39. The Root of Authority

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Abstract

e827" type="7">Therefore, nobles find their roots among the commoners; the high is always founded upon the low. The reason why princes and kings speak of themselves as orphans, inferiors and unworthy, is because they recognize that their roots run down to the common life; is it not so?If a carriage goes to pieces, it is no longer a carriage. Its unity is gone. A true self-hood does not desire to be overvalued as a gem, nor to be undervalued as a mere stone.— Lao Tzu, Goddard (1919)<h2 id="4ae7">Thoughts:</h2>A previous draft had twelve hundred words and said almost nothing. So, I clean-slated it, and I am starting fresh.The idea of unity and self-hood jumped out at me. Although I feel as if I should lay it all out — the steps of the transformation from the person that I was to the person that I am now — it almost seems empty because I am not where I want to be at this point in my journey. Part of the issue is that I can’t focus at the moment. It’s a byproduct of what I go through every winter into spring and has only become exacerbated because I have isolated myself. If I am being honest, I’ve

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only left the apartment seven times since the beginning of December. There are extended weeks where I stare at the walls, searching for inspiration, only to be let down and left even more defeated.It’s not a block. It’s a nagging inner voice that convinces me that everything I write is shit and that there is no sense in writing because everything original has already been said. Most times of the year, I am able to push past that voice and prove it otherwise, but lately, I think it may be right. I am back in college after a twenty-year hiatus, and it is challenging. I only need a little push to believe the worst about myself, and oftentimes, that push comes from my inability to meet the expectations that I set for myself.I’ve given serious consideration recently to not writing anymore. Then I woke to a post from a writer that I admire and follow who was thinking something along the same lines. I don’t blame them if that is what they decide to do; I get it. I do know that if they ceased doing what it is that they do, their presence would be missed from my routine.— William the Hermit, American writer</article></body>

The Tao Te Ching Series

Created 10 Oct 2023 using Dall-E

It has been said of old only those who attain unity attain self-hood: Heaven attained unity and thereby is space. Earth attained unity and thereby is solid. Spirit attained unity, and thereby, it became mind. Valleys attained unity, therefore rivers flow down them. All things have unity and thereby have life.

Princes and kings, as they attain unity, become standards of conduct for the nation. And the highest unity is that which produces unity.

If Heaven were not space, it might crack, If Earth were not solid, it might bend. If Spirits were not unified into mind, they might vanish, If Valleys were not adapted to rivers, they would be parched. Everything, if it were not for life, would burn up.

Even princes and kings, if they overestimate themselves and cease to be standards, will presumably fall.

Therefore, nobles find their roots among the commoners; the high is always founded upon the low. The reason why princes and kings speak of themselves as orphans, inferiors and unworthy, is because they recognize that their roots run down to the common life; is it not so?

If a carriage goes to pieces, it is no longer a carriage. Its unity is gone. A true self-hood does not desire to be overvalued as a gem, nor to be undervalued as a mere stone.

— Lao Tzu, Goddard (1919)

Thoughts:

A previous draft had twelve hundred words and said almost nothing. So, I clean-slated it, and I am starting fresh.

The idea of unity and self-hood jumped out at me. Although I feel as if I should lay it all out — the steps of the transformation from the person that I was to the person that I am now — it almost seems empty because I am not where I want to be at this point in my journey. Part of the issue is that I can’t focus at the moment. It’s a byproduct of what I go through every winter into spring and has only become exacerbated because I have isolated myself. If I am being honest, I’ve only left the apartment seven times since the beginning of December. There are extended weeks where I stare at the walls, searching for inspiration, only to be let down and left even more defeated.

It’s not a block. It’s a nagging inner voice that convinces me that everything I write is shit and that there is no sense in writing because everything original has already been said. Most times of the year, I am able to push past that voice and prove it otherwise, but lately, I think it may be right. I am back in college after a twenty-year hiatus, and it is challenging. I only need a little push to believe the worst about myself, and oftentimes, that push comes from my inability to meet the expectations that I set for myself.

I’ve given serious consideration recently to not writing anymore. Then I woke to a post from a writer that I admire and follow who was thinking something along the same lines. I don’t blame them if that is what they decide to do; I get it. I do know that if they ceased doing what it is that they do, their presence would be missed from my routine.

— William the Hermit, American writer