Quiet Mind

"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face" (Mike Tyson).  

Well. . . now the "pundits" know what the dems and Harris did wrong.  But, you know. . . she's a beautiful loser, gracious yet defiant in defeat.  She actually won, considering she entered the race so late and was saddled with Biden.  The dems should have had a primary, you know. . . they waited too long.  They were arrogant and assumed the minority vote.  

Why didn't they say so when it mattered?  Oh. . . yea.  

I think of all the wasted hours watching "legal experts" tell me what was going to happen to Trump in his court cases.  Oh, man. . . we had him!  Jack Smith was doing a great job.  But now. . . you know. . . Garland was too cautious.  If he had . . . 

The Great Liberal Fantasies.  

"Latte?"

I spent an hour talking to my California mountain buddy yesterday.  He told me he needed to know what I thought.  He needed "the wisdom."

"I think we are in rat's alley."

"My wife said its time to move."

"Sure.  Where are you going?"

"She said Italy."

"Ah. . . now there's a lot of good government there.  Sterling.."

"Ha!"

And there, my friends, is the problem and the reason so few people will live up to their "If Trump wins, I'm moving out of the country" proclamations.  

"Just quit reading the opinion and analysis parts of the paper.  The NY Times and WaPo have the best reporters in America.  Their articles are heavily scrutinized before they go to print.  Stick with facts and avoid "the experts."  What was it that Paul Valéry wrote: 'Credulity and falsehood copulate, and give birth to opinion.'  There you have it."

"Who?"

"It doesn't matter."

I decided to take a couple nights off from the bottle.  I was worried, of course.  I like drinking.  It makes me feel good and I like the taste.  A meal isn't nearly as good without a glass of wine.  Wine enhances food's abundant flavors.  But. . . they tell me drinking will kill me, and I am very much overweight, so. . . . I'm not becoming a teetotaler, but a few nights off here and there might do me some good.  But as I say, I was worried.  How would I fill the long, dark hours alone?  Would I get the tremens?  Would I not be able to resist?

No problem.  I drank beet juice then coconut water for the rest of the evening.  I turned on "the music" and worked on old images I'd never touched before.  I made things that I can't show you.  Shouldn't, anyway.  I'm down to a single person to whom I can show them.  People have their "boundaries."  

And the night went along quickly and pleasantly, and I learned to work with images in new ways.  It's the work that counts.  There is no substitute for it.  Natural talent can only take you so far.  Life and art require repetition.  

I also reminded my mountain buddy of what we knew when climbing.  On a mountain in a storm, when you are on a rock face or a high altitude glacier and the wind is howling and you can't see your hand in front of your face and lightning is striking all about, what do you do?  

Quiet the mind.  Focus on the things you can control.  

I am practicing Quiet Mind just now.  It's a zen move that all the great athletes have mastered.  Practice slowing everything down until you can count the threads on the 90 mph fastball, until the basketball hoop looks as big as an oven, until everyone on the defense looks to be moving in slow motion.  

Mike Tyson knew it, too.  

The storm is raging.  Quiet mind.  

Ommmmmm.