removed from the rest of humanity

Totem, tribal, racial, and aggressively missionizing cults represent only partial solutions of the psychological problem of subduing hate by love: they only partially initiate. Ego is not annihilated in them; rather, it is enlarged; instead of thinking only of himself, the individual becomes dedicated to the whole of his society. The rest of the world meanwhile (that is to say, by far the greater portion of mankind) is left outside the sphere of his sympathy and protection because outside the sphere of the protection of his god. And there takes place, then, that dramatic divorce of the two principles of love and hate which the pages of history so bountifully illustrate. Instead of clearing his own hear the zealot tries to clear the world.

– Joseph Campbell, from The Hero With A Thousand Faces

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meditation by paint

I’ve added paint to my morning meditation. I do one each day. Here’s the work from this week. Each one is 9×12 acrylic on paper. (the number after the title represents the number of days I’ve been in recovery…grateful recovery.)

LaVerna 2 birds #2432, July 17, 2023,

Anesthetized #2433, July 18, 2023

Terrarium #2434, July 19, 2023

On Hold #2435, July 20, 2023

Head Waters #2436, July 21, 2023

realizing that everything has been misunderstood

There is a Japanese saying I recall once having heard, of the five stages of a man’s growth: “At ten, an animal; at twenty, a lunatic; at thirty, a failure; at forty, a fraud; at fifty, a criminal.” And at sixty, I would add (since by that time one will have gone through all this), one begins advising one’s friends; and at seventy (realizing that everything has been misunderstood) one keeps quiet and is taken for a sage. “At eighty,” then said Confucius, “I knew my ground and stood firm.” – Joseph Campbell, from Myths to Live By