Le Guin Daodejing: Chapter 7
[Author’s Note: A kind reminder that all the Gratitude articles based on Ursula Le Guin’s Daodejing appear on Medium first, one verse per week. Find on Medium or look to the links on Substack Notes. All of these articles on Medium have “friend links” that bypass the paywall. As chapters are completed, a compilation by chapter is released here. Your support and any feedback is welcome.]
DIM BRIGHTNESS
Heaven will last, earth will endure. How can they last so long? They don’t exist for themselves and so can go on and on.
So wise souls leaving self behind move forward, and setting self aside stay centered. Why let the self go? To keep what the soul needs.
(Published on Medium July 2, 2026.)
Selfless Persistence
The obsession that American (and others) culture has with the massive strike, the winning lottery ticket, has always sat uncomfortably with me. Our media culture loves to talk about the best of the best, usually translated as the richest. Those individuals own the stage, given endless time to expound on their genius decisions at key moments. I’ll grant them persistence, hard work, and personalities suited to their field. But persistence and hard work are requisite for survival across society, and only a very few reach “the top”. The niggle is the ingredient always left out. Because this factor is boring, impossible to predict, pinpoint, or train for, I suppose we all feel happier looking the other way: Luck.
DIM BRIGHTNESS
Heaven will last, earth will endure. How can they last so long? They don’t exist for themselves and so can go on and on.
So wise souls leaving self behind move forward, and setting self aside stay centered. Why let the self go? To keep what the soul needs.
We give undeserved weighting to the small elements of success just because they are under our nominal control, and throw out the one factor that matters just because luck has never and will never be beholden to us. The result is not semantics. We are led to valuing the wrong things.
The sun may dominate the sky but the DIM BRIGHTNESS of the myriad stars are always there, still shining. Their light reaches all of us.
We have two boys who are just starting to realize their place in the world. I want them to know their hard work and persistence, combined with patience, will lead to great things. Maybe money, maybe fame, but this is like saying gold coins in a vault are somehow worth more than gold in the ground. Nature, Heaven and Earth, the Dao, whatever, can not care yet collectively judges us regardless. When we talk value in this way, we talk nonsense. So what does matter?
We need to ask ourselves, are we justifying this branch of existence, this expression of Nature? Or are we no better than cows in the fields, the eagles flying far away, or the worms under the grass? We need to expect and demand better from ourselves and each other. We in fact need not exist only for ourselves. By putting others forward, we all move forward.
I’m grateful for our boys, their potential keeps us moving forward.
😄 They will think their Dad is a bit crazy. He takes things way too seriously.
(Published on Medium July 2, 2026.)
Hold On By Letting Go
At time of writing, a momentous event is fast approaching our family. One of us is 17 and in another brief year will be leaving us for university and to launch himself on the next stage of his adventures. Adventures without us. All too soon. This 6’ 3” giant was the tiny baby I watched being born, the one I have recounted carrying out of the Adventist Hospital (shoutout to Adventist and the famous Doctor Li) and feeling the full weight of true responsibility for the first time.
He and I had a father/son breakfast this morning. At McDonalds of course, more for me than for him, to talk about what he needs to do, and also what I have to do.
DIM BRIGHTNESS
Heaven will last, earth will endure. How can they last so long? They don’t exist for themselves and so can go on and on.
So wise souls leaving self behind move forward, and setting self aside stay centered. Why let the self go? To keep what the soul needs.
Seventeen is an interesting age. He wants to be treated like an adult, but wants to act like a kid sometimes. Adulting looks so free and fun from a distance, but close up we discover how much work is extracted to stay on that forward path, much less keep our momentum.
He’s still a little boy to me. Not being too hard on myself; I’ve had 17 years of practice to get comfortable. Change comes despite our wishes, what we think we want. Holding on is the surest way to lose contact, I know this from practice. I’m really of two minds, two emotional states. The stronger of the two is a real and true excitement, an immense curiosity, wondering what he will get up to out in the world. What feats he will accomplish, who he will get close to, living an exciting life. I’ll be as proud of him then as I am now.
A wise thing to do, letting go. By helping them grow into the adults they need to become, we let ourselves grow too.
I’m grateful for our nature-given drive to be curious and excited about the future.
[Author’s Note: This book can be enjoyed by and benefit everyone. Find it on Amazon here.]
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My wife and I occasionally purchased a lottery ticket and a couple of scratch-offs. Once, our lottery ticket had 5 of 6 for the $14 million. That was over 25 years ago. We never gamble, and after that, we eventually stopped buying lottery tickets. With age, I considered what would happen today if I won $300 million. Half and half again for taxes would net me $75 million. That windfall might destroy me. That's okay. But my daughter and two grandchildren are more important to me than my own life. Sudden wealth, or even those who have earned millions, have a responsibility to manage great wealth. In my opinion, wealth destroys more than it enriches families. Today, I focus on my life, learning about Christianity, Judaism, Mental Health, Tao, Confucius, and Buddha. I pray and wish for my family to make decisions that will keep them safe, happy, healthy, at ease, and at peace. None of that takes great wealth. Money is important, but people are more important. My daughter is 51, my grandson is 21, my granddaughter is 17, and all three are wiser than I am at any stage of my life. You love your family as I love mine. For this, we are both truly grateful.
My daughter just became a teenager, and I worry about what being that age means, compared to when I fought those battles. Would I have been prepared for how things are now? I can judge today from my memory of yesterday, which my child cannot do. And I wonder if my parents went through the same trepidation over me.