In this 23rd verse of the Tao te Ching, Laotzu’s message is to live more naturally. If you ever sit quietly and observe, you’ll notice that the way of the natural world is unhurried and unforced. The seed is planted and with the right environment and resources, it blossoms in due time to stand in the sun. The ebb and flow of the ocean does it’s thing with rhythm and grace. For many of us now, we’re always looking for the next big thing. We seem to want the fruit immediately after the seed is planted. When we go through difficult times, we want it to go away with the quickness. We have to go back to a time when our ancestors lived more naturally and understood the cycles of nature. Today we’re bombarded with too much information, too many choices, it’s no doubt everyone is dealing with some form of anxiety. We’ve forgotten what it means to be in harmony with nature. Our lives are filled with so much noise that when you do get a moment of silence, the mind goes on overdrive because it doesn’t know how to handle it. I’m working on co-existing between silence and noise, between the old and new, analog and digital. As a millennial I’m lucky to have grown up at a time before technology. In a lot of ways technology has really been helpful in our development and the tasks we’re able to perform now that were inconceivable 20 years ago. But that has also come with a price. More than ever before, we’ve become so impatient in every aspect of life. The ideals and virtues that allowed our ancestors to persevere against all odds are now being eroded. What I want is to live in harmony with the universe, with the life force from which everything originates. If I’m with God, who/what can be against me? It’s easier said than done because the ego’s job is to act as if it’s in control. The thought of surrender seems to be like suicide, But I think surrendering to nature’s way, to the Tao is the most intelligent act anyone can do. To know that the force that is responsible for the planets in orbit, is also responsible for the way my life flows, lifts a lot of weight off my shoulders. I then become a co-creator in my life as I learn to live in harmony with the Tao. It’s a less forceful and anxious way to live, and I’m here for it.
Ai Creo