Two Minds

Two Minds

Every person you ever meet

has two minds

it's true as a summer day is long.

First is the mind,

conscious and unconscious,

we use every day

in our trials and striving

with dollars, doughnuts,

fears, gripes, hopes

and day-to-day struggles.

Then, deep inside each of us

living in our souls,

reaching out from our hearts,

is who we really are---

A mind as understanding, compassionate,

brilliant, wise, fearless and kind

as anyone who has ever lived.

It whispers often to your intuition

and is capable of such great presence

it can cause miracles

great and small to happen.

Sometimes,

when you are all alone

with someone talking

and your hearts touch

or when the stakes you face

are so ultimately dire

they reach clear through your entire being,

your everyday mind steps aside

and for awhile, your second mind awakes

to shine more brightly

than a June sky sun.

Dewey Dirks

Suiting Your Journey

Suiting Your Journey

All my life no matter where I've lived

I've always had the good fortune

to have a few friends with whom

I could occupy my time,

and I don't mind a good conversation

with a stranger now and then either

but the sort of passions I have in life---

Mysticism, anthropology,

philosophy and writing,

have made me a loner as well.

I don't think any writer ever writes

anything down without the intention

of having it read; I've long said

that written words are not complete

until they've been read by at least one other.

In the end writing is a social endeavor.

Likewise philosophy dictates the you acquaint

yourself with as many people as you can

and then form ideas that say useful things

about all of mankind,

and so, it too, is a social effort.

But to be a philosopher or writer

worth half a spit, you also gotta enjoy

a lot of wandering wide and far

in the solitude your thoughts and your heart.

One strange thing I've noticed over the years

is that long, long before I realized any of that,

I had arraigned my life in such a way

that I could be all alone with my thoughts

some of the time and well surrounded by

people some of the time.

I think that pretty much everyone is like that.

Whenever at all possible, we each arrange our lives

to suit the paths we have chosen.

Not only that, we do much of the arranging

long before we are ever consciously aware

of what path we're on, or what arrangements

might best suit our journey.

Dewey Dirks

Touch The Love

Maybe Stooopid. Maybe Not.

Maybe Stooopid. Maybe Not.

The other day I was at coffee having a conversation

with a young woman about some of the problems

humanity faces here in the early 21^st century.

It was a nice winter day and the sun shone warmly

with a copper morning glow through the windows as we talked.

I took a sip of coffee as we both agreed that we all live

at a crucial time for our species.

We talked about some of the problems before us

such as climate change and all the wars around the globe.

We agreed that everyone alive today has a part to play

to ensure the future of our civilization and of our species.

She looked worried as we talked about

the difficulties we all face, then she said,

“Humans are evil. We're like a cancer.”

I said, “Have hope Debbie. Humans aren't evil.

We're just a species right in the middle

of a big evolutionary change. The eight thousand years

that we've had cities and civilization's is just a single moment

when looked at on an evolutionary time scale.

Humanity is like a caterpillar going through a metamorphosis.

No one knows exactly what we'll be like when the change is done.

We all are just a part of the natural biosphere.

Just one species among many.

That's why it's very important for all of us to do what we can

to help all humanity turn out the very best we can.

You have to trust Mother Nature to know what she's doing.”

She looked sad, and said, “Maybe we're just bad.

You know, just a bad part of Nature. Look at all the trouble

we cause for the environment.”

I said, “Think about it this way---

Around two hundred and fifty million years ago,

long before the dinosaurs, a large number

of volcanoes erupted in what is now Siberia.

The eruptions released a huge amount of nickel into the environment.

This created the ideal conditions for the growth

of a single celled microbe called 'archaea,'

which used the nickel as a nutrient

and who excreted methane as a result.

Supplied with great amounts of nickel and carbon,

the archea population exploded and they excreted so much methane

that it caused a giant episode of global warming

and this resulted the extinction of around ninety percent

of the species living on the planet at that time.

It was the largest extinction in the history of Mother Earth.

