Way back when Twitter was very new, I was at dinner with some executives of a leading process control company. A couple of us taught a VP about Twitter and signed him up. He tweeted just once. That is how I became one of the subjects of his only tweet, “I am having dinner surrounded by a bunch of idiots.”
Sometimes we feel like we’re in that song by Stealer’s Wheel
Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle with you.
I wrote recently about listening with thoughts from Toru Sato’s new book, Two, One, None: Conversations on Meditations. The book is written as a long series of conversations, so it reads sort of like reading the script of a play. Kim and the reader (designated by 2<1<0 or two, one, none) are on a pilgrimage. Following a discussion of listening, Kim says,
I guess our presence is meaningful even if it feels like nothing is getting done.
Too often, especially for men, we feel that a conversation must lead to some sort of problem solving. Or that after listening for a while we are obligated to say something wise.
Sometimes we’re not stuck, just in the middle. Sometimes we are like one of the idiots at dinner just sitting there. Sometimes just being fully present with the other person is all that is required. Often that is better than words. But it can only be done with love and kindness.
Faith Venture 
September 2, 2020 at 8:11 am |
so that’s the origin of “clowns to the left … jokers to the right”!
It was spray-painted as graffiti on the side of an old warehouse here in Dover, and recently reappeared in a photo I posted. Stealer’s Wheel, eh?
September 2, 2020 at 8:16 am |
Yes. A 1972 hit. I guess you can run with the interpretation wherever it takes you đŸ˜‰ Actually, I just like the tune.