the meaning of life is to plant trees, under who’s shade you do not plan to sit.

unknown

keeping our self fed and sheltered is only part of it. we also need to spin the rest. with the ability to look back and be aware of ourselves creates a problem with the perception of how we are spending our time. our we using it to the best of our ability and what does that even mean? is he who works/plays the most the winner? if its spent in front of a screen instead of in conversation with others does it not count? each of us holds a different view on these matters, each of us is given a certain degree of time to think this over. since we are giving time with no exchange or option wasting it seems about right. for what is time if not to be wasted?

as one looks back at a life half-lived he remembers the hard and easy times with a relief and angst that they are past. the relief is that its over, that the pain is gone, but the angst is that the good times have also left us in the past and a future surely awaits more pain. the balance of forces, yin and the yang on prominent display in our minds to remind us that it all has two sides. that the warmth of the sun on our skins is only great after long grey days, that a win feels so much better after a string of defeats, that the whole thing is like a great joke, long in its delivery but simple in its punchline. the simplest things to learn are the hardest to actually get. in the meantime we make the most of our limited motion and time, we do as much as we can with the vessels and storyline we are given.

in its simplicity its happening to us. our life is playing out as the planet and universe spins in time. we are as much a part of this story as an organism that has come out into it. so we play the role we are given, that we happen into. the earth is peopling. we are gifted with the idea that it is ours for the making, a bit that is a curse as much as a gift, allowing us to pretend we can lean into the wind or go with the flow. an intelligent trick that was gifted to us all as we were born, a gift from a smart world who is also playing games with itself as it searches for its own balance.