Thoughts on the Tao, #2

Have you ever gotten so bored that you have so much to do, but you can't do any of it? That's how I was yesterday. I've been in Georgia since last Friday night and it's been great! Brandon started work on Monday and I wasn't really affected by boredom until yesterday. Seriously, going crazy. Maybe because I didn't leave the house once while I was here yesterday. Every day I try and leave the house for a walk or run or something! Today I left this morning to help Brandon with his car in the dealership, so that was nice. I also have to bring back the rental car later! I might go to Barnes and Nobles beforehand... just because I love that store!

Anyway, here is the next Tao reflection. I tried to format the last one like the book... but it wasn't working, I guess I need more HTML skills than breaks and italics, bold, and underline... :P

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When people find one thing beautiful,
another consequently becomes ugly.
When one man is held up as good,
another is judged deficient.

Similarly, being and nonbeing balance each other;
difficult and easy define each other;
long and short illustrate each other;
high and low rest upon one another;
voice and song meld into harmony;
what is to come follows upon what has been.

The wise person acts without effort
and teaches by quiet example.
He accepts things as they come,
creates without possessing,
nourishes without demanding,
accomplishes without taking credit.

Because he constantly forgets himself,
he is never forgotten.

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There is a balance to life, everything is balance. Therefore, we must have death to have life. This verse also outlines how to be a wise person.

I'm burnt out... maybe later...

-Chantal-

Reflections on the Tao Te Ching, #1

I found much comfort in high school in the Tao Te Ching, written by Lao Tzu. Now I've been needing some comfort, and the words of philosophy helps so much. I found myself at the bookstore and decided to pick up this book - I have been wanting to do that for years and years. I was reading it quickly and thought I needed to slow down and take in one saying at a time, probably one a day. Sure, it would take awhile, but doesn't the Tao teach patience?

I'll copy down the translation I have (from Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu, translated by Brian Browne Walker, 1995), and then give my own analysis... or just leave it at that. See how I feel!

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Tao is beyond words
and beyond understanding.
Words may be used to speak of it,
but they cannot contain it.

Tao existed before words and names,
before heaven and earth,
before the ten thousand things.
It is the unlimited father and mother
of all limited things.

Therefore, to see beyond boundaries
to the subtle heart of things,
dispense with names,
with concepts,
with expectations and ambitions and differences.

Tao and its many manifestations
arise from the same source:
subtle wonder within mysterious darkness.

This is the beginning of all understanding.

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To me, Tao is like the spirit that flows throughout the world. It is in the rocks and trees and sky and wind. It is in every single person, whether they recognize it or not. To attempt to grasp Tao is to begin to understand. But you must let go of the conventional way of understanding - go "beyond boundaries" and let go of all you knew. Then we will understand Tao.

-Chantal-

Dollar Dances, Baby Bugs and Photos

We're going to Minnesota Memorial Day weekend because its Brandon's great-grandmother's 90th birthday. It'll be fun, and we basically HAVE to go, no matter what! She is so excited to see him and meet me for the first time. I found out today that us two are running the Dollar Dance! I guess Brandon is starting the dance with his great-grandmother and I'm the "gatekeeper", so I let people cut in and I collect the money. It'll be fun and she totally has her mind set on it. Poor Brandon though, he hates dancing!

I am jealous of a friend who is expecting a baby. I shouldn't be. Brandon and I have a plan, we will start trying for babies in 2012. It still makes me anxious. I don't know... I guess I just would love to have one. We are not ready though! We have stuff we would like to do and get financially stable. I just get the baby bug sometimes... I should get a puppy.

I was going to do a 365 days of photos... except I never did. I am so lazy!

School is going good. I'm home now. It's nice, but I miss Brandon a lot, as usual.

-Chantal-

Writer's Block

I sat down here yesterday to write a blog about my travels. I am completely lost for words! How can a writer not write? I hate being so blocked. I'm afraid that when I do start writing for a career that I'll be totally lost, stuck inside my house with words in my head and not on paper. Maybe I'm not writing about the right things. I want to record everything that happens, but reading back it looks like a list of events, nothing of emotion or thoughts.

I keep turning the idea of writing a book about college through my mind. But would anyone read it? I don't know my audience... it seems like a lot of it would be about ROTC, yet so many people don't know about that. How interesting would that be? Maybe I should write it anyway, and see how it turns out. Maybe someone would publish it posthumously... (which is a word I still can't pronounce very well!)

Now I'm lying here on Brandon's inflatable bed, watching "Grace is Gone." It's a sad movie about a father who is dealing with the death of his wife, who died in Iraq, and how he should tell his daughters. It's good.

I think I need to collect all the things I'm good at and make it into something. Here's some things that I'm good at:

1. Writing
2. Talking/Gossip
3. Trivia
4. Watching movies
5. Watching TV
6. Sitting at my computer for hours on end
7. Reading

Hm... not much of a list of talents, right? Though I could start a blog or website about movie reviews and celebrity gossip... could I do that? I have no idea about HTML. It's something I could do at home no matter where I am.

Where am I?

-Chantal-