One of the most profound pieces of philosophy ever produced is Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, loosely translated as “The Book of The Way.” Written centuries ago, it is still the most widely translated work in world literature after the Bible (7), thus its eight one pages must hold some philosophic gems. That it does. I want to explore one passage in particular quoted below:

Success is as dangerous as failure. Hope is as hollow as fear. What does it mean that success is as dangerous as failure? Whether you go up the ladder or down it, your position is shaky. When you stand with your two feet on the ground, you will always keep your balance. What does it mean that hope is as hollow as fear? Hope and fear are both phantoms that arise from thinking of the self. When we don’t see the self as self, what do we have to fear? - Lao Tzu

It’s remarkable how a passage written so long ago can be related to the lives of those living hundreds of years after it was written. What we must be aware of is that there are risks everywhere in our lives. When we quit a well-payed job to pursue some creative endeavour or to start our own business, we are risking failure for the pursuit of success. On the flip side of this, when we remain in a well-payed job we feel no passion for, we risk succeeding for fear of failure. We risk depriving the world of creativity. Creativity, by its very nature, is dark. We do not have a formula for creativity, it springs from the darkness. If we knew exactly how creativity was formulated, we wouldn’t be interested in it. Therefore, when we pursue creativity, we are embracing theunknown, the darkness, in pursuit of the brightest of lights. However, when we fail to pursue what we are capable of, we live eternally in the grey. Just as when we stand with our two feet on the ground, we keep our balance, so too when we fail to take risks, we remain stable but bored. When we order our lives to this extent, we become complacent. Thus we must climb theladder of chaos whilst also making our best efforts to stay balanced. Further, we should acknowledge that fear is an illusion we manifest in our minds.

I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened - Mark Twain

There is no such thing as fear. Once we come to this realisation, the illusion of fear dissipates with awareness. Furthermore, we must do the same with hope. When we hope for the future, we create scenarios in our minds, most of which never come to fruition. Therefore, we must do our best to remain present and work now to create the future. Hope is an illusion we create in our minds. It does us no good to imagine our idealised futures and “hope for the best.” The future is created right now by you, so don’t fear the future or hope for it. Create it.

Keep On Struggling

Gregor

Podcast Episodes I Enjoyed - Both Episodes of Steven Pressfield on The Tim Ferriss Show

Steven Pressfield (pictured with Oprah Winfrey) is a former Marine and graduate of Duke University who became an overnight success as a writer after 30 years of abject failure. “Identifying the omnipresence of “Resistance,” the interior force of self-sabotage he described in The War of Art, has saved his own artistic life and has helped many others struggling to find their creative calling” (1). The Tim Ferriss Show deconstructs “world-class performers from eclectic areas (investing, sports, business, art, etc.) to extract the tactics, tools, and routines you can use” (2).
I very much enjoyed both conversations that Tim Ferriss has had with Pressfield as I related to many of the themes they touched on regarding thestruggle of creativity and imposter syndrome.

Watch the latest episode below.

WATCH HERE

Band I’m Re-Listening to - White Lies

I first became aware of White Lies when they supported Kings of Leon at Murrayfield Stadium over a decade ago and I’ve just started listening to them again…loudly. Favourites of mine include “The Power & The Glory,” “Bigger Than Us” and “Farewell To The Fairground.” They are described as “a dark-edged British trio” that take “sonic cues of Joy Division…” (3).

Listen to Farewell To The Fairground below.

WATCH HERE

Video I Found Oddly Hilarious

Sometimes all you need is some bizarre comedy. I’m not sure who created this, however the below link leads to the video.

WATCH HERE

Quote to Ponder

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are - Theodore Roosevelt

References

1) The Tim Ferriss Show

2) Tim.blog

3) Steven Pressfield Image - Stevenpressfield.com

4) Apple Music

5) White Lies Image - Spotify

6) Golf Video Image - AussieGolfer.com

7) Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu Translated by Stephen Mitchell

8) Image Credit - Rawpixel