Were the archea evil? Were they bad? No. They were just a species

who happened to flourish when they were presented

with a huge influx of food. They lacked the presence of mind

to recognize and manage the consequences of their actions.

Humans are similar; We aren't evil. We're stooopid.

We are very, very good at harvesting and exploiting resources

but historically, we've been very dumb when it comes

to managing the consequences of our actions.

Humans are a species that evolves psychologically

rather than physiologically like other animals.

We use our minds and our cultures to evolve and adapt to change.

Only time will tell if we are a species who has evolved

the capacity to use and manage resources wisely.

Are we stooopid still? Maybe. Maybe not.

Our actions as a species over the next

one hundred and fifty years will provide the answer. “

Dewey Dirks

Book Project

Here is a poem from my upcoming book “Lullabies and Legends.”

Waiting Flight

Moving with pen

my hand draws in idea, a feathered form

Restless, reaching out

a thought strives flight

Often eager, sometimes sad

my heart beats making sweet life

Forever it's expression I'm seeking

Always almost finished yet never quite completed

vibrant their meaning clasped in graphite

shimmering my words are waiting

caged here on this page

Freedom is found

only in emotion given to you

My thoughts remain unfulfilled

until their reflection's been mirrored

finding flight in eyes of another

Dewey Dirks

Hi Folks :) I have some very good news! My crowd funding project to bring two books into publication has begun. Please make sure to stop by my project page on Kickstarter.com and take a look at what I'm cooking up. Merry Christmas to all of you. Here is the link:

Kickstarter Project

Every Breath

Every breath

A drop of water

is not the ocean

but there is an ocean

in every drop.

A grain of sand

is not the world

but there is a world

in every grain of sand.

Each breath you take

is not all the sky

but the sky

is in every breath

you breathe.

Though a single moment

is just one tiny piece

of eternity,

in every moment

can be found an infinity.

Dewey Dirks

Challenge

Challenge

The greatest challenge

every person faces in life

isn't about how many things

he can accumulate

or how much knowledge

he can amass.

It's about how well

he treats his fellow humans

and how well he treats

the animals we share

our planet with.

The great question

before all mankind

is how to co-exist

with the rest of nature

while seeing to the welfare

of all the members

of our own kind

without destroying

our biosphere.

We are a very young species

just learning how to walk

The challenge, my friends

Is how to travel

long and peacefully through

the halls of life

without wrecking mayhem

along the path

and tripping

over our own two feet

all the time.

The idea that many of us

must suffer through life

so that a few don't

is a fools answer

to the challenge.

Dewey Dirks

Happy Thanksgiving!

Awakening To Kindness

Awakening to Kindness

Have you seen all

those videos on the web

of animals of different species

being kind to each other?

---A grizzly bear and wolf

who help each other hunt,

Dolphins making friends

with dogs and cats.

House cats taking baby rabbits

and baby chicks into their litters,

dogs nursing baby pigs,

and gorillas and chimps

keeping pets like humans do?

It seems to many that something

new is up in all the world,

that perhaps there has been

a recent increase in compassion

in all of nature.

I think that things like these

have been happening all along,

and people in cultures close to nature

have long known about it

but it is only now that people

in big industrial societies

are re-awakening to the fact.

We have too long been fooled

by the view that nature

is something dangerous

and that humans

must somehow conquer

the very biosphere that

birthed us.

In making war on Mother Nature

we seek to attack

she who nurtures us still.

The truth of the matter

is that there is more

kindness and compassion

distributed throughout

all nature

than any man

has ever happened to notice.

Dewey Dirks

Open Wings and Indulge in Wonder

Returning to Yourself

Returning to Yourself

As you return to yourself

you realize a few things.

First, you have something iridescent,

indivisible, and eternal within you---

A brilliant blue spark of life

that makes you into you

and that spark is something pretty special.

Second, you realize that

everything alive everywhere

carry similar sparks within them

that are just as special.

Don't pretend to know what the divine is

when you don't have any idea what you are.

