blather

Originally published on this site Dec 17, 2008

it needs to be said
not written and read
but we’re where we are now
and it needs to be spread
I really wasn’t trying to make it rhyme

“I know…” you always say to me
when we talk about the thing that’s
making your life more difficult
and I remind you about how things are
in your context, for you, at that moment
the obstacles, the lack of control, the powerlessness…

“I know…” will always be said
when you remind someone about the
gorillas in the room

And if we each always *really* know
And we each always do what we want in each moment

Then why do we each so often move away from
and against
that which we know?
This IS, at it simplest, the biggest joke of all.

And those that can see
our greatest possibility
see this joke and live this joke
and each in our own way live amidst
the safety and comfort of the mob mentality;
the vast millions all looking out for themselves
amassing their entitlements
asserting their individuality

“I know…” you say when the possibility of
what you You YOU will do Do DO
given what you and I know you know.

—I’m often encouraged to think less
and must nod to it and thus try to find ways to do just that
think less…and I found ‘do more’ as a solution
(hear it in all those cliches? ‘idle hands’ and all that…)
Thus, as example, perhaps finding ‘less’ of one
can be ‘more’ of the other—

So the answer, as we each somewhere inside us know
is there. tough to put to words
tougher still to put to action
………but it’s there.
At its simplest, the answer is LESS.

Those that can see our greatest possibility
can see how we take Take TAKE what we want Want WANT
We insist for ourselves
We’re encouraged to do so
But those that can see our greatest possibility
see the turns that must be taken
the shift from self – *less* self

More others…and thus…
(If you’ve read this far, I REALLY hope you know what word is coming)

LOVE

So what will you do
with all that you know
will you take what you want
to let your love grow?
I rhymed that on purpose

And if we always know
and we always do what we want
then the easiest way to get yourself
to ‘less of self’ is to want to LOVE more

The more you want to love
The less yourself you need to be

How?  I have no earthly idea
for you.  That’s your gig.
But how’s this – you’re here and you are trying
and for that you are known
and valued and celebrated and loved
by me and others

I know I am here and I know I am trying
and I know I am taking what I want more than I would prefer
and I know I am scared
and I know I am lonely and alone
and I know I want to hire a herald to announce my arrivals and departures
moving even from room to room, just for me
so I am trumpeted and celebrated and acknowledged and valued
and I know it’s just my version
and we each all know and we each all do and we each are all scared and lonely and alone
and because of what we know we suffer
because we each take what we want though we feel we should want to love more
but we feel we do not love enough……

…….so HOW?
I have no earthly idea
for you.  That’s your gig.
We must each find our own best way
to want to love more
enough to not turn away
and act for less self and more others

And we will each always succeed
and we will each always fail
in sprinkled moments one way and the next
most often without prediction;
but it is the effort that matters
for it is the effort, the action
that exists in the instant of what is happening:
what you DO is real and enacts change
for wanting to love more, though noble,
falls short – *loving* more will help
and suggest through enacted love
that loving more is the greatest answer
and the path to our greatest possiblity.

We all each know this in our own way.
many Many MANY are more scared
of the gorillas in the room
that the prospect of less self and more love
cannot be reasonably considered.  Therefore,

It needs to be said
not written and read
but we’re where we are now
and it needs to be spread.

And who would spread the idea of ‘love more’
and the idea that *wanting* to love more falls short
and we can move to our greatest possibility only
by enacting love more, by loving more…

Those that can see our greatest possibility
have what we’ve called the artistic sensibility
the grandeur of our universality
the undeniability of our individuality
can through our actions encourage and foment
the turning away from the self and towards love

And I may turn a phrase as I may
but I can’t seem to want to stray
from what clarity I can convey

And the artists could
were they willing
consider less of the self expressing the idea
and consider that it’s transferring the idea
that holds a greater premium
and perhaps greater clarity and greater empathy
can move us more to
our greatest possibility.

Thus, as I tried once
poorly
to state and though it needs to be said, etc.
I must make another effort…
it falls to the players.
They perhaps may be best positioned…

Thanks for listening.

Philip