On Choice

In the hotel,
a temporary stay
for the self
while it journeys,
are users
and servers.

The users
often change hotels
gain new experiences
taste different foods
directionless
like tumbleweeds
Enjoying life

The servers
stay in the same hotel
get paid
taste the same foods
directionful
like servants
Enjoying productivity

The self
analyzing this
gets conflicted
but notices
it can be both
a server,
a user

The self
enduring this
with prayer
integrates
choosing when to be
a server,
or a user

Choose not
just what feels right
but also what is right
Let your experiences, your spirit and God guide you

On Growing

I once had
an imaginary dialogue
with my 17-year-old self,
using techniques I had learned
to unstuck him.

The techniques
certainly helped
but he had already
unstuck himself
back then.

I realized then:
techniques are tools.
Dialogues, imaginations,
mere abstractions.

The important thing is love.
The important thing is endurance.
The important thing is hope
and awareness, and faith, and trust.

Not avoidance,
but true experience of the void
when it surfaces.

For the universe works
in mysterious ways,
beyond our comprehension,
making voids fertile
after we have endured them.

Chase not understanding,
but experiencing,
experimenting,
and loving life.

When this poem makes sense,
you have found calm.

On Being

Step into your head
that’s where planning happens

Step out of your head
and into your senses
and into the world
that’s where life happens

Be a companion
walk with others
don’t “fix” them
walk with yourself
don’t “fix” yourself

Surf the waves
as they come
high tide and low tide

In all things
be gentle
guided by love