…the house I live in…

A journal of life pursued

The well gone dry!

Since “retiring” my little blog-workshop two months ago, it appears that my creative life has gone down the drink, has indeed retired too. I’m not sure what is going on, but in an effort to focus my energies–stopping the blog, stopping the essays, curtailing the reviews, concentrating on my “book project”–I’ve lost them–my energies–altogether. To quote William James:

Sow an action and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.

I can’t speak to destiny, but by uprooting my habit(s) I’ve killed off what precious little fruit they bore. I have sown nothing. Garnered nothing in return.

I believe that the pattern of our life, the very structure of day to day living, affords us a(nother) way of infusing existence with meaning and purpose. Meaning is that which works, said the pragmatists.*  I disrupted the pattern, killed off the habit. Nothing working–meaning, kaput. I upset the applecart and am hereby announcing my effort to right it. “God keep me from ever completing anything,” wrote Melville in Moby Dick. Goodness, but I know how he feels.

_________

* Was Sisyphus happy, Camus wondered, because he knew the secret to happiness to be meaningful work?

, , ,
, , , , ,

Posted by:

Doug Bruns

With an undergraduate degree in Religion and Philosophy, complimented with graduate work in the History of Ideas, Doug has spent his life chasing some of life’s big questions. As a result he has delved deeply into wisdom traditions both ancient and modern, including the philosophical schools of Existentialism, Pragmatism, and Stoicism; he has also explored several of the Eastern traditions, principally Zen Buddhism and Taoism. Admittedly, he is no expert on anything, being a simple pilgrim.

3 responses to “The well gone dry!”

  1. Susan of CW Avatar
    Susan of CW

    Sometimes doing nothing can be just the right trigger to new energy. However, your blog has been the source of inspiration to some others of us, so perhaps you consider firing it up again. “Precious little fruit” is a subjective quantification. Too bad you feel you have not garnered, because you certainly have sown.

    Reply
    1. Doug Bruns Avatar
      Doug Bruns

      Susan ~ As always, you’re very kind. No, I have garnered; but not recently, not since “doing nothing.” And it is extremely comforting–and encouraging–to connect with my little cache of readers. Thanks.

      Reply
  2. Susan of CW Avatar
    Susan of CW

    Always good to garner as recently as possible…and to the greatest extent possible. Thanks for the recent view from the window. Will contemplate.

    Reply

I welcome your comments. Thanks for reading.

Join 302 other subscribers

Recent Posts