In May 1995, when I wrote the story below, I had been writing nearly every day for two and a half years. I was following a pattern or synchronicity that began with studying Taoism and the I Ching and discovering the significance of “complementary opposites”. This journey led me to leave my role as a city planner in Fall River, take a short-term position as Town Planner in West Warwick, Rhode Island, and eventually move to Boynton Beach, Florida, to become the city’s Assistant Planner.
There seemed to be a sense of balance and harmony I was seeking, which I discovered through my writing—something that had been missing before. When I wrote, it felt natural, as if the words were already in my heart and mind, just waiting to flow onto the page. I felt a clear understanding of the patterns in life, as though I was connecting with something beyond the present. Moving to Florida and starting this new job became an opportunity for transformation, allowing me to adapt and explore an innate presence within me that had long gone unnoticed.
At this point, I was using three or four books I had been reading as prompts for my writing, sharing thoughts, and letting my own words flow onto the page. What Taoism and my three mentors, Chuang Tzu, Lao Tzu, and Lieh Tzu, were doing was guiding my mind beyond who I thought I was to who I had always been. There was a story that needed to be told, and I realized I was meant to live as I wrote it. The key was adapting to and following my own innate nature, which had always been within me, waiting to express what I already knew but had forgotten.
I was on a journey of self-discovery, and moving to Florida felt like the perfect opportunity to take me there. I had just settled into my new role as Assistant Planner in Boynton Beach. It felt almost serendipitous, like I had a talent for finding the right path by chance. This pattern would repeat many times in the years to come. Deep down though, I knew I was on the path I was meant to follow.
Although I wasn’t a city planner by trade, I eventually retired as one. It seemed as though I was being guided through a series of events I was destined to experience. Creating master plans that took people to places they’d never imagine became my strength, and five years later, it led to my promotion as the city’s Neighborhood Specialist.
My travels with Lieh Tzu / Interpolations along the Way
Chapter Five – The Questions of T’ang
89. Forever testing Destiny
Traveling a short distance westward, everything serving as a vehicle for change. With the only thing lost the identity of who you thought you once were. A stopover, as such, as you prepare as Lao Tzu would do before ultimately moving on.
Concentrating only on what the Tao teaches. To simplify and remain as one with all. With no contention, no ego. Maintaining your breath in the ebb and flow of the yin and yang of all things. Remaining focused on your writing.
Putting your house in order, as you prepare to journey south to new horizons. Playing the role as the consummate bureaucrat that even Confucius would be proud of. Planning for another community once again. Helping to bring order to the situation as a City Planner. If just for an instant in time. Using the experience to help lose the attachments that you once felt were the key to your identity. Now knowing that all that was ‑ was simply an illusion. A dream to be looked back upon before moving on.
In the end taking nothing important with you but thoughts you have entered on your notepad of life. Everything encountered, both good and bad, simply experiences to be played out with no real importance to end results yet to come. Except that which is revealed within yourself. As though you are forever traveling on the wind above the clouds.
Forever losing attachments as you proceed ever closer each day. Leaving behind for someone else seeds to be planted, landscaping to be finished and flowers and scrubs to be added to beds here and there.
Your present address soon to be a memory to be cataloged and noted as simply an important stop you needed to find out who you really are. Trials and tribulations are sent to test the essence of your very soul, as you now linger only long enough to say goodbye.
Living only a vehicle for letting go of who you thought you once were. The ultimate paradox being the more you lose, the more you must gain. As Lieh Tzu and your newfound friends look on knowingly as you now travel with them to higher clouds where you will be eternally protected. With no ego, no attachments, no clinging to things. Delighting in simply letting go. All new beginnings and endings serve simply as the vehicle for letting go.
In the end taking nothing important with you but thoughts you have entered on your notepad of life. Everything encountered, both good and bad, simply experiences to be played out with no real importance to end results yet to come. Except that which is revealed within yourself.
As you now travel upwards, waiting only to discover what you already know, but has simply been waiting to be revealed. 5/10/95
Number eighty-nine of one hundred fifty-eight entries
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