Imagination is
the subtle bridge
that joins
the five senses to
the five motives,

the shore
of timeless wisdom
to the living ocean
of love.

There's no way
to be sure,
but we aim
to please.

(Cf. May 17, 2018.)

Is anything

more disturbing
than

the ability
to

make someone
happy

on purpose?

Evidence is to knowledge
as office to power.

"appearance from which inferences
may be drawn," "ground for belief,"
from ex "out, out of, fully"
and videre "to see".

"a post to which certain duties
are attached," literally "work-doing,"
from ops, "power, might, abundance, means"
and facere "to make, to do".

We seek a science
based on evidence
and a policy
bounded by office.

We want a ground
on which to believe.
We want desire
tied to a post.

So do not ask your leaders
for evidence-based policy.
Keep them office-bound,
mindful of their duty.

In a story things happen.
Some of them get done. Some just do.
Some of them are seen. Some aren't.

The meaning of the events in a story
often depends on who does them
and who sees them, or doesn't.

He was prone
to formalism
in his remarks,
which left an emptiness,
a space,
in his imagination.
In time,
he would be fulfilled
by his strophes
as contentment
washed over him.

The first light
falls

to the eye,
the mind,

coordinating

the heart
with the hand,

lifting
the last weight.

An action or event
(something you do,
something that happens)
is good
if it makes you better
as a person,
evil
if it makes you worse.

"Experts are not sure
what causes dysthymia."

Amateurs are not in doubt:
orthodoxy is to blame.

To gain power
we must forgo
some pleasure.

To gain knowledge
we must accept
uncertainty.

Pleasure belongs
to the powerless
as certainty belongs
to the ignorant.

For pleasure must
be sought
where you are vulnerable,
and certainty
will come only
like a light in darkness.

What you may know
of this is in
another's power.

Power
is the freedom
of desire.

Knowledge
is the limit
of belief.

At the center
of our knowing
we find wisdom.

At the edge
of our mastery
we find love.

Hearts, like minds,
can be open or closed,
can open and close.

Like minds, hearts
can be changed.

It is no more
(and no less)
arrogant
to think
you are wise
than to feel
you are
in love.

"Think before you act."
Feel before the fact.

Before you act,
consider the facts.
Before you believe,
consult your desires.

__________

Facts constrain the possibility of action.
Feelings reflect our sense of the possible.
A belief implies a field of possibilities.
Our beliefs make us feel some things
are possible and others are impossible.
Our desires, then, have a vested interest
in the state of our beliefs. Respect it.

One day he resolved
to compose his poetry on the outside
of his philosophy.

The light was bad.
The guitar was out of tune.
And she was drunk.

He watched her dance,
tightened the strings,
and trimmed the wick.

In this image—
its flicker and tension
and stagger and sway—
he holds her.

Bowling is the opposite of drawing.

In the stillness of his mind,
even the courtyard's cherry tree
blossomed as a mere idea of itself,
until the petals fell to the ground
through the windless air.

The poet sings
of experience,
of how to feel it
when it happens.

And where it falls?
And how to think
on the experience?
Call a philosopher.

But the mind
itself, lost,
must be found.

And the heart
itself, alone,
must belong.

While the soul
abides, waiting,
in the body.

The mind
seeks.
"What?" it asks.
"Where?"

The heart
longs.
"Who?" it begs.
"When?"

"How?" falls
to the body.
"Why?"
to the soul.

The true belief,
the beautiful image,
the just desire.

The sound mind,
the healthy body,
the strong heart.

The better reason,
the purer soul,
the deeper passion.

I have come to understand it now,
but I still can't bring myself to obey.

"Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow..."

Between the concept
and the emotion,
slips the image.

Between your reasons
and your passion
find your suffering.

We experience knowledge conceptually.
We experience power emotionally.

There is an orthodoxy,
but also an orthothymia.
There's a right way of thinking
and a right way of feeling.

May your concepts and emotions
guide your imagination
beyond the acceptable opinion,
the appropriate sentiment.

Philosophers teach us how to think.
Poets teach us how to feel.
Scientists tell us what to believe.
Politicians tell us who to desire.

Desires show us how to be free.
Beliefs show us how we are bounded.
Our feelings become who we are.
Our thinking is what it is.