power

Powerlessness is Freedom

/ boz bozeman / 2 Comments

Like many people, I feel very triggered by politics and politicians. That’s never been truer than over the past ten years for me.  

I’m not going to reveal my political leanings, because that’s not what this is about. It is about my recognition of my powerlessness. And how facing it has given me a sense of freedom that I have not felt in a very long time.  

As I was stressing my way through the millionth consecutive troubling news cycle, the realization finally hit me: I believed I had power over the politics and policies of our nation and world.  

But like just about everyone else, I don’t. I have my vote, I have my voice, and that is it. The President, my senators and congresshumans, literally anyone who has real political power does not know the thoughts in my head, the frustrations I feel, the stress and unhappiness elicited when something happens that I disagree with. 

Yet, I felt like I did have power. Like the intensity of my emotions and the correctness of my views could somehow make an impact on monumental world decisions.  So my frustration when things didn’t go my way was monumental, to the point where it impacted my mental health.

I guess I experienced the Five Stages of Grief. And I got pretty stuck on Anger, Depression and Bargaining. But each of those stages are steps on the journey, certainly not the destination.

The destination is Acceptance. And that means facing my powerlessness.

Yet when this happened, it opened up power. The power to invest the time, energy and emotion I had been wasting on my political disappointment and focus those on my job, my writing, my family and friends. Instead of unhealthy obsession, I am using my focus and thoughts to enhance my life.

I will never stop being interested in the world around me. But it’s not going to stop me from embracing my world.

Three Waves

/ boz bozeman / 14 Comments

The Tanka Tuesday challenge was to use words from this word garden:

I chose wave, two, sail and castle

I wrote three Tankas focused on different meanings of the word “wave”, and included the words “two”, “sail” and “castle” to focus my wavy theme. 

1.
Still water sailing
Contemplating smallest waves
Powerful enough
To lift our heavy boat up
Working with the ocean's strength

2.
She is first to wave
The only movement within
The stillest moment
And then we break free, smiling,
Surging, running, embracing.

3.
Thick brick and cold stone
An edifice of power.
A castle's defense
Has no strength to stop the wave
Flowing force of joy and love.

Tao Lesson 2

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I find this passage to be a very challenging one. Not in a sense of understanding it: the message is clearly stated. The challenge is in the ideas, and trying to activate them in my life. 

The Master stays behind; 

That is why she is ahead. 

She is detached from all things; 

That is why she is one with them. 

Because she has let go of herself, 

She is perfectly fulfilled.

Tao te Ching often uses contradictory statements to expose the truth. The message is revealed by pondering the way that seemingly opposite ideas work together.  

One way to look at the idea of staying behind is to think about work. The Master is not rushing to achieve and when she does, she does seek approval for these achievements. Accomplishing the task is the goal. Simply do the thing that needs to be done and move on. Then the idea of being ahead is clearer because it is not about racing from task to task, but about effort and completion of the task in the moment. 

It seems impossible to be detached and still connected.  But what if detachment doesn’t mean ignoring or pushing things away? Instead, it is not asking more than can be given naturally. Let’s use personal relationships as an example. Being detached means allowing a person to be themselves. By trusting like this, the Sage shows she understands a person’s true nature. How can you be more connected than that? 

Letting go is tough for me. I cannot let go of myself: I am still the stage of many plays, and I crave an audience for my performance. Fulfillment is impossible when you need it from others. 

I am trying to learn this lesson. And I think I know how to apply it. I feel a different way calling me, but it means letting go to reach it.  

The quote is taken from the wonderful Stephen Mitchell translation of Tao the Ching.

If you are interested in Taoism, you might enjoy my book Tao of Thoreau.

Nature’s POWer

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The emphasis on “POW” in the title is a bit of a joke, but also reveals what I want to say about Nature’s profound strength.

This picture shows that so effectively. Yes, this sprout did not shoot up with a comic book “POW!!!” Instead, what is revealed is the slow, implacable ability for this single green plant to break through a layer of asphalt. What a profound example of how persistently following the path of growth makes a being nearly irresistible.

Thoreau and the Taoists both talk about this strength. Thoreau wanted “to travel the only path I can, and that on which no power can resist me.” Asphalt is poured so its elements melt together and harden. They should stop a mere plant from sprouting. But that plant is doing what it must, what Nature demands of it, and no mere human concoction is going to stop its growth.

Today I am going to think with my sprout mind, and I am going to find the barriers that are stopping my growth. Then I’m going to find the natural path to overcome them.