Look around yourself,

and look around the world

until you discover the discontent

that runs deep in your being

urging you to strive.

Explore until you discover

the great ocean of love and compassion

that runs in you deeper still.

Look around until you find

the wondrous mystery

that permeates all you look upon

and everything you never see.

Remember friend, you can create

out of dissatisfaction.

You can create out of the love of creation,

and you can create to explore the endless seas.

Remember always that creation is the point

where right-here-and-right-now

meets with fantasy.

Dewey Dirks

Be An Ocean

Be An Ocean

Be an ocean,

my friend.

Be both gentle

and strong.

Let your words

and deeds

be nurturing

---a cleansing bath,

with touch easy

and true,

yet be ready

to be the storm

when comes time

to clean house.

Be tender,

be patient,

letting things

happen

in their

own time,

yet be ready

to take

the initiative

when others

lag behind.

Be simple

as water

made only

of three atoms

yet within you,

carry the supple

springs of life.

Be an ocean,

my friend,

both gentle

and strong.

Be as deep as all

the rolling seas

knowing

that within

your being

you keep

a vast cosmos

of ideas, emotions

and ideals alive.

Be an ocean,

my friend,

both gentle

and strong.

Dewey Dirks

Your Task

Hear Our Song

Hear Our Song

We all live in an astounding moment in time.

Never before in the history of our species

have so many people been so connected to each other.

Never before have we all been as able

to tell one another about our lives, our hopes,

aspirations, worries, and our dreams for humanity.

Never before have we all been so able

to pass on knowledge and wisdom among ourselves.

Never before in the history of our species

have the governments and companies

we've created been handed such a powerful means

of surveillance and monitoring of all aspects of our lives.

Never before in the history of our species

has our technological prowess

been expanding at such a astounding rate.

Never before has our species had such a profound

impact upon the entire biosphere of Mother Earth.

Never before in the history of our species

has the question of our continued existence

been so unsettled by the consequences

of our own behavior.

Never before has as the potential for finding solutions

to the problems facing humanity been given so completely

into the hands of each and everyone of us.

Sometime in the next one-hundred and fifty years

we will have passed a crucial crossroads in human evolution.

Depending upon which path we have chosen,

our civilization will either utterly fail

and we will have to start over from scratch,

or we will have learned to peacefully co-exist

here on Mother Earth with all our brother and sister lifeforms;

We will have learned to use our existence

as benefactors and custodians of our grand biosphere.

Everyone alive today

is living at an absolutely crucial time for our species.

It is upon us and the next few generations

to determine the question of whether our civilization

will continue on or perish in the sands of time.

In order to give the best chances to the hard work

the next few generations will face,

it is essential that the generation living right now

give the very best advice,

knowledge and wisdom that we can

to those who come after us.

The say, my friends, that desperate times

require furious dancing---

Anyone and everyone who is creative

in any fashion whatsoever

must let the songs of their creativity now be heard.

Now is the time to bring our voices together.

Now is the time to reach far into the diversity of our cultures

and far into the wisdom of our heritage.

Now is the time for the grand sum of human ingenuity,

technological genius, and artistic creativity

to sing so strongly that the most distant stars

deep, deep in the silver dusted night sky

hear our luminous song.

Dewey Dirks

Three Truths of Art

The Three Truths of Art

You need to get past the mistaken idea

that the measure of success

with your art is money.

The point of all art is to nurture

your own soul and the souls of others

and to improve upon

the beauty of the world.

The purpose of creation, my friend,

is to create.

Art is a beginning,

middle, and end all by itself.

You are creating art for your own well being

and for the nurturing of others.

If your art nourishes your own soul

and the soul of just one other,

that is enough.

All the better if you can make

a little bit while doing it.

There are only three levels

of proficiency in any art;

Insufficient, sufficient,

and OMG! Wow!

If you are an artist, dancer,

writer, or musician

and you've been practicing your work

for four years or longer,

you can take heart in the knowledge

that you passed beyond insufficient

some time back.

