“Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.”
As your will hardens, let everything else about you soften.
The only dialogue that matters is between you and your body, you and the world.
If others want to speak harshly, let them rationalize it however they want. Never speak in anger. Turn the other cheek. Do not debate people’s judgments: tell them you disagree, and focus on your own actions.
Accept criticism. Change, if you think it’s correct. Never grovel, because there is no shame in the truth, however shameful the truth may seem in the moment. Break bread with what you have done and what you are willing to do.
Mediocrity comes from inconsistency. Tread good paths until you wear grooves into the ground. Don’t waste the little time you have on what is not true to what you love or believe in.
Summon from within you immense tenderness for the world, and let the tenderness flood all that you do like sunshine flooding through a window. Call that profit.
Think: do I speak clearly? Do I speak kindly?
If you love somebody, say to them: because I love you, no matter what the world may show me, I will never do more than turn away from you; I will not harm you unless you ask me to; I will at any time come and hold you when you’re scared or hurt, in hope that you will be soothed by my presence.
If you wake up from a dream missing someone in a bodily way, their presence a phantom in the early morning air, tell them. Send a missive. Send a letter. Ask for no response and expect no reciprocation. Temper your words but not your passion.
Live close to the earth. Fix your gaze on the trees and the soil. Embrace duality. Never flinch from anything. Try to experience all that you are interested in firsthand so you may know it intimately. Love discomfort more than you love comfort, the agony more than the ecstasy.
I haven’t used tumblr in years but I had to come on here and say how much I appreciate your writings. It’s lovely seeing a feeling I’ve felt so deeply expressed so well in words.
