Whatever
is in front of you is your life, so please take care of it.
Rather
than following rules, have a friendliness towards existence.
I
was amazed how few people had any idea of the names of the live beings
inhabiting their plot of land.
If
you are not afraid of the voices inside you, you will not fear the critics
outside you.
Kids
can be an acid test for your authenticity.
They are not interested in your philosophy. They want the meat, the marrow, the bone.
If you
pay attention to your dreams, they will begin to speak to you.
I know a
certain thing, I tell you about it.
Beyond that, I am of no use.
We
never graduate from first grade. Over
and over, we have to go back to the beginning.
We should not be ashamed of this. It is good. It’s like drinking water; we don’t drink a
glass once and never have to drink one again.
Go for
the jugular. If something scary comes
up, go for it. That’s where the energy
is.
Be
specific. Not car, but Cadillac. Not fruit, but apple. Not bird, but wren. Not a codependent, neurotic man, but Harry,
who runs to open the refrigerator for his wife, thinking she wants an apple,
when she is headed for the gas stove to light her cigarette. Be careful of those pop-psychology labels. Get below the label and be specific to the
person.
The mind
is raw, full of energy, alive and hungry.
It does not think in the way we were brought up to think –
well-mannered, congenial.
Life is
not orderly. No matter how we try to
make life so, right in the middle of it we die, lose a leg, fall in love, drop
a jar of applesauce.
Either
way, no matter what, there is death at the end.