Remember you will always be

your own worst critic

and even when you think

your work is half-assed,

others who see it will think

it's great and like it just fine.

When you begin to show

your work around to others,

you'll soon discover that

for every nine people

you show your work to,

three will be completely

indifferent to it,

three won't like it much at all,

and three will think it's wonderful.

Always remember, the only person

you absolutely have to please

is yourself.

Dewey Dirks

Illusions

Illusions

I sat at the table earlier tonight

looking out the open sliding glass door.

A light outside lined up with the door frame

so that when I leaned a certain way,

it appeared to shine on both sides of the frame.

They call this an optical illusion because

the perception of two lights

when there is really only one depends upon

the way your brain-box processes the information

it receives from your two eyes.

Yet, to you the light appears to split into two beams.

For the same reason they say

rainbows are optical illusions because

they aren't really there and you see them only because

your brain-box processes the refraction of light

off of raindrops in a certain way so there appears

to be a beautiful curve of colors off in the distant sky.

The secret my friends is that everything you see around you

all day long every day, are a series of illusions.

Cars and trucks appear to you to be what they are only because

your brain-box perceives them

to have a certain function and do certain things.

Houses appear to be what they are only because we all have

a certain perception that those rectangular enclosures

exist to shelter us and we all agree upon the illusion

that we owe the bank a great deal of money that we must pay

in order to use the house where we live and we each participate

in the further of illusion of pretending the house is ours.

Our physics teaches us that all matter and energy obey

a strange set of laws they call 'quantum mechanics'

and our perception of these quantum events

as well as the perceptions of our measuring instruments

depend on the interaction between the objects being observed

and the brain-boxes of the folks doing the observing.

So, the entirety of the world around us that we inadvertently

think of as 'real' depends on our perceptions in the same way

as the illusions of rainbows

and two beams shining when there is only one light.

Rainbows, lights shining outside your back door,

your car, the mortgage on your house, and everything else

that seems real to your brain-box

are all daydreams we each idly dream

deep within an great illusion,

floating gently in a grand enigma.

Dewey Dirks

Peace

Peace

Most of the people

I've met over the years

have been peace loving humans

who had no desire to kill anyone

but many of them were also children

of their society and the sad truth

of it is that America is a country

that has been militarized

for over seventy years now.

We've long been immersed

in a cultural fog of fear, and wars

small and big, overt or undeclared.

You gotta know countries around the world

can't bomb themselves into peace

and the citizens of many countries

find themselves in the impossible

position of being for wars

and for peace at the same time.

Wake up! Wake up people!

Peace doesn't mean you're going to be

peaceful only until the next time

the talking heads on the wide screen TV

tell you it's time to go exploit, bomb and shoot

the next bunch of people into the ground.

You know exactly what peace means.

Peace is just that; The absence of war.

The distance between

where we are right now

and a peaceful Earth

is not as far as you might think.

Peace, my friends, lays

in the laps of two groups of people.

It resides with a few hundred leaders

around the world who steer the decisions

of the big corporations and countries.

Some leader some time is going to

have to stand up an say that the slaughter

stops with them and extend the hand of peace

to one and all around the world

because war only leads to more war

history has shown us all that.

It also resides with the world public

who refuse to show up

when they open the next war

for the business of killing.

Dewey Dirks

Pictures

My mother passed away in 2010. Her birthday is this month. Two of her favorite things in life were playing music on her electric organ and photography. She loved to take pictures of flowers and landscapes and she was very good at it. It brought her much joy :) In her memory, today I'm going to post two photos she took. 

Singing Silence

Singing Silence

All the world and its thousands

upon thousands of parts

is interconnected far beyond

the human capacity

to perceive or understand it.

I drive to coffee everyday looking

around me in utter amazement

and then I sit quietly drinking my cups

of coffee struck speechless as I marvel

at how finely and beautifully the fabric is woven.

The richly patterned cloth extending

through you, all around you

and as far into the distance

as your minds eye can see, hums softly

a beautiful and gentle song; A singing silence

that you can hear when you still the train

of ideas and thoughts streaming through your head.

