Smallness #311
You may be capable of great things,
But life consists of small things.
Big things seldom come along. One should know the small as well as the big. We may all yearn to make lasting achievements and to be heroes, but life seldom affords us the opportunities to do so. Most of our days consist of small things–the uneventful meditations, the ordinary cooking of meals, the banal trips to work, the quiet scratching in the garden–and it is from these small things that the larger events of life are composed.
We rarely have the occasion to make grand gestures. The champion gymnast’s greatest moment is but an hour out of an entire lifetime. The works of great artists are viewed for very short times. The master musician’s best composition is but one work in a sea of musical tones. If we want to be successful, it is the small things that we should pay attention to.
We must not fall into the trap of waiting so long for the big things that we let numerous small chances slip right by us. People who do this are always waiting for life to be perfect. They complain that fate is against them, that the world does not recognize their greatness. If they would lower their sights, they would see all the beautiful opportunities swirling at their feet. If they would humble themselves enough to bend down, they could scoop untold treasures up into their hands.
Deng Ming-Dao from Wikipedia:
Deng Ming-Dao (born 1954, San Francisco[1]) is a Chinese American author, artist, philosopher, teacher and martial artist. Deng is his family name; Ming-Dao is his given name. From a young age, he studied Taoist internal arts such as Qigong and Kung-Fu.
He is the author of 365 Tao, Everyday Tao, Scholar Warrior, and Chronicles of Tao. His books have been translated into fifteen languages. “He studied qigong, philosophy, meditation, and internal martial arts with Taoist master Kwan Saihung for thirteen years, and studied with two other masters before that.” He is a “graphic designer and fine artist whose work is in several collections, including those of the Brooklyn Museum.”[2]
I got this book when I was in high school, probably because I started working on a paper comparing Taoism and Confucianism… uh freshman year world history, I think. I read it much more than the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu or the other 2. The Lieh Tzu collection was probably more accessible and fun than the Chuang Tzu. This is one of two pieces I picked to copy out by hand to use as posters… I think I planned more but never did them. They have been up long enough that all the graph paper lines have faded out (the pencil & markers have not), but I recently moved them to a spot where I will notice them a bit more. The other is #43, ‘Persistence’.
Lost in Mist 