Recently I tried organizing the desk in my home office to make it a bit more motivational by removing all file folders and stacks of papers and other serious stuff to the shelves below eye level. Out of sight, out of mind. I even went so far as to create a knick-knack shelf with things that make me kind of happy. I have my statue of Jesus, a Guan Yin statue (they make quite the couple), a flower-covered rock with the word SPIRIT etched into it, and my dragon waterpipe (that I named Pearl). I even have this Uncle Sam/Devil thing on a skateboard. A picture of this menagerie would be cool, but I’m just too exhausted to snap one and post it.
Long before this re-organization, I taped two slips of paper from Chinese fortune cookies to the top of my desk. Now that the clutter’s been reduced, I have a much clearer view of them. They are:
Why not go out on a limb? Isn’t that where the fruit is?
and
Many a false step is made by standing still.
I think there might be a pattern there. Okay, I’m saying, “Go for it, dude!”
I used to have the following quote from the Hypostasis of the Archons taped to my desk:
Moreover, they threw mankind into great distraction and into a life of toil, so that their mankind might be occupied by worldly affairs, and might not have the opportunity of being devoted to the holy spirit.
Definitely one of my favorite scriptures. Literally, Hypostasis of the Archons means the Reality of the Rulers. Well worth the read if you want to get an entirely different perspective on the book of Genesis.
I no longer have it on my desk, as I taped it to the bathroom door one day so that anyone taking the load off on the throne would have the opportunity to get some old time Gnostic religion. It was also a subtle message to not be in the can all day.
Anyway, lots of motivation and encouragement to be free from distraction. This brings to mind what one of my old religion professors once said when reflecting upon his agitation during finals week, “I teach Buddhism. I don’t practice it.” Let’s hope that one day soon I start practicing what I’m teaching.
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