Using knowledge to rediscover wisdom is something that we humans never seem to get tired of.  (We also seem to never get tired of using knowledge to justify our foolishness).

Much like the Spartans balked at the use of arrows and the Samurai balked at the use of the gun, humans in general seem to balk at anything that questions their established rituals/beliefs.  In order to create art, however, I believe the artist must demonstrate detachment from external systems/structures.

 It is PERCEPTION that must be structured—not rituals or tools, necessarily—one’s perception must be trained to see the core spirit/meme/message in ALL traditions…and be able to reiterate it into something fresh and new.

The hell of order is just as bad as the hell of chaos.

(This one may be a bit harsh)  I’m a little suspicious of people who never seem to take substantive action; I may enjoy their company…but I’m extra leery of working with them.  

Because from what I’ve seen, there’s a decent chance that their genius is tied up in creating/feeding self-defeating rationales that forgive them for always running in place and never actually going anywhere.

From what I’ve seen, few want to admit that in order to create a captivating vision, you gotta do the dirty work of rooting through your ignorance and honing your perception into a fine blade that cuts away obstacles and leaves behind results.  

I, like everyone else, don’t like to lose due to a risk I’ve taken…

But I hate not trying even more.  Because that guarantees that I’ll never win, and that I lose by default.

 Why flagellate yourself because you’re unable to progress using someone else’s methods?  Sure, they may have something to offer…but if we were meant to take the exact same road that they did, we would have BEEN them.  Why not honor the clues that existence gives us through our differences, and see that we are all meant to tread different—but equally amazing—paths?

I’m a big, big proponent of positive thinking…but when it’s used as a mask/excuse to avoid accountability, shirk discipline, and people attempt to replace results with platitudes…

Well in my opinion, that’s one of the most negative things one could do to themselves, regardless of how positive the thought may be.