Eclipse in a Dish
writer
The Path of Small Achievements
I wrote yesterday about enjoying each small success with Tao of Thoreau: each book I sell, the pocket change I earn per edition.
I am developing a philosophy that goes with this: the path of small achievements.
About 5 years ago I decided to start going to poetry open mics. It was so much fun! I got to read my work and get applause, sometimes even hooting (my wife always counts the hoots).
Continue readingReality > Dreams
Ever since I was 12, I saw myself as a writer. Not just any writer, but one destined for fame, fortune and awards.
Well, those sure were impressive dreams. Sadly, my reality hasn’t quite measured up.
It turns out I like my reality better than those dreams. When I refresh the statistics on my Amazon dashboard, I get excited every time I sell a book. So, this morning when I saw this:
It made me happy.
Some days I don’t sell any. Some days I only sell one. Others, I sell a few. Recently I refreshed and the number jumped from 1 to 13! I literally couldn’t believe my eyes. I was so excited.
Forty-seven cents is not drop the mic money, obviously. I intentionally left the price point low. My goal is not the fortune of profit, but the profit that I hope my readers take from the wisdom of Tao of Thoreau. The thought that people I don’t know are reading my book is so much better than my fantasies of fame. These are real people, and real readers. Somehow, that seems bigger than my gigantic imaginings.
Subtle Part of the Forest
In his story, My student wrote: “our parents decided to move to a more suttle part of the forest.” Yes, he misspelled the word. And he was misusing it even if he spelled it right. But I'm not taking points off. Because now I want to move To a more subtle part of the forest. A place off the path, But just off the path, A place that everyone passes But not everyone sees. A clearing bounded by pine needles and leaves. Within, giving loamy earth. The air is the mingling scents of green. Sun light rays down Defining trees Giving them their shadows. Forest dust shapes the sun shafts that shooting-star bugs plunge through.
Sunrise or sunset?
Sport Dreams
I love being a sports fan. I am not a fair-weather fan, or one who only roots for the best teams. I willingly suffer the lows that comes with loving a team, and exult in the highs that come from winning big games and championships.
Being a USA men’s soccer fan certainly comes with lows, and occasional highs. Will I ever get to experience the highest of highs, a World Cup trophy as the best nation in the world? I know that chances are slim, but I’ll keep dreaming.
Dream is what I did before the US fell to Netherlands last weekend. Instead of dwelling in the likelihoods that we would lose, I allowed myself to dream of triumph, of glory. Sports dreams are fun, and harmless. For a time before reality sets in, a fan gets to pretend, to experience an imaginary goal, a fantasy win, and feel good.
I am a dreamer. I often feel these things in regards to my personal dreams, but that’s different: making dreams come true takes work. Sports dreams are nice because, in the end, there is nothing I can do but watch, hope, and keep dreaming.
Reflections in the water
Barriers to Beauty
I was walking Anna the dog to explore whether the bridge had been rebuilt in an area we like. When I saw that there was no bridge, I decided to explore along the stream to see if there was a way across, maybe some stones or logs.
There was nothing, but that’s not really what this post is about. I was looking at the stream with annoyance. I wanted to get across, and it was a barrier to my desires.
I stopped myself, realizing that my attitude didn’t really support my philosophy. A stream is a beautiful thing, and many times I’ve stopped by this water, gazed at it, enjoying the sight and sound. So I stopped myself, and Anna, and we looked down at the water, enjoying its burbling flow.
The lesson I’m trying to take away is that sometimes something enjoyable can be burdensome if we have the wrong attitude. I’m trying to make sure updating this website, working on my writing, isn’t an extra that seems like too much. Hopefully the lesson of this stream will help me in pursuing my ambitions.
Ask Boz – Taco vs Grilled Cheese part 1
Dear Ask Boz,
Which would win in a fight, a taco or a grilled cheese sandwich?
Adam
Dear Adam,
Your question couldn’t have come at a better time, since the Ask Boz Food Anthropology Institute has just finished a ten-year study on this very issue.
First, our researchers split the question in two, seeing there are two distinct species of taco: the hard shell and the soft shell. Then we matched each in a fight against the grilled cheese. Here is what we found:
- Hard Shell (Duro Putamine) vs. Grilled Cheese (Rhoncus Caseus)
Because these two species don’t exist together in the wild, our experiments were conducted in controlled environments.
The results were consistently and sadly predictable. The hard-shelled taco proved extremely vulnerable to even the softest blow from the grilled cheese. The smallest crack in the shell would expand to deadly proportions the next time the taco made the slightest offensive move.
One grilled cheese could take on as many as twelve hard tacos at a time without a problem. Although one taco would bravely expose itself as a target while the others surrounded the grilled cheese and beat on it, the grilled cheese was so durable that it could withstand multiple attacks while patiently cracking shell.
You see, a grilled cheese easily absorbs punches, and even when stretched out maintains its basic integrity.
In fact, this experiment had to be suspended when the grilled cheese refused to continue fighting. They are a very empathic sandwich. Even then, the meat grease would make the shell all soggy and it would fall apart on its own.
Winner: Grilled cheese
Tomorrow: Soft-Shell Taco vs. Grilled Cheese
World Philosophy Day
For this day, I thought it would be nice to post one of my favorite passages from my book. The first part is a quote from Henry David Thoreau. The second is the connection I see to Taoism.
Thoreau
We should be blessed if we lived in the present always, and took advantage of every accident that befell us, like the grass which confesses the influence of the slightest dew that falls on it; and did not spend our time in atoning for the neglect of past opportunities.
We loiter in winter while it is already spring.
Tao
Earlier, Thoreau warned not to try to turn spring into summer; here he warns not to obsess on the past. Lao Tzu said:
Why was it that the ancients prized this Tao so much? Because it could be got by seeking for it, and the guilty could use it to escape the stain of guilt. This is the reason why all
under heaven consider it the most valuable thing.
Learn from mistakes and missed opportunities and apply this learning going forward. Practice forgiving yourself, especially if you have accepted the lessons from your mistakes. Forge forward with this learning, determined to make a new day and a new you.
If you like this, you may like to read more in my book Tao of Thoreau
Mark Bozeman 