Rookie Mommy Ramblings

I want to write... and perhaps now I have a couple minutes to spare, but in my mind... I know I have to go. I am late. Always late... in a haste.

Today, time will not defeat me... at least not for the next short moments.

This morning I realized "I lost it" - the ease of writing has long been gone and I seek to earn the privilege to write again, to let my words flow, to create something beautiful... worthy enough for others to read, perhaps even enjoy, deep enough to make me feel relieved and rid me of any haunting thoughts or even just to express moments of overwhelming joy... I seek the writing that makes me feel like I am translating myself onto this abused screen and takes me away from the mess that is myself. I want to become words... but not today. Today I have become too many elipsises and commas... today I am not my words or my thoughts... today I am a product of time, a failed miscalculation.

Today, I felt lost and didn't know where to begin or end and I am mourning the loss of my words, of my inspiration... of my time to write... but I am late, I have to go... tomorrow perhaps I'll find the words and maybe even the time... but seems neither are my friend these days.

Main Concepts of Confucianism: the twin concepts of jen
and li are often said to constitute the basis of Confucianism.

A. Jen (wren): human heartedness; goodness; benevolence, man-to-man-ness; what makes man distinctively human (that which gives human beings their humanity).
1. The virtue of virtues; Confucius said he never really saw it full expressed. The other virtues follow from it. He never gives and defends a definition of it although he does characterize it.
2. It is dearer than life itself--the man of jen will sacrifice his life to preserve jen, and conversely it is what makes life worth living.
3. Jen is a sense for the dignity of human life--a feeling of humanity towards others and self-esteem for yourself.
a. Such feeling applies to all men--not just one nation or race. It is the foundation of all human relationships.
b. There is the belief that jen can be obtained; indeed, there is the belief in the natural perfectibility of man. Hence, he rejects the way of human action where one satisfies likes and avoids dislikes.
c. The first principle of Confucianism is to act according to jen: it is the ultimate guide to human action.
4. We should seek to extend jen to others.

B. Li (lee): principle of gain, benefit, order, propriety; concrete guide to human action.
1. Two basic meanings to li: (1) concrete guide to human relationships or rules of proper action that genuinely embody jen and (2) general principle of social order or the general ordering of life.
2. Confucius recognized that you need a well ordered society for wren to be expressed.
3. First Sense: the concrete guide to human relationships.
a. The way things should be done or propriety: positive rather than negative ("Do's rather than Don'ts).
b. The main components of propriety emphasize the openness of people to each other.
(1) The reification of names: language used in accordance with the truth of things.
(2) The Doctrine of the Mean: so important that an entire book is dedicated to it in the Confucian canon: the proper action is the way between the extremes.
(3) The Five Relationships: the way things should be done in social life; none of the relationships are transitive. (Note that 3 of the 5 relations involve family; the family is the basic unit of society).
(a) father and son (loving / reverential)
(b) elder brother and younger brother (gentle / respectful)
(c) husband and wife (good / listening)
(d) older friend and younger friend (considerate / deferential)
(e) ruler and subject (benevolent / loyal)
(4) Respect for age: age gives all things their worth: objects, institutions, and individual lives.
4. Second Sense of li: principle of social order; ritual; ordering of life; conforming to the norms of jen (the limits and authenticity of li).
a. Every action affects someone else--there are limits to individuality.
b. Confucius sought to order an entire way of life.
c. You shouldn't be left to improvise your responses because you are at a loss as to how to behave.
d. A. N. Whitehead's quotation of a Cambridge vicar: "For well-conducted people, life presents no problems."