuck in prior ways of doing things you won’t have as much reason to feel optimistic.

in my head

Pacific Northwest