It is all about the friction.

This week Life has been rubbing me the wrong way; its rhythms and harmonies are distant and discordant. That is my perspective. Others might say I have two left feet and my hearing is bad. This week I am battling.

Some weeks Life seems to flow; we are in step and in tune. There is still friction that ranges from soothing (like a massage) to tolerable and productive (like a visit to the chiropractor), but we are moving together.

Other weeks I allow Life to carry me. I don't fight, I go along. These weeks the friction is internal. Life becomes Pop music and I dance with myself. If this dance goes on too long, the music becomes invisible and the rhythm becomes rote.

There will always be friction.

The ultimate question is, "When the friction becomes abrasive, do we give in and go with it to reduce chafing, or do we struggle and persevere despite the discomfort?"

It is all about the friction; and how much I can stand.

These thoughts bring me to ask, "When friction presents, can we soften the irritation and still maintain its potential?" If there is no friction, there is no learning and growth, yet its potency is held in check by its tenderness.

It seems to be a question of callousness vs. sensitivity.

Is this then a question of truthfulness vs. civility?

Perhaps it is - especially within an individual.

I should be less civil and more truthful to myself than to others.

To be civil, I need permission from others to be truthful; and I need to give permission to others if I want truthfulness.

You have my permission.

I think we are back to "How much can I stand?"

No energy is destroyed due to friction.

Friction transforms energy.

Friction can do negative work, positive work, or no work.

There are many weeks when it feels that politics and its resulting bureaucracies are my greatest irritant. If we define politics as 'the volitional desire for power and control' one can see how this struggle can create unconscionable, caustic friction.

When one has power, or seeks power, or wants to control the power of others, or is involuntarily impacted by power, there is friction.

Regardless of whether power comes from conquest or persuasion, it is still power; which ultimately leads to and/or is derived from politics.

Unchecked power is a stifling, destructive friction.

Because there is no tenderness in politics, it is a force that can overwhelm; however when politics meets with opposition in the form of thoughtful / skeptical questioning, the frictional result can be inspiring.

Today it feels that we are most creative and in the flow as consumers because that is what politics requires, and we are most conventional and contained as thinkers because that is what politics desires.

If we can change direction, diverting energy from consumerism to independent thinking/learning, perhaps we can reduce chafing thereby increasing the productive potency of friction.

I am not expecting an immediate change of course, I am merely asking if we can thoughtfully create additional tributaries from which to choose; tributaries that actually flow, (beyond a trickle), with compassion, communal responsibility, inner peace, exoteric goodness, and hard work.

It is all about the friction.