Dewey Dirks

Publishing Announcement

Hi folks :) I have some big news to tell you. After careful consideration, I've decided not to bring “Fifteen Sides” into publication as my next novel. Instead, I'm going to first publish a pair of poetry books, “Lullabies and Legends,” and “Journey.” I'll be crowd-funding both of them over the next few months. Stay tuned for more information....

Here are the current candidates for the covers of both books--- 

The Returning

The Returning

There is a place deep inside of you

that is as vast as all world outside.

A place where knowledge

becomes no-knowledge,

where opinion, knowing and wisdom

become not-knowing.

A place where stillness permeates movement

and movement permeates stillness.

A place where time goes

now a little faster, now a little slower,

and has little meaning.

A place where everything that before

seemed dead and devoid of feeling

becomes alive and infused

with emotion, compassion and empathy.

It is from there you began,

and to there you must travel.

To there you must return

again and again .

There you meet yourself,

and become once more,

the child you have always been.

Dewey Dirks

Ideas

Ideas

Ideas come and ideas go.

They're memes cooking with fire.

Ideas appear out of nowhere

too roll all around inside our heads.

They paint the world we see

from white noise nothingness into

the elegant colors of the morning dawn,

into dark storm clouds, or clear blue sky,

into forest covered green hills

and brilliant shining sun,

into busy big city streets,

or rainy summer afternoon rainbows.

Ideas come and ideas go.

They're memes cooking with fire.

Born of the dance between

the blue electric light of our spirits

and the flowing world outside,

they allow us to engage the world

and play out our parts

on the wide stages of life.

It's true that depending

on the ideas you happen to use

life can be a living hell

or an adventure through paradise.

Ideas come and ideas go.

They're memes cooking with fire.

Our favorite ideas

feel like old, well worn tools

for us to pick up and put down.

We use them daily

to adapt to changes as time flows by

or to preserve as best we can

the imaginary equilibrium

of the status quo.

Other ideas are rough and craggy chunks

of unworked stone for us to struggle with

or sculpt into a finer form, and thereby learn.

Ideas come and ideas go.

They're memes cooking with fire.

Our toolboxes are as deep as creativity

and as varied and vividly colored

as imagination.

Some ideas are memories.

Some ideas are art.

Some ideas are for getting things done,

some ideas are for throwing away.

Some are for laughing,

some are for flying,

some are for fun,

and some are for improving upon

the beauty of the world.

Some ideas are very special

and blossom and unfold like eternal flowers

as they return home to the mists of our spirits

and become part of our living souls

Dewey Dirks

Beauty Everywhere

Beauty Everywhere

There is so much

beauty in the world

it's far beyond

the conveyance

of mere words.

I have no idea

how I came

to be able to see it,

but now, wherever

I happen to look

and have the presence

of mind to notice,

beauty is there.

Yes, it's true

there is pain

in the world

and sadness too,

but like a vast star field

hidden behind the blue

wash of daylight,

or life giving sunlight

hidden behind

passing storm clouds

beauty is there too.

Dewey Dirks

Peace Among Mankind

Today President Obama made a speech before the UN in which he said that no God would condone the actions of the group ISIL and he made the case for nations around the globe to come together to co-operate in the fight against ISIL, the ebola outbreak, and combating climate change. He also said that nations should all strive together for greater global health security. While the Presidents aspirations for greater co-operation among the nations of Earth is very commendable, I have to tell you, Mr. President and other leaders around the world, you can't exploit, bomb, and kill your way to global peace and co-operation. Just as no God would be pleased with the behavior of ISIL, I'm sure no God would be happy with the long history of exploitation and killing of people around the globe by rich nations such the U.S. and those in the European Union. Mr. President and other world leaders, if you really desire to improve the behavior between nations and people around the globe, I suggest you all put your money where your mouths are and come together to spend five or ten trillion dollars on weaning our civilization from its self-destructive addiction to petroleum. Such an effort would also go a considerable distance in the global effort to lesson climate change, and it would improve enormously the health of people around the planet, so you'd all get three chickens in the pot for the price of one. 'Can't argue with that.

