Musashi wrote that there are four paths on the Way in life. I am on my own, but curious to know his meaning. They are the Way of the samurai, the farmer, the artisan and merchant. I resonated with the merchant first. To "...seek to generate profit to live prosperously" sounded alright. I was only thinking about the goal, though. The process of profit generation varies. Haven't I earned enough from what I've read and learned about things?
The ways in which I resonated also include:
- How the farmer arranges tools, keeps an eye on seasonal changes
- How the warrior fashions his own tools, knows the virtue of his weapons
- How a like a samurai, a carpenter has many tools, knows how to use each one
- How the carpenter applies his skills throughout his life, industriously, building things
He would go on to write that carpenter is written with two characters meaning: "great craft".
"You have instant coffee?" Everyone, even at the crack of dawn, wants to find their fix. I myself hanker for beef ground into patties atop toasted buns, wearing hats of lettuce and tomato. I also like all things blue and Pokémon. My belongings too, beg for a fix, given a recurring theme: breaks.
I wrote about my vices in smoking to my love of imagery. I notice now... that I lose or break things, like a little kid. All would normally be lost, yet now that I've taken the picture, the details come to light. Musashi, despite even his identity coming under debate, wrote very real and hard truths. In the beginning, my journey to take pictures felt a lot like the flower and the fruit. I obsessed with the flower, the show of photography, innocently at first. Praise from peers raised my spirits. I neglected to grow the fruit, however, from conscious labors of photography. Taking pictures improves vision, perspective. I encourage everyone to take pics, perhaps for this reason.
I lost headphones, broke two cameras, and an iPhone. I lost another iPhone too. I lent an umbrella-tana to have it returned bent, regifted a busted point-and-shoot, and saved a few fortunes. I didn't finish more than a few books, but I reference and reread as much as I need. I am working things out, like organization skills and my workouts. Managing my reads, I learn about fact and fiction, characters and their conflicts. They like me, for real. I lost money and data, but saved a dollar for years now. I have skills I haven't mastered or practiced yet, for that matter. Some of my gigs didn't pay as much as I'd hoped, but reading deeply seems to keep feeding me more wealth than I can manage.
Over thirty days I challenged not only myself, but my possessions. Can I care for you in a better way? What's working? What isn't? I have some ideas, but in all, I am not worried. I can see much more than ever before thanks to this visual art.
My gratitude goes to the kind people who support me. They know who they are. As the new year approaches, I walk forward. Maya Angelou wrote that each new hour holds chances for new beginnings. The horizon leans forward, offering you space to place new steps of change. I see what she's saying.
