Square Pegs, Round Holes

I found, in deleting my old and very embarrassing blog, a little poem I wrote in high school:
 

You say I’m blind.  But am I?
The feelings might yet exist.
But in the face of such denial,
my hopes and dreams
don’t stand a chance.
With a heavy heart, I realize:
My strongest weapons
to fight away the dark despair
are insubstantial mists;
ghosts of a pleading soul.

I’ve read it a few times, and I’m not entirely sure what it means or why I wrote it.  It’s very poetic, though, isn’t it?  A lot of art is like that – even if you don’t know what’s going on, if it’s presented well you’ll enjoy it.

Or, even if you know exactly what’s going on, if it’s presented well you’ll still enjoy it.  That, I think, is the case with Avatar, the new movie by James Cameron.  I just have to say to all the people who have been panning the film as cliché, unoriginal, or derivative: duh.  I myself describe it as Fern Gully revisited.  But as with the Greeks and their theatre of yore, you don’t go to be surprised; you go to be entertained.  Certainly the 3D version was astoundingly rendered, and everyone I know enjoyed it thoroughly.  Take it on the merits of what it’s done for the film industry and the future of 3D technology, not for original art and independent thinking.

Which reminds me of one of my favorite quick-read books, The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff!  Don’t try to fit a square peg in a round hole, they say.  And so I agree.  The tenets of a Taoist way of life are applicable to anyone in any religion.  Enjoy this quick and simple explanation of an ancient philosophy that is just as relevant in today’s society as any other.  You don’t have to become Taoist; just think on the concepts, and see if your life can be a little less stressful and a little more effective.  I’d hand this book out to everyone I met if I could.