Trick plays make headlines
Tempting to do the big.
Tempting to do the thing no one’s ever done.
The trick.
Like the old man on the hill.
Yelling, kicking, showing off, swinging.
Look look look!
Get the process right and the rest will follow!
That’s the real trick.
Process over time.
Try something new and the feeling sets in.
Gosh what if I fail?
Normal for anyone trying a new trick.
Forget it.
Forget success and you forget failure.
One of the most successful things I’ve ever seen is a fallen log.
A fallen log in the forest.
A fallen log the animals dance across.
No tricks.
Just a log between banks.
Look at them go!
The fox, the bear, the squirrel, the birds, oh yes even the birds!
Tip toeing across a fallen log.
A beautiful sight!
A glorious tree.
Now a glorious fallen log.
A fallen log with one tool.
Gravity.
Another story.
I heard of an 88 year old lady named Marlene.
She came walking out of her house with a walker.
Muttering, puttering.
Swearing to herself.
Another lady said hello.
Marlene started telling her how sick she was of the sixty year olds she lived with.
These fucks always worry about their hearing aids, complain about nothing ever being on TV, they hear the news and think, shit! We’re over! Hell, they never leave the couch!
The lady laughed.
Marlene kept going.
Not me darling. You won’t find me on the couch. Maybe at night when I’m tired darling or when I’m reading with a cup of tea darling but Christ! Not every day! Not me…
You don’t seem like a lady to sit around all day.
You’re right darling! I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you the secret to life, the secret to life is to keep moving. I’m 88 years old and I walk to the shops every day and I say to myself wow it’s a beautiful day. And then I meet people like you and I love it! I love seeing people out and walking around.
An 88 year old lady with one tool.
Moving every day.
Now we’re talkin’!
That’s a trick I can do.
That’s all I’m looking for.
The simple trick I can keep doing.
The rest?
Who the hell knows.
Don’t take me for a fool my friend!
Just because I don’t know does not mean I am not smart.
Didn’t you listen to the sages?
Knowing what you don’t know is the highest form of knowledge.
Another trick!
Ho ho, we’re on a roll now!
Keep it goin’!
What if I told you true kindness does not know it is so?
Or being straight and proper doesn’t know it’s being honest?
Congruency!
Getting your ducks in a row!
...without lining them up.
Helping one another and not calling it a favour!
Giving it all yet acting without a trace.
Like the shadow of a bird flying over water.
Can you hear?
The sweetest sound in the world.
A baby’s laughter.
Peek-a-boo!
The oldest trick in the book!
Now you see me, now you don’t.
Where’s the headline for that?
Ha!
Take a swing, my friend!
Keep moving, dance across the fallen log.
Or fall over.
And let the animals walk across you.
Either way, glory abounds.
Because even the clouds return to the dirt.