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There are times when what you need to live, more than food or water or shelter, is a story. The right story at the right time is a cool glass of water when you’re dying of thirst in the desert. It’s seeing the rustling leaves of a tree clearly again after having cataracts removed or getting prescription lenses. It’s helping you get well again after being sick. The right story can remind you of your vision and purpose and launch you out of bed in the morning, ready to go.

You can meditate standing up and doing things. All it takes is awareness of your breath. Washing dishes becomes less a boring chore and more of a form. It’s meditation where you don’t have to wash the dishes at the end, because they are already cleaned.

Today, barefoot man taught me about running.

He taught me through a series of steps. Basically, imagine that you are stomping on grapes. Or running in place atop a tub of sudsy laundry.

Your feet keep moving up and down even through you are standing still. To move about, just imagine yourself as a human segway transporter:

Tilt forward, feet carry you forward to prevent you from falling on your face. Too fast? Tilt forward less, let your feet catch up. How to brake hard? Tilt backwards a bit until you come to a stop.

After meeting with barefoot man, I ran into a gritty t’ai chi teacher underneath the library. We started talking and then tried “push hands.” I pushed him as hard as I could but no matter where or how I pushed, he could always let the force slide off, like water off a jewelweed leaf. It was amazing.

He left me with a few messages that I want to remember.

Strength vs. strength and eventually you come across someone who is stronger. Maybe you don’t encounter anyone stronger in your prime, but eventually everyone who survives including you gets old and weaker. Learning “not doing” response may be the only way to deal effectively with an antagonist who is stronger than you.

One is from Lao Tzu:

“People do not want to be like water, because water goes down to the low places. I want to be like water.”

Another:

Learning how to respond to weak forces is more difficult than responding to strong forces. Strong forces direct your body how to “not do” easily — it’s almost done for you. Weak forces are much more subtle and more difficult to read. Reading weak forces through practice will help you deal with real life strong forces.

In writing, what are the weak forces and the strong forces?