So, there's this corny joke I love.
The past, the present, and the future walk into a bar together.
It was tense.
Corny jokes aside, tense is on my mind today.
I've been a Taoist for around a decade now. I remember when I first got started in my meditation and contemplation, I was super excited, and often very confused. It was like I was learning a whole new way to think, to speak, and to act. I struggled to understand what Tao is, what te is, tried to move with the Tao as opposed to against it. (Which is a meaningess distinction, what I really came to understand in subsequent years was that I had the choice to practice mindfulness, or not to.) Along the way I frequently got into long, thinky exchanges with my brother, Spacey, who's a very good person with whom to have those sorts of mulling sessions.
Now I find myself on the opposite end of that sort of exchange. I have several friends who have decided to explore Taoism and mindfulness too, and are just getting started with their own journey. I get phone calls, texts, emails, fetlife messages, the occasional munch conversation, Skype calls, and Kik messages from these lovely people, all seeking to find their way, and wanting my help.
It's beautiful.
I'm happy to help them as they find their way. I count it a big blessing that the work I've done for myself previously is there for me, so that I, in turn, can help them. In an almost ineffable way, it's like this giant mobius strip. That which was before exists to shape, inform, and nurture that which is coming to be which in turn exists to lend shape to that which was before.
I know, it makes my head hurt, too.
But I'm grateful for it.