the golden mean
02/03/2005 04:49 p.m.
I wish I could find a poem inside. I have been pretty dry lately. But I have not been journaling too much either. This is what I journaling about this morning:
I have been listening to a CD series on Aristotle's Ethics. One of his big ethical concepts is "the golden mean." I think that term even came from him. It has to do with choosing the middle. The Way is always through the middle. That can be interpreted in at least a couple of ways.. THROUGH the pain and muck (not trying to tiptoe around it) and through the middle of two competing values, such as "pleasure" on the one hand and "health, love, and commitment" on the other. Aristotle seems to be saying that we need to be AWARE or CONSCIOUS of the choice. So when I want to order those french fries, I need to be conscious of the choice between short term pleasure and the long term gain of good health, living longer so I can love and be loved longer. It's like the Tao teaches, we live in both the darkness and the light. Too much of either is not the Way. Oh well, there ought to be a poem in there somewhere.
I am currently Bemused
I am listening to the central heat and the guys digging a hole in my yard ouside