with Mirabal Man…buckle up for a big time Dharma Teaching from one of my long time Teachers and Friend Along The Path…pic by Karma Bohtia

Fear of Failure is Failure/ via Uncle van Gogh

“As for me, I am rather often uneasy in my mind, because I think that my life has not been calm enough; all those bitter disappointments, adversities, changes keep me from developing fully and naturally in my artistic career.” ~My uncle Vincent van Gogh

We all have been burnt or stabbed in the back by the people we trusted and have brought into our lives. We also have been forced to turn around and have stabbed another with a burning desire.

We are humans and to define humanity: the Latin word for Humanity is Clementia. Clementia is defined as: indulgence, forbearance, humanity, mercy, gentleness. Humans are only human they are not humane. Humans are tricky things, the more limitations you place on a human the more he or she will fight, the more you give him the more he will want, the less you give him the less he will give.

on stage with Mirabal (leather jacket) and his Dancers/Singers here in Durango last fall…photo by Karma Bohtia

Human beings are funny creatures of creation. We imitate and mock creation. We build and re-build grandiose ideas only to knock them down or have another human knock them down.

“Man is a wolf to [his fellow] man.” Homo homini lupus est

We as hu-mans are made to fail humanity. That is why we are an up-right species in a gravity, held up by just a few uncanny bones in our much too narrow and soft feet. For those of you who believe in karma, gravity is your down-fall – no pun intended.

Failure is a beautiful wondrous accidental friend found in the most unexpected places. When doubt is all you have, failure is your knife – so sharp it cuts through the doubt to show you the way out and slingshots you out of the doldrums. It’s so honest it can create fear powerful enough to keep you down for years. I’ve seen it. We all have seen it – where the slightest comment from someone can destroy your dreams forever.

I have battled the doubts of people and the B.S. of my own people. It’s not just me who battles the demons of shallow minds. However, I have found that my best friends in silent shadowy ways have been those that create fear for me and others and for themselves. They battle with their own fears. Those who I fear have been some of my wealthiest, biggest teachers.

“The uglier, older, meaner, iller, poorer I get, the more I wish to take my revenge by doing brilliant color, well arranged, resplendent.”—Vincent van Gogh

You, me, we, must hold hands with our failures because one hundred fails makes only one successful moment. We all must embrace failure like an old friend that we haven’t seen for many many years. Like a constellation that shows up every hundred years, we are a moment in time and fading away.

Hu-man is not humane nor is it humanity, it is a billion fails lifted up by one deathly acceptance of fear.

“For the great doesn’t happen through impulse alone, and is a succession of little things that are brought together.”—Vincent van Gogh

Lift up your head – lift them up into the light..

MIRABAL