I haven’t been in much of a writing mood recently. I blame it on a high state of anxiety: the economy, the stock market (and therefore my retirement accounts), the health of the small business I work for, and of course the election. As a good Democrat (actually, an independent with Democratic leanings), I’m constantly concerned that in spite of all the polling and all available evidence, Obama will lose. Not certain how, but…
With all of that anxiety, it was good to hear NPR’s “You Must Read This” segment this evening. Tonight’s book was the Tao Te Ching which is a book I’ve read and re-read for about twenty years now (as an aside, I find the phrase “I’ve X for about twenty years” to be very depressing – I suspect that’ll continue until I start hearing myself say “I’ve X for about thirty years”). The Tao Te Ching is probably one of my favorite books of Chineese philosophy. It is largely a manual of political governence. In addition to discussing the Tao (the Way) and Te (“Integrity”), it describes the principle of wu-wei – action through non (or minimal) action. Wu-wei is something of a difficult concept. As I understand it, the concept conveys the idea of not forcing a result, but rather allowing events to progress in their own way – acting in a minimal manner to redirect, rather than directly confront circumstances. Obtaining a better understanding of wu-wei is also the main reason I took up Tai Chi ten years ago (see, that’s slightly less disturbing).
I don’t practice Tai Chi as much as I used to, but given all of my recent anxieties, I may do a few forms this evening. It wouldn’t hurt to re-read the Tao Te Ching. Hell, at the very least I should hit the treadmill in the morning.