[MD] Overcoming the System

[John Carl]

Matt,
Thanks for the following.  Its been riffling through my brain on a windy
day...

wind makes me nervous in fire season... I'm glad to have something better to
blow my mind

It's difficult to imagine how doing philosophy qua philosophy
> will help you do the dishes qua dishes.


My first and only philosophy teacher, George Sessions, talked about the
trouble he had with doing the dishes in that zen way of just doing them and
not trying to get through doing them.  I can see the difficulty, but at the
same time, with enough interesting stuff going on in your head...



>
> people find the strangest wisdom from the strangest places.



exactly!


> _But_, and here's my concern, the way philosophy is
> traditionally done is through writing, usually precipitated by
> pondering.  One might reasonably ponder while doing the
> dishes, but it's hard to imagine writing while doing the
> dishes--it just seems physically impossible.



Of course!  That's why you do the pondering while doing the dishes and the
writing soon after so you don't forget what you pondered.
I like to do my pondering while digging ditches.  It's more aerobic and
honestly,  I have three teenagers on rotation and I never have to do dishes.
 I feel sorta guilty, but I'm hoping to keep getting away with it for a
while longer.


The thing about the MoQ is that to me there is a lot to be pondered in doing
the dishes good.  When I'm doing good, I'm not just accomplishing a task,
I'm brushing up against the metaphysical basis of existence.  A two-fer!  A
big one!  Doing good, even in something seemingly small has a way of
spreading and increasing in your life.  Doing good carries its own reward.

Them's my guns and I'm stickin' too 'em.