I will draw from Miyamoto Musashi’s work for a bit here. The Book of Five Rings.

The Book of Five Rings is about swords and the use of the sword, and it is also about life and the use of the soul. Specifically, the use we call wonder. Wonder is the sword. It can take life or preserve life. Which it does is up to you, but there is a companion sword.

They don’t have to tell me my coffee is hot. It better be. But they will anyway, because it will prevent you from having fodder to sue them with. Again the tyranny of institutions. With the sword of wonder we can cut through the paper house, the world of paper work. But when we have rent the paper wall, we have to be prepared for the unknown. We cannot remain unprinted. Wonder is a slow process, heavy. It works only as fast as our experiences come to us, but there is something more immediate at hand available to us.

With the sword of wonder you can wonder in all directions, about anything, and your world can become very clear, but you need something else in order to move forward in your life. The companion sword is affinity. We know our affinity when we experience rapport with a situation. I can wonder about politics, but I have no rapport for civic issues or bureaucrats, so my path does not lay with politics. I can wonder about technology, but I have no affinity for industry nor rapport with agents of business, so my path doesn’t lay with technology.

A life lived actively includes wonder but has to have follow up, and wonder itself yields no insights. I have a gift for wonder myself. My sensory issues make everything overwhelming and cloud my ability to make long term guesses based on my experience, so I have to take everything as it comes. I live daily with wonder. The shock and awe of just being alive.

So I can wonder about ET and then go read a book about space? Yes, indeed you can. Maybe you should be a sci-fi writer?

You wonder about something and I catch it and have to go find out about it. You have an affinity for systems, and a rapport with people who think in systematic ways.

The wonder of being alive makes me feel like a kid learning to ride a two wheeled bike. I feel unstable. Indeed. Life has two wheels, and feels stable when you remember them both.

Other times, I feel like I’m a pro cyclist. It can be tiring to navigate the life bike, until you begin to get a feel for the terrain. Eventually, you don’t start ignoring some things as much as you see them coming and go around, but you won’t do that until you understand both wheels.

The two wheels are wonder and affinity? Otherwise you go no where? Exactly.

I used to put spokey dokes on my wheels. I miss those. Spokey dokes are an affinity, and you can decorate your life with whatever you want. Maybe you like mystical ideas. Well, that is a valid choice. Maybe you prefer the techno model and like everything to look like a circuit. That’s a legitimate choice also. As long as you realize what it is, a choice, and a choice to be made with self knowledge in hand. You can wonder about anything, but you will make progress only with some things.

I often wonder how a magic trick is done but I know asking will ruin the magic, so I just let myself make up the method. Yes. It’s best for some to just enjoy the magic trick. Enjoy the show, and let other people learn the illusions.

Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.

Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~