"Roll the Tape"

This author I'm reading right now coined a simple but beautiful expression. "Reel to Real" he says, in encouraging you to move away from the movie of your life, to your real life. In your movie you frequently enlist other people to play parts as well. As I considered this idea I realized that it's something I do frequently in a very negative way. Anything worrisome in my life has its own movie attached which immediately starts running when I hear something with the potential for pain. My movies become so real that they actually become painful in and of themselves. Especially disconcerting are the parts played by other people since I have no control there at all. As I pondered the destructiveness of this habit it occurred to me that I need to work on directing some different movies. But wait! Perhaps that's been the problem all along? It's when life doesn't play out the way you've written your movie that life becomes stressful eh? I'm gonna try to focus on "Real" and at the same time try to stop writing and directing.

I'm not ready to stop writing my blog however since I think it continues to be good for me. Sometimes it feels like work but somehow that's not a bad thing either. All things that are good for you require some effort. Also, the more I read other peoples teachings the more I start to believe that I could indeed write a book of human interest and philosophy. The dictionary describes philosophy as "the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct." I like that! But the real reason I think I could do it is because in this search for the truth most authors either build on, or modify, the ideas of others that have gone before them. I see it as an ongoing dialogue between interested parties. Yes some poeple have a great gift for putting words together that I surely don't have, but I also believe that you can make up for some of that with hard work and ambition. Which alas, is probably the reason I'll never write it, even if I think I could. We shall see...that movie still needs to play out!!

"If a man's good for nothing else, he can at least teach philosophy."---William James

...and I like this one because I appreciate the contradiction...

"Philosophy is at once the most sublime and the most trivial of human pursuits."---Willaim James

"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness."---The Dalai Lama

love
peter