Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Fourteen Years

Fourteen Years.

Based on the law of averages and family history, that's pretty much all the time I've got left on this earth.  Fourteen years.  Not a lot of time.  What I DO have is a lot of stuff I've accumulated as I've wandered through this life.  Which sort of reminded me of this old story retold in a book by Deng Ming-Dao (I Know, namedropper, right?):

There was a wanderer who cared nothing for fame.  What he did search for were teachers who could help him master five things:  zither, chess, book, painting, and sword.

The zither gave him music, which expressed the soul.  Chess cultivated strategy and response to the actions of another.  Books gave him an academic education.  Painting was the exercise of beauty and sensitivity.  Sword was the means for health and defense. 

One day a little boy asked the wandered what he would do if he lost his five things.  At first the wanderer was frightened, but he soon realized that the zither could not play itself, the chess board was nothing without players, a book needed a reader (and so on). 

He realized that his cultivation was not merely for the acquisition of objects and skills.  It was a path to the innermost part of his being.

- - -
Objects and Skills.

I've got a few skills I've tried to practice:  Writing, poetry, woodworking, now guitar this year . . .   I have boxes of "stuff" to prove it.  And even more boxes of stuff that I've tried and couldn't/didn't want to master.  Stuff I know I can't take it with me.  What to do with it all? 

I really don't know, but I figure I have only about fourteen years -- at most --to figure it out. 

Maybe I'll start a "Who was Grandpa Kuhn" box for the grandkids.  And then let them deal with my "zither", woodworking tools, writings, books, black powder muzzleloader, and mountain of other stuff . . .

What're your zithers, chess boards, books, paintings, and swords?

Keep wandering and have a great rest of the week.

Carpe diem Life,
David Kuhn

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