Whilst waking my dog the other day, I pulled out my small Victorinox pocket knife¹ on a whim, and cut a small bunch of wattle and some red berries of some sort² as I passed along the way.

Once home I place them in a small vase.

Because. The world is going to shit right now, yet there is still great medicine in small acts.

Im looking at them sitting on the table right now as I type this…. and behind them on the TV, the latest news.
America continues to go gurgle down the crapper.
Israel attacks Iran.
Israel attacks Gaza.
Russia. Ukraine.
Are India and Pakistan still at it? I don’t even know.

And I fear these are just the flashbang horrors that distract and obfuscate our rallying any meaningful response to the even greater existential threats to our planet.

Climate change.
Biosphere collapse.
Fascism.
Capitalism.

No matter.
I walked my dog this morning and collected a small sprig of medicinal beauty along the way.

There is a Zen koan³ that informs on the chemistry:

Yunmen said to the assembly, “Medicine and sickness cure each other. The whole

earth is medicine. What is the self?”

Case 87. Blue Cliff Record.

1. I believe it is illegal to carry a folding blade in Australia, but in a small act of civil disobedience I have carried a pocketknife on my belt most days since I was about 17. ↩︎
2. The two most useful tools on my pocketknife? Without doubt, the scissors and the tweezers. This is the model I have. A gift from Kelly many years ago. ↩︎
3. Zen koans are paradoxical anecdotes or riddles used in Zen Buddhism to provoke deep contemplation, often challenging conventional reasoning. They serve as tools for spiritual awakening, encouraging practitioners to transcend logical thinking and attain a direct experience of reality. Typically presented in the form of dialogues between Zen masters and their students, koans often contain seemingly nonsensical or contradictory statements that prompt introspection and insight. By contemplating these koans, individuals can break free from habitual thought patterns and gain a deeper understanding of their own nature and the nature of existence. ↩︎