This week’s bit of journal art comes from me reading the Ursula Le Guin translation of the Tao Te Ching. I’m working my way through her excellent translation, as the Tao Te Ching is not a book that wants to be devoured quickly. It is to be savoured and experienced gradually so that its teachings settle within and can then become lived rather than just theorised.
Verse 2 is a beautiful piece (see doodle above from my journal). It describes the Great Human Paradox. The constant balancing act of living within the duality. Good and bad, dark and light, up and down. Being in the world but not of it.
The most interesting lines for me are:
To do the work and let it go:
For just letting it go
Is what makes it stay.
These lines stir something in me. The ego might not like them, it always wants the recognition, attention and control, but true power is in letting go and surrendering to something higher and greater than ourselves. And ‘what makes it stay’ suggests that the mark we leave on this world is not in what we do but in who we are while we are here.
You have to sit with each verse of the Tao Te Ching for a while, meditate upon it, and allow it to settle into your heart. Like reading poetry, you have to swallow it whole at first, though it might not make total sense, and then the more times you read it, the clearer its meaning becomes. The Tao speaks in the language of the heart. In many ways, it is designed to baffle the mind, so that eventually it surrenders and allows the heart to hear its true meaning. When you connect with that aspect of the Tao, its lessons can be a great space to live from.
If you don’t know much about the Tao Te Ching, you can follow the red links here and in the above paragraphs and discover more about it. It’s considered to be one of the oldest sacred texts, dating back almost 1000 years B.C.E. It contains a wealth of wisdom and knowledge, but there’s also something so simple and beautiful about the 81 verses. Reading it transports you to another dimension and world entirely, a place I like to spend more and more time in.
Here are 5 things I thought were worth sharing this week:
I’ve been reading The Art Of Noticing by Rob Walker. It’s a beautiful book, encouraging us to practice greater awareness while we go about our ‘busyness’. There are loads of simple exercises to try out to help us strengthen our noticing and hone our awareness. It gives you a real sense of joy to go out into the world and perceive it with such freshness. Rob has a great Substack newsletter and blog too.
I loved this article about a guy who had a crazy idea to build his office on rail tracks so that he could move it down into the woods when he wanted to work in a more natural environment. I couldn’t help but get a bit of ‘cabin envy’ looking at his office, nestled into the woods and surrounded by nature. Cabin Envy is a real thing too, and if you follow the red links over the words Cabin Envy, I’m fairly confident you will experience a pang of it too. I crave nature every day, and try to get out into the woods or local parks as often as I can. In the meantime, I manifest, visualise, and work towards my own dream cabin.
After last week’s link to Casey Neistat’s filmmaking secrets, I discovered his brother Van’s YouTube channel, after watching the Digital Spaghetti interview with him. Van takes the opposite approach to his brother when it comes to filmmaking - slow, methodical, and deep. His content is fascinating, his way of looking at the world is equally intriguing, but his storytelling is masterful. You never know where each episode is going to go, and I like that not knowing.
This article about the state of the world we are living in, the human obsession with progress, and where it’s all ultimately leading us to is a phenomenal read. It’s long, I warn you, but well worth the time and you will be hard-pressed to find a deeper and more eloquent summary of life on Earth right now. It might trigger you in parts, and at times it may even feel a little gloomy but, as ever, the author Richard Abbott, always brings it back to where and how we can empower ourselves and even thrive in the face of whatever the future may bring.
I’ve been listening to Sticky Fingers a lot recently. They are a notoriously controversial band from Australia, but they are doing what rockstars should be doing, and they live out that archetype really well. Their music is incredible, though. I first discovered them through their song, Gold Snafu. And when I saw this live version of them playing the song, I absolutely fell in love with them. The keyboardist, with the handlebar moustache, hairy chest and 80s gym shorts, and whose name is Freddy Crabs, is my favourite.
Thanks for reading!
My new book, B7965 - A boy called Szmulek: A man named Sam, is out NOW!. It’s a powerful memoir of my unexpected year-long journey with a Holocaust survivor. I’m super proud of it and very passionate about sharing Sam’s incredible story and getting it out into the world. I truly believe this is a very important story and one that the world needs to hear more than ever right now.
Also, if you like great music, please check out my radio station, The Buzz Mcr. We don’t do ad-breaks, news, weather, and travel. The music never stops. We have a thing called our Three Song Trust Policy, it’s like the old Pepsi challenge only with music. Try us, I think you’ll like us.
With love
Rik
x
Amazing insights always. Move and be with the Dao 🙏