Standing Up For The Environment

Hi folks. I know the mainstream media hasn't reported on it much (of course) but over 310,000 people showed up for yesterdays march in New York City to protest against climate change policy. It's good to hear that more and more people are taking an interest in protecting our environment and coming out against our cultures insane dependance on petroleum. I hear today that they've gathered at Wall Street to protest the contribution of corporations to greenhouse gasses. Once again, it's good that people are standing up to corporate and governmental idiocy. It really is up to us to straighten out the behavior of our civilization before it runs itself into the ground. It just goes to show that the general population has a better conception of how our culture should behave than the ruling classes do...Keep it up people! Remember folks, it's not about one country verses another, democrat verses republican, or one religion verses another. It's all about humanity verses corporate shortsightedness and greed.

Dancing The Abyss

Dancing the Abyss

Rich, poor, no matter.

Creeds, convictions, colors,

compassions, no matter.

Every path through life,

and everyone, everywhere

dances a few times along the abyss

and passes through

terrible typhoons and tornadoes.

If it's not of one sort, it's another.

Everyone breaks in a place or two

and wear a few deep scars for it.

We all find out sooner or later

what this old world can do.

Some fall and don't get up.

These have to wait for another lifetime

to move through the pain.

Others regrow, patch and repair.

To some they appear haggard,

torn and tattered, but where their scars are,

a light now shines and they are stronger.

Dewey Dirks

Roads Inward

Roads Inward

There are many ways to start your journey inward.

Truth be known, I think that sooner or later

pretty much every road leads inward

at some point along the line.

Some open the doors inward through

spirituality, mysticism, or philosophy

and a soul searching longing

to know how life is put together.

Some people begin out of necessity

when they suffer from life changing

events that give them shell shock

and they find the only way to see it through

is to travel the roads deep, deep inside.

Others begin after a very close brush with death

that opens their mind and spreads bare their soul.

Some begin their journey inward through science

when they become interested in anthropology,

sociology, psychology, biology, or even physics.

Most every path in science leads to introspection

if you are honest enough in your objectivity

and you travel far enough down the line.

My journeys begin as a teenager

when a couple of very gifted teachers

introduced me to the world of philosophy,

and to the notion that the knowledge and wisdom

of Man is not confined to one single worldview,

but the roads of truth are broad and many.

Not long after, when I was nineteen

I decided two very important things---

First, I decided that what I most wanted to do in life

was learn as many things as I could no matter where

it might lead me and so I let my natural curiosity

begin to point the way in my life.

Second, I began to call into question

virtually everything I had ever been taught.

As time passed, I realized I'd become a collector

of ideas and differing points of view.

As the years quickly rolled on,

although I didn't realize it at the time,

through happenstance and circumstance,

life was very kind to offer up

just the sort to lessons I needed to learn.
Soon, I discovered that the farther

out into the world that you explore,

the more deeply you also look within

because all human perceptions about

the world around us are viewed through the filters

of the ideas floating around in our heads.

Along the way, after I had a couple very close

brushes with death by wrecking on motorcycles,

my eyes were opened to the notion

that every day is to be cherished, because no one knows

how long they've got on this Earth,

and I learned that it wasn't enough

to merely know lots of things, that knowledge

is never complete until it's been shared with others,

so, I began to write about some of the things I'd learned.

Many years have now gone by and much water

has passed beneath all the bridges I've crossed.

Each day, I still learn a new thing or two,

and I spend much of my time writing about

what I've learned over the long years behind.

I think perhaps among the most important things

I've learned is that you gotta believe in love

before you can believe in most anything else at all.

