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Valerie Roney

The Art of Doing Nothing

Whether you’re injured, burned out, recovering from disaster or heartbreak or illness, convalescing is Booooooring. Doing nothing is not something we are used to doing. But doing nothing is an important part of getting back on your feet. It is innate in us to try and FIX the problem, take the ACTION that resolves the issue, just do SOMETHING for crying out loud. Yes, you need to do something, you need to REST! Passive as it is, it is an important activity.

So for you (and to remind me) I am going to introduce some of the myriad ways you too can practice the fine art of doing nothing:Read More »The Art of Doing Nothing

ToV 23 – Storm Chasing for Soul Seekers

Ironically I went to write about this chapter a week ago, but the first line: Express yourself, then keep quiet captivated me. Something inside of me just went mmm quiet… and I stuck with that for quite some time.

Good thing too, as I was stormy as hell inside. It had been a rough week. The rest of this chapter pulls from the metaphor of weather, and I spent a lot of time thinking about that.

Be like the forces of nature:
when it blows there is only wind;
when it rains there is only rain;
when the clouds pass, the sun shines through.

So I let my life blow, and boy did it blow. Read More »ToV 23 – Storm Chasing for Soul Seekers

ToV 22 – Paradoxical Dating

This chapter opens with a series of lines under what I’d call the category of: f*ing let it go.

If you want to become straight,
let yourself be crooked.
If you want to become full,
let yourself be empty.

And a goodly handful of phrases like that, every one of them a mantra of: stop arguing with reality stop arguing with reality. I love the second part of these lines: let yourself…. If you want something, and here’s the paradoxical part, you have to let go and let yourself be the thing you fear first. It isn’t the pursuit of the thing that gets you what you need, it’s in the letting go of whatever you’re fighting against.

The very last line of this chapter hit me hard, and was what I took with me into my mediation this morning.Read More »ToV 22 – Paradoxical Dating

ToV 20 – On Sass-Monkeys and Seagulls

Taoists are sass-monkeys. There’s a misconception that spiritual people are always wise, aloof, subdued. There is something to be said for the wisdom of being able to see the humour in things; and being able to talk smack to those still talking themselves too seriously. This whole chapter is a comparison of “regular folk” and what it means to be immersed in the Tao.

Other people are bright;
I alone am dark.
Other people are sharp:
I alone am dull.
Other people have purpose;
I alone don’t know.
I drift like a wave on the ocean,
I blow as aimless as the wind.

Now, if you put that on a resume, you wouldn’t get a lot of call backs, and that’s kinda the point. Lao Tzu is making fun of what people value, what they think is important, in part perhaps to illustrate that a pursuit of the Tao is not an ego-driven thing, most people will not admire you for it. I am like an idiot, my mind is so empty.

But he’s trying to help you. The chapter opens with: Stop thinking, and end your problems (pausing while all my nerd readers get their gruntles on for that one!). Read More »ToV 20 – On Sass-Monkeys and Seagulls