I’m sure there are a few readers who find some of my views incredulous, can’t understand how they could be so, considering our current ‘reality’, based on the prejudices of our society. Hopefully, this will inform, if perhaps not, justify…; -)

A Philosophical Journey

Started at mother’s knee
added to by the gatekeeper
of our society
our fathers, teachers,
and institutional leaders

then stretching out
to become who I am
meant to be
encountered other
ideas that countered
long ingrained
conditioning

one such idea
came from a poster
I hung on my wall
an excerpt of
Desiderata
by Max Ehrmann

it goes like this:
… beyond a wholesome discipline
be gentle with yourself
you are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars
you have a right to be here
and whether or not it is clear to you
no doubt the universe is unfolding
as it should
therefore, be at peace with God
whatever you conceive Him to be …

alongside this
the teachings of Epicurus
engaged my imagination
longed to learn in that
infamous garden
described by Lucretius
for millennia
long lost
forgotten
misrepresented

then added other
ancient understanding
from philosophical
Taoism and the
simplicity of Zen

all mixed in my
physical-mental cauldron
magically produced
the current philosophical
psychological
spiritual essence
permeating my
perceptions of being…

–LE – 10/25/25