The Perils of Knowing Stuff

How I have read, pondered!

I've even meditated and researched! I have layers of useless information that could make a stone move itself downstream to escape.

The years I have dedicated to deep thinking and wondering where my socks were! A person might think my sacrifice would be right up there with Joan of Arc. I imagined myself  deserving of a paragraph in the annals of Philosophy. Sweating caffeine bullets into the night to find things which I believed you needed to be, "Informed" about. Surely, I thought, my name would be emblazoned with the likes of Plato and Socrates and -and...some other guy. ;)

I've been afflicted with information that I needed to bestow upon the masses more than once, and suffer, I did. So did they. They were not interested in my intellectual generosity much less my bestowing. One learns to develop a peculiar penchant for dodging boulders, or stop that and start learning stuff.I'm still starting, by the way. :)

If you ever find me thinking I know something, run. While unconfirmed, I'm concerned it might be contagious. Unfortunately, in my case, it appears to be chronic.

I'd rather not know a thing or another thing. Knowing means I'm finished learning. Now, I'm certainly inclined to think things, risky as that may be. I suspect a lot of things, but I know nothing. I'm almost sure of it.

Sometimes I come across people who know things. A moment of silence, please for those suffering......

Those poor, tortured souls! Imagine being finished discovering, yet still breathing. Cerebral zombies of enlightenment, and they may well know. Just in case, I walk a wide circle around them, so I don't catch it.It turns out that people warm up more to being my teachers than my proteges. That helps, because I don't know anything. Everyone teaches me something, and the best way I've heard for me to get someone to listen is to...listen.

It's also effective when I want to learn...so far.Curiously, I've found the longer I listen, the more likely it is that I'll hear what I was so bent on sharing put more eloquently than I had planned it, myself.

Annoying, really. ;) In that case, I learn an instance of humility, or that a blow to the ego is not likely to kill me ... yet.

Still learning, and thanks for listening.

tinajonesart

Signs

Early today, I drove on a highway that was being repaired. Though both lanes were freshly asphalted, one of the two lanes going in my direction was blocked off by orange cones. Resisting the obvious temptation to treat this as an opportunity to practice well fantasized obstacle course training, I decided to watch and drive carefully.
 Traffic was, of necessity, slower, and I took in a bit of scenery. I'm told I see more detail than others, and I don't know if that's true, but a certain statement of the obvious variety bothered me. It was a roadside sign that read, "There are no side lines."
  I had to read it three times to make sure that's what it said. I'd have thought a person could tell by looking at the freshly laid asphalt that there were no sidelines. No, apparently there are people who don't notice that, so they need a sign that says so.
   I don't realize how fortunate I am sometimes. I can just look for sidelines, willy-nilly, and upon not seeing any, deduce that in all likelihood, none are there. Imagine those who can't, and what stress they must have been subject to, before that sign was put in place.
   I feel so selfish now, never having considered that others wouldn't know there weren't side lines unless it was written in words. They say I see in pictures. That must explain my super ability to notice the presence or lack of side lines. It would also explain why the words threw me off. It's my understanding others think in words. They might not have a mental image of "side lines" floating around in their heads to even know they should be on the road. I'm so glad that sign was there. They might have driven up the hill into the woods or something equally embarassing.
   Not me. When I don't see a side line, I know I don't see one. I watch for gravel or grass or whatever coasts the asphalt. Maybe they need to put that on the sign! What if there are people who don't know that in the absence of side lines they need to be watching for an edge of weeds, grass, sand, etc.? What if this is some kind of discrimination against them? This is wrong, I tell you! Damn wrong! These people need their signs!
   ahem,
tina

Perspective of Emotion: Seeing

If you want to know who I am, listen carefully to what I say about others. There will always be a bit of truth about me in what I say or think about you or others. Everything I perceive is seen through my own eyes and experiences. My beliefs about the world and myself are one and the same.
  No person who speaks of others is a mystery. I see what I am.
  Guard your thoughts and words. Be especially careful of any negative words. Instead of "stupid" or "idiot" try "struggling" or " still learning." In either case, you'll be announcing to the world who you are, not the other person. Seek to see beauty and find things to be grateful for. Talk about these things and often! You are becoming them. When invited to complain or gossip, give of love instead. See the beauty in those who might hide behind talk of others. They speak of their own fears. Love them away, and never condemn. To do so is to condemn yourself. To love them, to lift them, is to rise with them in dignity.
    You cannot improve yourself without improving the world. We are one. When you see fault in another apply love to correct it in yourself. Again, we see what we are. I am part of you, and you are part of me. To take care of me, to heal me,  love yourself. Likewise, when you see beauty in the world, guess who you're seeing? smiles. You.
   Bring smiles where you can, point out the perfection of dandelions, the dance of life, and see that all is well, and all answers are known. If I see anger, it is with my own angry eyes. If I see incompetence, it is with my own insecurity. Therefore, see the abundance of forgiveness and the wisdom of the simple. This is not to claim the nonexistence of pain, but to claim your place in Love.  The problem with what I see is never what I see, but a problem with my own eyes. I have to shift my focus and look in the direction of Love. Then I find the beauty I see reflected in me.
  It is in you too. I see it all of the time. smiles.
tina jones


"Patience"
(Self Portrait)
36x48"
Acrylic on Canvas



Are You Prepared For The...BEST?

So many are living in fear of a dreaded tomorrow, a time post apocalyptic, the invasion of zombies, an infestation of alien elbow fleas, or what have you. I hear talk of shelters, food and water gathering, protection. Many are returning to gardening and hunting in preparation for a nightmare.
 It could happen.
  I tend to find what I'm looking for. What I think about most is what I see. When my focus is on negativity, I find reasons to be negative.

 One question:
Have you prepared for the best?
It's as likely to come as anything. What if it should happen, your greatest dream? Are you ready? Say it's love or you've finally been recognized for your work. Are you prepared? Have you opened your heart? Have you done enough paintings for the show they may ask you to do?
  I've no particular connection to any belief system, and find little of use as far as biblical things, but there is one sentence I find most intriguing. "I go and prepare a place for thee." It speaks of love, and I in my heart prepare room for a beloved. I clear out old baggage of fears. I practice by loving myself and friends for the time when a beloved comes. I prepare paintings for a show I have not yet been asked to do. I prepare for my greatest dreams.
   When they come, will you be prepared?
tina jones