Common Sense

"We are afraid to admit
that we could be building bridges
right now...
it is time to remember what I already know
it is time to gather the tools I already have
time to walk forward naked in the direction
where my heart's voice tells me to go
confident that my tools and my knowledge
will be at hand when I need them...
I vow to build a bridge
over this gulf of imagination
that pretends to separate
my awareness of my own needs
from my awareness of the needs of the planet"
Excerpted from "Common Sense" by Paul Williams

This poem, written in 1986 comes from a pamphlet published by THYB which stands for "tai hei yo bashi," Japanese for "the bridge over the great ocean." I love the fact that this poem is called "Common Sense." This common sense, or intution, is perpetually masked by our neurotic behaviors, obsessions with the dialectic of success and failure, and fears of standing still and listening. We already have everything we need. We already have everything we need. (Yeah, had to say it twice). Look around. Look within. Quiet down and just do it. Build a bridge over your opinions. Your opinions have never helped you or anyone else. Your wisdom, or common sense, wants to break free of the confines we impose on it. Let it out of jail. Free.