Dewey Dirks

Patrick Tomby

Patrick Tomby

I was twenty-four when I met him

I was full of spit and vinegar

Had lots of false bravado

Secretly, I was oh so confused

Didn't know left from right

Couldn't tell which way was up

And which way was down

Patrick Tomby was old and gray, north of seventy

Wore a blue baseball cap, carried a cane

He had a limp, drank gallons of black coffee

Ate peanuts by the pound

We sat around down at Sambo's

Every Saturday night

During the summer of nineteen seventy-nine

He told me tales of climbing mountains and crossing deserts

Did a stint as a merchant seaman

Was traveling trader a time or two

Served in an army, raced cars for a little while

Talked to Buddhist monks in Tibet

Saw the red square and Tiananmen

Said he was always looking

For what he did not know

Along towards the the end of July, I confessed to him

'Said, “Patrick, I'm lost and I wander

I always have a longing

A hollow and empty ache inside

I don't know what to do or where to go”

He said, “Well, I know that son.

So I'll tell you that one day I was walking

South of a little village in Uzbekistan

The grass swayed gently by the roadside

A sparrow sang from a bush nearby

And I realized that whatever it was

I'd been seeking all my life

Was already in my heart and mind, with me all the while

And the only reason I didn't understand

Was because I'd never bothered to look at myself

And take an adventure deep inside”

If you don't know what life is all about

If you are a seeker, always longing to know

Then look far within yourself

Find the paths to the bright center inside

You might be surprised at what you see

When you come out on the other side

Dewey Dirks

From “The Questioning Way”

Three Faces

Three Faces

We each are of three minds.

Each person, a tree with three faces.

The first mind is propelled by fear

and feeds on anger and ignorance.

It seeks to control everything

and tries always to avoid change.

You should listen to this mind

only one time in every twenty.

The second mind is propelled by glowing passion.

It thrives on high hopes and sky reaching dreams.

It gives us each the will,

intelligence and energy to strive in life.

You should listen to this mind

nineteen times in every twenty.

The third mind is your soul and is propelled by love.

It's the part of us that is closest to the Universe

and precedes all that you have ever been or will ever be.

It gives us each the ability to see the grace

and the redemption hidden in everything.

It is very old and enormously wise

even in young children.

Through its eyes you can see and feel

the quiet melody that nudges and twirls us all.

Every day, bring yourself to sway to its music.

You should listen to this mind

every time you hear its lilting song.

It is often harder for a person

to become aware of the love in their soul

than it is for them to see

their shortcomings and their fears.

To open your eyes to the nature of the world,

to be a complete and whole person,

you must learn to live

embracing all three minds.

The first face gives you propriety, caution

and energy to grow your roots very deep.

The second face gives you purpose,

strength and fiber to grow your branches

broad and high reaching for the sky.

The third face gives you your life force.

It carries with it the power of miracles,

and can keep alive dying men.

It can turn mere truth into wisdom,

binds all three minds together as one,

and it has the strength to overcome

any obstacle you might ever happen across.

Dewey Dirks

The Longest Journey

The Longest Journey

They say the longest journey

is the one you take into yourself.

I promised myself at nineteen

that I would take

the long way home

not knowing at the time

exactly what that might mean.

So, I've traveled

over the last fifty years.

the winding roads inward

many times over

and I've discovered

new things to know

every single time.

One of the things I've learned

is 'as without, so within,

likewise, as within so without.'

and I've learned that living

can be divided into two parts---

Times to pick up

what you believe, and act

and times to put down

what you believe and learn.

Whenever I hear someone say,

“I know myself pretty well,”

I can kinda figure

what they really mean to say is,

“I know just enough about myself,

to feel comfortable with how I imagine

myself to be.”

...and I can tell there are probably

quite a few forests

they have not yet wandered wondering,

and quite a few mountains high

they have yet to cross over.

Good to know, inside we each

are as simple as a single

second of silence

yet at the same time

as vast as all the sea of stars at night

and just as full of mystery.

If you don't spend

a fair amount of time,

in a state of wonder,

like a young child

you've likely got a ways

yet to wander.

Put down your preconceptions

and set your sails as high as you can.

Grand and uncharted

the sea awaits you, my friend.

Dewey Dirks