NOT a Short Episode although when I 1st started recording, I thought it would be... Reflections on laughing at the Tao & the paradoxes it presents, alongside sharing personal anecdotes (both joyful & not so joyful) about how my "holidays" and this time of year has been so far... I go on relevant tangents but reign it in back in to the Tao at the end. Disclaimer: Passive SI mentioned. If you or anyone else is struggling with this, call 988. Also, for anyone that's worried about me because of the passive SI disclaimers on so many recent episodes, I am going to start going to free (essentially group therapy) NAMI Support groups in 2024 & also find an individual therapist again once my Medicaid gets approved, so hang in there with me! Everyone's support & listenership means a lot & my audience may be quite small on here but I do it for you all! For you reading this & for you listening to the end. I hope it brings some value & #realtalk in your life! ☯️ "Possessing The Tao" -- "There was once a diligent & serious student of the Way, who one day asked his master, "Can you possess the Tao?" "You can't possess even your own body" answered his master. "How could you possess the Tao?" "If I don't possess my own body," asked the student, "then who does?" "It has been lent to you by heaven & earth. Life itself is not your possession," said the master. "You don't possess your own nature or your own destiny. They have been lent to you by heaven & earth. Your children & their children are not your possession. They are as molted insect skins, lent to you by heaven & earth. So when you walk, you don't notice where you are going, when you stop you don't know where you are. When you eat you don't know what it is that you are eating. The Chi of heaven & earth is so much stronger than yours but even it can't possess the Tao." -Chuang Tzu. After reading this a 2nd time, I wonder if the Tao is basically the neutrino stream...which we can't possess or even make complete sense of! Anyway, the next part of this tale is a little poem by Lao Tzu, "When the superior person hears of the Tao He diligently studies it. When the inferior person hears of the Tao Sometimes she remembers it, sometimes not. When foolish students hear of the Tao They laugh at it. If they did not laugh at it, It would not be the Tao." & there you have it! Hope that you can still laugh in the face of absurdities in life, & the face of conflicts or confusion. Don't worry cuz the Mercury Retrograde is supposed to end on January 1st lol

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