the accidental art of being and not doing (a sequel) or Without freedom there is no clarity anymore

17th mile pacific coast

Today I visited this post originally written on June 30, 2021 because someone clicked the like icon and I received a notification. So I came over to read and find out why. What did I write? What was the purpose I meant for others reading it? For those who know me (not merely virtually), they have known me as a person who writes and likes writing but not exactly the writer in the writer sense.

It sounds complicated. I too, marvel at my writing and yet am not a writer.

What do I really write about and why? What is the point in my writing?

In many ways writing is living life. First you have to be living to be able to write. Living means having some hope and interest in life, and doing something to make it easier and more meaningful than the usual mundane way of being an existence.

Of course some may choose to be just being and not doing. That is their choice. As for me? I choose to be a doing being even when I hibernate.

The art of being and doing is simple. Daily I find something to do. That something has to have a meaning for me personally. It can be an act of kindness helping someone out. It can be a regular thing like doing a cover design for a friend to add some colors to her videos on YouTube. It can be reading or listening to teachings that help me to become a better person. It can be just cleaning up my abode, moving stuff around to let the sunshine come in and I can sit at the window to receive my daily supply of vitamin D. It can be receiving a lift to a health food grocer to get the stuff that consist of my main diet. It can be doing exercise like walking a mile indoor following the pace of a program onscreen. It can be a brisk walk under the sun to a fish monger and get some fresh supplies.

You would have observed that I have deliberately left out writing and chatting with social network. Why? first I have nothing worthwhile to mention here of both of these activities. Does this mean I don’t chat? No, I do with some usual few chatters, one on business, and others out of duties as family.

What about writing? You would have observed that I haven’t been writing anything of note lately. In a way, there is a shortage of materials to write about. It has been that short since the March 2020 locked down and shut down and sudden vanishing of the world we used to know. I can see how Paul, (the protagonist of a classic book) felt when he though he lost every desire in his familiar world since birth. He was so accustomed to it that he just could not make himself to break away from that past.

Freedom has been my utmost value for a long time since young. I like being free to find out new things, being mobile in spaces and entirely uncluttered. The invisible clutter had crept into many lives. I can see it in their eyes, which are windows to their souls. The worst thing is that many do not know it.

Without freedom there is no clarity anymore. And a person who writes cannot write without clarity in view. We see veils and ambiguous layers of covers which are often well packaged products that happen to be fakes/counterfeits. That is why I find nothing to write about, unlike before when the sky was clear and blue and visibility was unclouded.

what is the point then of writing this post? I am glad you ask.

Well, I just happened to come out of a writing inertia, and saw the notification of a click on the like icon on this blog which led me to read the liked post written by me on June 30, 2021, with the same title as above. Is this a good enough reason for you my friends? No?

Well, I could have done better if motivated. Here is an example of the definition of the word inertia: the thermal inertia of the oceans will delay the full rise in temperature for a few decades. I wonder why this example was used in my laptop dictionary. Whoever who wrote the dictionary must have had some environmental issues on their mind. Someone may look up the term thermal inertia further. Someone may look up the phrase full rise in temperature. Me? I look at the term for a few decades. I am only interested in time.

A few decades. What does it mean when you have lived quite a number of decades. Do you ever wish to live those decades again in a new way?

I do.

Praise, 2021-09-18

the accidental art of being and not doing (June 2020-June 2021)

I never knew then I would come to this page. No, I am not discontinuing what had started. Blogging is not like turning on a tap to wash your hand and then turn it off when finished. Is there a finishing line? Where or what the finishing line is? What is the goal? The terms “finishing line”, “goal”, or “goal-post” seem irrelevant for non-commercial blogging. It all depends on the blogger/producer for a blog to survive. In commerce it depends on the recipients/viewers of the blogs/products. In blogs like this the blogger merely does a creative thing and leave it on the shelf, not necessarily for any other purpose aside for the creation process.

Do bloggers ever visit their own site and view the things they have journaled in the dusty past?

Of course, some bloggers use the piece as an expression or a diversion. Perhaps there is something you want to tell a loved one or someone really important, but is unable to do so in person or in other forms of communication, like a digital text or audio/visual message, email, or even a longhand-written missive, well, the remaining option is to blog, hoping that the intended recipient will one day find this and read it (and perhaps respond somehow).

For me, I use this blog as a way to check on my writing. Am I still writing words and making sense? Is my mind still working and my use of language fluid? What are my trends of thoughts lately? Today I visited this blog and noted a post on August 15, 2016, titled “Leaving behind is like a taboo statement”, and the content stirred me to write this page. In it I quoted a passage about Paul, (the protagonist of a classic book) being left behind as a self-imposed derelict after the demise of his mother and the final leaving of his long term girl friend. Looking back now, that passage had wielded its impact subtly over my years of solitude, and that blog post has revealed a page which I had forgotten, but not entirely lost…

A blog expresses something a blogger wants to talk about. It is interesting that at that time I wanted to talk about a sudden sense of being alone after a rather fruitful event of writing a biography for a business missionary and her team in a distant land. It was a restful time for me after finishing the big task of writing and publishing the book in two languages. Yet, away from the limelight, I could sense the solitude of just being and not doing.

The year June 2020-June 2021 had been a “being” year for me. “Being-not-doing”. In a way, it is very much self-imposed. I returned from another foreign land, locked up another newly acquired academic certificate and an important license and rested. Over the whole year I did not get to use them. Are certificates and official licenses important? The Generation Zs know they are important for them.

For me? Really I have no imagination there. Meanwhile, I continue this blog and not abandon ship. Afloat with words. Effortlessly sailing ahead. Ahoy! Land!

PraiseWord, 2021-06-30

Weekend Sky #1 -with an October Sky poem

October, Woodland Park, Co

I decided to start with my own photograph, “partnered” with a stranger’s poem I found at random in the WordPress blogs. Here is the first poem that aptly titled October Sky (Poem). By clicking on the quote below, you will find a poem that speaks from the soul of a poet. What can be more heart-felt than photographs and poetry after all?

Quote: “After that there is nothing but
the poet’s sadness and a subject for a poem” (October Sky -poem)

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Weekend Sky #03 -Oct 24th

cloistered ocean

cloistered ocean

sometimes we see an ocean cloistered

inside a space

words cannot contain

#Ragtag Daily Prompt, #RDP

Lost and Greek coffee

lost on the way to a short hiking trek

Bridge ahoy!

Voilà, Greek coffee! All is not lost!

One day in September 2015 I went on a new short cut to reach a place after examining the Google map and feeling confident. But soon I was lost and somewhat tired in the unusually sunny weather.

Being very new to this area I was a bit concerned with the wild creatures or other stuff. However, it was too late to turn back and I was stubborn and tenacious like a bull dog biting a piece of juicy meat and would not let go. So I plodded on and on despite the increasing heat of the day. I was expecting something refreshing, a sort of reward and bonus for my seemingly endless unrelenting efforts.

It was indeed worth it. This big Greek fair showed up (somewhere in USA) in a church at the end of my journey! And it was marvelous. I visited the stalls and ate all the goodies. Of course the coffee was a big bonus!

The moral of the story is: Be tenacious when you feel lost. Continue to expect good. You will get what you expect!

RDP Saturday: LOST

Click here: For those interested in brewing the Greek coffee