before i get it

in all of the learning and listening and considering of life and its many experiences, Greg has come across a couple of places in internet land that have given us another perspective to consider. http://www.staylds.com/ Greg has been on this site before and kept me from certain madness as I spend far too much energy trying to figure things out within our external social and religious environment. finally, i read a few things there for the first time. there are definitely some valid points to consider. Keeping life in balance helps. Even when there are no seemingly fair answers, seeking too hard multiplies the difficulty for me. One thing I agree with, at least I can see it applies in my situation, is the idea that while orthodoxy has helped me survive certain experiences, seeing it out of context is an impairment to my ability to thrive. I don't mean to throw the rules out the window. I mean to calmly understand why the rules are there in the first place. I am reminded of art classes where the teacher advised that we first learn the principles of art and the rules of discipline before we could fully appreciate and adequately direct our raw ability to create. And that some of the best creators of art knew how to effectively break those rules in astounding ways. Picasso was always a favorite example of theirs. Van Gogh was one of my personal favorites. I will probably always struggle with when to pull the rip cord to my creative abilities, but at least I am understanding better the relationship between the two. They are kind of necessary companions. I am getting to a point where I can accept that. Knowing me though, I will probably hit the ground several times before I really get it.