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Tide of the Tao

Tide of emotions
Joy to sadness to Joy
These tides sweep
body mind spirit
Where thoughts ache and relax
to pinpricks of pure joy
wrapping caresses of absolute sadness

Being Alive ejaculates in being awashed
It's unpredictable tumbling
of ever receding waves
Feelings mixed to chaotic elements of
sand, air, water, fire of life, tumult? and ... strangely calmness

A moment between the tides
Finding peace not within the calm
rather within the tumult to come

To be awashed in joy
is so simple
the answer being...

Have to go now
not to embrace
rather to go ...
dancing sleepingly
dancing in thoughts
Chasing waves not to catch
in fingers to only feel passing moments
Chasing in tumbling
swirling and moving in time

To feel the tumult
To be the tide

Casey Kochmer 2002

What is the tide? It isn't an object in itself. Give it a name: Tide, and thusly it seems to be distinct due to the name. The tide is not a thing, the effects are felt but when grasped it's the water that touches us back. The true nature of a tide isn't the water, it's a mixture of processes related within a dance. It's the moon and earth swinging. It's the sun adding its tempo with storms and wind. It is water being pull and pushed from gravities interactions adding up to the beating of what we call the "Tide". The Tao, is a tide of tides. To be in harmony with the Tao, means flowing with all the various forces that connect everything seemingly invisible, like gravity, yet still measurable in relative effects.

Whenever describing the Tao, I have discovered the need to use a different language / different terms for each person. Every one is a-washed in their own tumult, peace and mixture of events. Even for myself, I developed a personal language which helps me come to terms with my nature. I spent years creating journals, poetry and art, all to document my experiences. These journals were the key, allowing me to examine both the outside and the inside of my nature. It's hard to get a larger perspective within the crazy times of life. However, once capturing snapshots of living within my writing, it became possible to step out and recognize my own nature, to witness my own stumbling, swirling and tumbling about from event to event.

Having been a Taoist my entire life, it's a fact I accepted, but didn't understand. The truth was I couldn't understand the Tao, until coming full circle to accept myself first. Over time, I learned to flow with the ups and downs of life, to embrace both the sad and happy moments. This became a lesson: that living itself was a tide of emotions sweeping thru my own blood. Once accepting this ever shifting beat of my nature, it became possible to understand more than myself. The Tao which was always clear as a larger outside force now became accessible as a personal inner Tao as well.

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