“Hoping is the great curse”  Beethoven, from 33 Variations

Keeping dreams alive that can never be is a form of insanity.  This flies in the face of those who have bought into The American Dream and other delusions fed to us by those who desire to control us.

Better to accept what is and take whatever steps are possible to make it better.  Yes, keep your vision of the bright future you would like.  Make goals, plans.  Build.  But then, let go and let God.  The future is out of our hands.   Put out your best effort and be satisfied that you have poured your heart into your work.

My goal is to live as a dog lives.  The future has far more potential to be what I want if I let go of it.  The detachment from hope, also means a detachment from despair.  It allows me to re-frame my idea of reality to the way my dog experiences it: my entire focus is on what is happening in this moment, not what I may hope or wished it might be.  The great news is that I am never disappointed.

Hope and longing takes many forms.  Our egos place things we hope for always out of reach.  People are eager to trigger our longings and hopes.  My favorite: “You are so talented.  You should go to LA and be in the movies.”   I received a very insightful comment on a recent post that demonstrates how we might re-frame our “reality” and keep ourselves in the present.   We can re-frame our reality as positive or negative.  Here it is, along with my response:

 I LOVE reading your comments, which stimulate my thought processes of how to become an artist. The word “artist” is a big word to fill! Even though a person may attain a BA degree, that degree does not make that person an artist. After reading The Art Spirit by Rober Henri , I realized that most college art instructors do not teach the qualities of being an artist. Moreover, most instructors do not want a student to become better than they are because of jealousy. Therefore, the only way to really truly learn how to be an artist is to study the Masters!

My reply: