The Art of Here and Now

 Learn from the past. Plan for the future. But do it now. Right now. Of all the things I'm practicing, music, writing, exercising, the most important is the art of here now. I notice the need for it most when I'm working on something with tools. The amount of time I spend looking for the hammer that I had two steps ago, that tells me how I'm doing with the art of here and now. I've been practicing talking aloud what I'm doing. "Okay, I'm setting the hammer here on the chair. I'm picking up the measuring tape. I'm looking at the fraction on the correct side of the whole inch mark.

This last one, I have many times, more than 10, cut a board too short because I want say 18 1/2 inches, but I mark it on the left side of the 18 so it's 17 1/2 inches. Sure, there's a name for that, dyslexia, although maybe it's actually lexdysia, I'll let you look that up. Dyslexia or not, the work around is to increase the amount of time I'm present in the Moment of Actuality* by perpetual practice of The Art of Here and Now.

*more on this later

 My dear friend, KC used a word in her comment, symbiotic, and it inspired today's post. I'm working on a chapter all about money, and using a duality of symbiotic versus parasitic relationships. Last night, I was watching inspirational videos on YT, and before the video ends, ads linking to more videos appear in the corners. They say, stop focusing on what you're watching now, and think about what you're going to watch next. At least on YT it's easy to turn off autoplay. On NF, you have seconds after a video ends to stop it from autoplaying the next episode. Those are parasitic behaviors. Don't go. Stay here and consume content, so we can collect revenue off of you. I absolutely detest parasites. And I shall end this post with someone else's words.

The Bum of the Rods and the Bum of the Plush
by Fry Pan Jack

The bum on the rods is hunted down
As the enemy of mankind
The other is driven around to his club
Is feted, wined and dined.
And they who curse the bum on the rods
As the essence of all that is bad,
Will greet the other with a winning smile,
And extend the hand so glad.

The bum on the rods is a social flea
Who gets an occasional bite,
The bum on the plush is a social leech,
blood sucking day and night.
The bum on the rod is a load so light
That his weight we scarcely feel,
But it takes the labor of dozen of men
To furnish the other a meal.

As long as you sanction the bum on the plush
The other will always be there,
But rid yourself of the bum on the plush
And the other will disappear.
Then make an intelligent, organized kick
Get rid of the weights that crush.
Don't worry about the bum on the rods,
Get rid of the bum on the flush.

Why?

It's such a good question, for it indicates curiosity. Why am I here? And by here, I'm referring to this blog. So more accurately, why am I blogging? Why I'm so glad I asked, and I shall allow myself to answer. Stay with me dear reader, for the answer might unfold like blackberry vines in an untended rose garden. For the reasons are not only numerous, but also unclear in priority. So here's the tl;dr version I'm blogging because I like to write, and I like people to read what I write. Now, for those of you who like blackberries, and roses, and the tangled mosaic they become, let's move on.

First, and foremost, I'm blogging because I am on a mission to improve myself, a journey of personal growth. By publishing every single day of the year (oops, I missed the 1st) in 2025, I will have achieved a worthy goal: consistency. Learning how to stick with something no matter the obstacles, that will improve my being. What I'm aiming to do is every single day, preferably at the same time each day, is post at least one sentence relevant to this journey of self-improvement. The timing will have to be secondary to the everyday goal, because I'm not there yet. Ideally, I'll figure out how to set a timer so this platform posts the content for me at the designated time. Then I can create each piece the day before, and then, at say, 6 am every morning, my blog piece posts. Consistently posting content is a step in my journey to actualize.

Also first and foremost, I'm seeking followers, people who like my content. So, really, it's less about the followers, and more about the content. But without followers, why create content? There's an old folk song, The Bramble and The Rose, credited to Barbara Keith, with the line, see how the bramble and the rose, intertwine. Well, see how the content and the follower intertwine. I want to create content, beautiful scented word flowers. Flowers exist to help propagate the plant that grows them, by attracting pollinators,  bees, butterflies. There's a mutually beneficial exchange there. The pollinator gathers nourishment, and  the plant mails its pollen via these visitors. I'm publishing these blog pieces and hoping that you dear reader will enjoy them, come back for more, and tell others about me.

And finally, first and foremost, I'm creating content. This is inseparably intertwined with the first, first and foremost: personal growth, but this paragraph is about a specific kind of growth. I love to engage in creative activities, like writing and performing songs, writing and performing plays, writing and telling stories. And I'm working on my first book. It's a self help book, primarily being written to help myself, but with hopes it will help others as well. The process of writing exercises the creative circuits of the biological unit that is me. The more I write, the better I get at it. In order to write better, I have to think better, and communicate better. The process of writing is an activity of personal growth. This blog is part of my personal growth plan, my creative growth plan, and my plan to grow a following, an audience for my creative work. 

Okay, that final first and foremost was not the final final first and foremost point of my unclear priorities, but I do have other things I must do if my growth is to go in a preferable direction. So I shall end this piece with a misquote of John Denver: I'd write silly things all day if I could/but the Lord and my wife wouldn't take it very good/So I blog when I can, work when I should/Thank God I'm alive

Something like that

 

Do you have something in your life, something you do, where you get all engrossed in it, and then at some point you look up and see that a lot of time has passed? You get so into doing what you're doing, you don't notice time passing, or the little aches and pains, or the noises or other distractions around you. Then, the only regret you have is that there isn't more time to keep doing what you're doing because other things have to get done or your life falls apart, you know, like paying bills, prepping meals, and cleaning up. Do you have something like that?

How I feel

I've come to believe that the single most important thing that determines the quality of my life is how I feel right now. I can be surrounded by chaos, but if I feel okay, then I'm okay. I can't always, or even usually, choose how I feel. But I can choose what I think about, and that plays a role in how I feel. So, I seek to feel okay as often as possible by choosing, when I can, what I think about.

Who Is Ordinary?

Ordinary is the protagonist of my one person show, Origins of Ordinary. Ordinary represents an ideal, a set of beliefs and values about our role here as performers on the stage of life. All people are one family, equally worthy of love and care. Ordinary lives in this world, where a Few believe that they are more important than the Many, and have structured our societies around this belief. Lords and serfs. Kings and peasants. Rich and poor. The few and the many. Ordinary is the many. Ordinary can also be the few. Suffering happens when too few of the few choose to be Ordinary. 

The few and the many model is a natural result of the nature of existence. The old adage, too many cooks spoil the broth speaks true. When you're putting on a show, having one director in charge of the cast, that's typical. Stories contain major characters and minor characters. Hierarchical structures occur because they serve desirable outcomes. Stars get their own dressing room, and that works out well enough, when the rest of the cast and the crew also get their needs met.

That is what Ordinary is about, seeing that everybody involved gets at the least, their basic needs met. Let the few have their fewness, as long as the many has enough to keep the inevitable suffering of life within acceptable levels. Ordinary folk must work together to keep the sharing of the world in balance. When the sharing of the world gets out of balance, ordinary folk must band together, and take extra steps to restore balance. 

This is the vow of the ordinary. Every human being is a member of my extended family, and I have an obligation to reduce preventable suffering wherever possible. 

And that concludes my post for today.