There are sound reasons to use an attack on character, an appeal to tradition, or “pulling rank” as debate tactics. But aside from specific circumstances which are served by those tactics—when you want to fluster an opponent, when there’s need for immediate action, etc. etc.—a justification should make logical sense, and educate both parties on a sensible way to move forward; it should not simply advance one’s desire to stay in their ideological comfort zone.
Much like the knights who began their search for the holy grail where the forest was darkest and where “there was no way or path,” I believe it is prudent to glean knowledge/strength by examining the areas we find viscerally unpleasant.
I aspire to become what I need to be to do what is right at any given moment.
It seems that many of us are in search of an underlying principle that makes sense of all things in all situations. I suspect this “principle” defies words, and is a quantum possibility that crystallizes in individual instances as “logic,” “love,” “creed,” “ethos,” “warriorhood,” and so on and so forth. But for all those noble-sounding concepts, one can easily imagine a circumstance where they fails to solve the problem at hand.
So it is up to us to find out—by knowing ourselves deeply through personal observation/experimentation—what Musashi means by “Know The Way broadly, and you will see it in all things.”
If I have any free will at all, I will use it to manipulate the parts of me that are mechanically and behavorially predictable (the need to breathe, hydrate, eat, excrete, along with the other iterations of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs).
In this way, I will bound myself with realistic constraints—so that I honor the practicality of my physical existence—and allow myself to explore the undiscovered potential of my own humanity.
In my experience, low doors are often the only way to escape low places. I take what I can get as a strategic move—not to settle, but to attain elevation so I can reach higher up, and continue ascending.
In the parlance of warfare, procrastination is sitting back and letting the entropic forces of life maneuver on your position. They seek to take your high ground—the time you have left, your creative potential—a second at a time, making it less and less likely you’ll hit your objective. But even if you’re doomed to failure, you can put up a fight; you can be honest about assessing yourself and your situation, and be strategically aggressive.
That’ll gain you territory; you will no longer be waiting for life to maneuver on you—you’ll be maneuvering on LIFE.
In the beginning, it’s incredibly useful to worship what I call “intermediary gods” (ideals like toughness, gurus, discipline, etc. etc.), but as one progresses, it’s very likely they will encounter nuanced situations where those ideals become hindrances. It doesn’t mean they should abandon these ideals, it just means that if they cling blindly to them under all circumstances, they risk turning an intermediary god into a false one, and they will suffer greatly for it.
That’s one of my interpretations of: “Doctrine is the last refuge of the unimaginative.”
I’ve been one of those people who let the years go by, promising myself day after day I’m going to do this or that…and never getting it done. I hate being that person, so even if I’m restricted to spending a single minute in the day working toward my goals, I consider that a minute well spent.
It’s important to do a little something every day. If nothing else, it serves as a reminder of where you want to go, and over time, those little snatches of productivity can add up. Just ask Tolkien, who wrote snippets of his stories in the trenches of World War I.
I make it a point to indulge responsibly and routinely, but I can honestly say that some of the most miserable times in my life were when I qualified as a comfort junkie.
And conversely, some of the best times in my life were when I was right in the thick of it, working my ass off.
Dirty Sci-Fi Buddha 