What is so often perceived, as appropriate investment in being content with the way things are, can so often be none other than superficial idleness; what is considered the valuing of old ways, none other than an unhealthy veneration of the past. From this we see that discretion must be exercised to know what is helpful for worthy development of wellbeing.

We should not spend too long nostalgically sitting on our laurels telling tales around the campfire with compatriots, if we are to optimize our special potential. Such gifts have to be repeatedly re-grasped, reenergised, and renewed in their application.

If the process of reminiscence is to have full and useful impact, then it must serve to help us appreciate each significant aspect and each phase of our vast range of life experience.

With such an attitude towards remembrance then, during points of crisis in life, it becomes useful because we can call upon our collected wisdom to sustain us and carry us through the challenge of the times.

Moreover, the multitude of connections and allegiances that have been nurtured, cultivated and preserved over the years will support us in our accomplishments.

Subjective passivity – doing nothing much except feeling and perceiving what is now present – can be of immense importance, yet surely only to the extent that it is gainfully employed to build inner strength.

For example, a periodic “return to centre” is of great value in rebalancing and reorienting. One can look for, and find, great relevance in all that has gone before, and all that is to come, by deepening one’s involvement in this present moment. This may well be enhanced by placing today’s events contextually within the backdrop of our fondest memories.

Life is abundant. With the correct attitude of expectation and focus, one can inevitably draw deeply upon the resources that are all around, and receive rich blessings.

To do so it may well require constant renewal of one’s relationship with others, a willingness of the individual to change or refine anything and everything in their nature and circumstances, as an exercise in self-quickening.

There is an incurably romantic aspect to humankind that is brought to life in relation to others, time after time, notwithstanding frequent and repeated disillusionment. This surely speaks to us of hope and optimism.

Seeking out an unattainable ideal and vision of self-fulfilment, one can go through unending social renewals, forming and then breaking the ties of association with fellows, ever moving on towards the allurement of a dream.

There is no limit to the horizon of one’s appetite for new experience. It is as fundamental a motivation as any other; it is creative, liberal and far-sighted.

Through this process, the integrity of one’s spiritual self is made known, since it is entirely necessary to become self-aware and sensitive to the needs and constraints of whatever and whoever we meet en route.

Unbridled desire, cupidity and self-exaltation are never far away, and can bubble up to take prominence at any time, yet – in all innocence – we seek only to consume and be consumed within the intimacies of involvement with whatever life offers us.

Persistent inner confusion is undeniable evidence of a basic misunderstanding about the nature of reality. Rocks seem lifeless and eternally enduring; yet this interpretation is insufficiently profound because they do support life, and eventually do change their form.

It’s the same with actual life situations, they may not seem even slightly pliable, yet when we look deeper we can find the potential for change that is locked within, and discover any number of hidden opportunities.

It is always possible to take control of your own experience of the aspects of life that are meaningful to you, since that which is forming is yet unformed, and will yield to passionate persuasion.

What is, is the foundation of what will be, just as solid rock gives rise to dynamic life forms. Though our present circumstances may be slow and seem fixed into patterns, nonetheless they hold the seeds of tomorrow’s uncreated potential.

So, by accepting our solid roots and learning to make the best of that which is now available, our dreams of a better future will grow out of the depth of the past.

The mystery revealed is that of composition. The refining of self is a constant rediscovery as the many components of reality are pulled into another and yet another shape and attitude, according to changing personal preferences and the creative genius of the composer.

In learning the hard lesson of how to find life within that which seems dead, what unfolds is an exceptional ability to mould and remould each of the many and various elements of life, such that the seemingly fixed course of events are shaped and made more pliable, so to fit the dictates of our needs and desires.

It is necessary to resist potential inner feelings of inferiority brought on when society disdains our work and worth – as can happen towards those in a Chinese laundry, whose service to the community is actually of real, if hidden importance.

The image hints obscurely at those whose path towards self-optimization requires them to follow a very specialized occupation that might deny them superficial communion with fellows, and even seclusion.

A great richness of life eventually comes through the pursuit of an objective for which the rewards are remote. A somewhat antisocial lifestyle, one that may not even win acceptance, and tremendous concentration is required to focus on goals – whose benefit to society will not be recognised immediately.

In order to sustain the enduring, unrewarded, and even disrespected labour, it takes unremitting dedication and profound faith in oneself, one’s work, and one’s clear imagination, that out of this work will come a better future for humanity.

Because of this, one has to develop exemplary poise. This begins as a necessary facility to maintain a sense of dignity, and yet develops into a masterly attribute – of being able to hold one’s own even in strange or irksome situations.

Seclusion at work – perhaps at first enforced by an unappreciative social environment – is now seen as a path towards, and expression of, an unusual depth of inner awareness and self-possession.

One learns to touch the state of soul consciousness and develop associations with spiritual or angelic forces, whose influence radiates forth. This promotes access to the highest reaches of one’s inspired creative being, which state is a requirement for the pursuit of the specialist occupation.

Old things, old ways and old ideas can be nothing more than outworn evidence of a total lack of initiative, or an inner lack of vitality or courage. Old isn’t necessarily good.

And yet, delightfully, old structures can also speak of the enduring stability of the world at large, hinting at an eternal sense of security and well-being that places us in the present moment, yet with firm and ancient worldly roots.

Humanity has built objects of stone and wood that last for generations and have seen the rise and fall of empires, fashions and waves of historical change. We come to depend more for our sense of rightness on what is built by masons than what is built by governments and culture.

Each person can attend to their own requirements by expressing their needs in form and function, and such objects that are thus made tend to last, and take on a special worth within our sense of goodness and beauty.

In turn, nature has a way of integrating the best of these to enhance her already perfect beauty. Does the chipped, moss-clad, discoloured bridge diminish the scene? It does not; it seems to draw better attention to the loveliness of the stream it spans.

Each person can blend and integrate each other person – as do stream and bridge, which are in natural harmony, each enhancing the other’s essential features. All needs and ideals fit together to serve the eternal pattern, though only genius can see this.

What falls away, as ephemeral as dust upon the wind, is what does not serve and take its place usefully into this universal pattern of cosmic alignment.