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Neil Barker's avatar

Well-said Duane. I like to think the routines and rote memory actions I've created over the decades keep part of the ego monkey mind occupied so the more creative mind can create. From the outside, the routines appear to make life boring, but for me, that is by design.

The commute, the cubicle farm, eat and sleep schedule keeps that ego mind occupied most of the time. The creative mind then has space to explore and think. Thanks for sharing.

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Ann Collins's avatar

"In the obstinate perpetualness of muscle memory, in the commitment to monotony, in the elegant choreography of repetition, you find grace. You find strength. You find the highest kind of belief."

Duane, this is spot-on. In the monastic world it is a Rule of Life--a simple, powerful way of navigating every day. I find it true not only for spiritual or creative practice, but in my professional life. Every day, patients bring their own unique complexities that must be met with utter simplicity in order to take the *best care* of them. This is so clear to me, and I feel like the lone voice crying in the wilderness sometimes. It's the lesson we are doomed to repeat until we get it right.

Whenever something can be improved, it's usually a matter of allowing space for complexity to arrive unbidden. Because it always will. Such is Life.

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