The Troubling Tao

There are many statements in the Tao that are sometimes ironically hard to live up to.

"Do your work and then step back.  That is the way of the Tao."

The philosophy here is straightforward.  First, know your work.  Know what it is you are here to do and do it.  Then know what isn't your work and avoid working too hard, for if it is YOUR work, it will exhaust you perfectly.  In the mornings, walk forward towards your work, start when you get there, work because you love what you give to the world.  Know what your work is and the pace will set itself.  A comic book artist knows they will need 10 years to create their masterpiece doing a full page every day, yet they do it because the joy of the art would leave if they did more.  At the end of the day, be like the comic artist and leave the story on your desk.  Come back tomorrow and tomorrow until it is done.  When it is done, don't hang around and stagnate over it.  It is done and you will find more work.  Step back.

But this can be very hard.  My problem is knowing where my work ends.  I know what my work is and I love it.  Yet I don't see any boundaries to it.  I don't see the boundaries of what I can and what I cannot do.  No.  I think I can see that much, but I don't see where I should stop.

I do my work... and then I go and do more work.  Sure, I never stagnate or dwell on my past work, that is good.  But it's still bad.  What I need to do is know where my work ends.

Go to work, let my work with people lead me simply to do and step back.  Go home, let my heart lead me.  Some days art, some days games, some days stories, some days more helping people.  Yet all with the caveat of knowing that my work will end today and begin tomorrow after rest.  True rest.  Restful in body AND in mind.  I must leave the work on the desk.

*breathes in*
*breathes out*

Let's try it today.