Missing the Mark

("Earth", 1979, original pen and ink) Missing the Mark As they say, this world is full of sin: the meaning of Life a target we continually miss out of carelessness and habit. This is the root of crime, which theft is the most basic form of; murder, rape, arson, kidnap, assault and robbery, even defamation, all involving stealing something that isn’t ours and wasn’t freely given. Justified perhaps in the name of justice, personal or social, or simply survival, we habitually treat the world as ours for the taking and defending. But beneath this action of theft lies the outlook of dishonesty; the motivation and intention to fool others and ourselves. This is the lie that the world is full of, the flaw in our nature that causes us to habitually miss the mark. Ignorance, after all, implies we are ignoring something we know to be true. The one thing about habits is while they are tough to break they are only formed by repeated actions and so able to be changed through different actions when we find a different ground to start from. Of course, this is easier said than done, but maybe the trick to the training doesn’t rely on someone telling us what or how to do, but simply making the target so close it is impossible to miss. So close it can be touched with our finger held in the palm of our hand, or kissed with our lips. These are the little things we can, and do, do that make all the difference. This may seem to take all the sport out of it after all, what is the point of a target if it isn’t a challenge, if it is already right at hand. But what is the point of living a life of pain and frustration from habitually missing the mark. If we’re honest with ourselves we’ll be grateful for the bird in hand, and let the two in the bush go about living their own lives. (12/8/23)